Most people who know me, know that nothing bothers me more than waste. I seriously cannot handle things being wasted. Anything. I'm one of those people who stops on the road, leans out as far as I can to pick up a glove or pad of paper or plastic bag... I know it's in my genes -- my dad worked for my brother for awhile emptying big dumpsters and MOST of the contents ended up being saved. It was his ideal job, and probably would be mine too: rescuing things from the dump? Aaah! What could be more rewarding?! I think when I lived in Pakistan and used to watch the Afghan refugees go through the garbage bin in the back, I really saw how nothing, truly NOTHING should be wasted. And that's how I see life. Nothing should be waste! Everything should be reused, remade, rethunk, or never made in the first place. So it's not surprising that I REALLY love compost. I dream about compost. I can't look at discarded organic matter without thinking about compost. I peel carrots at friends' houses and sneak the peelings into my bag to bring home. I have a standing offer to anyone I know to bring their compostable materials over for my chickens or composts. I see people's grass clippings on the side of the road or better yet, bagged up oak leaves, and I bring them home for my compost. I'm even collecting my pee to pour onto my compost (nitrogen!!) So, mostly for my like-minded cousin who also shares a love of such things, here's a pictorial tour of my compost garden:
All of my composts (so far) are in my chicken coop. This is the one that's shaded by mock orange, that the chickens dig through, take what they want, add their own offerings, and this composter makes solid gold...
This is my quickest composter. It's at least 25 years old, inherited from my dad, been remade a few times, and still going strong. I can never get over how quickly this turns organic matter into beautiful black clumpy soil.
These are two fairly useless ones I inherited from my father-in-law. Difficult to stir, water runs off before it gets to the bottom, not sure why I keep them, except that I never have enough room for compostable materials... I mostly just put grass clippings (my fil's), leaves and chicken bedding into these. They're slow.
These are those ones that the county sells each year. Not bad. Not good. I keep inheriting peoples' who think it's a great idea but don't actually use them. Hard to stir, and a bit slow.
This is my "top secret" wire mesh circle, surrounded by black plastic recently made composter. I put a shovel full of dog poo, followed by a handfull of leaves and so far it hasn't stunk at all. Amazes me. I read that this will be "done" quicker than I can imagine. I'll keep you posted... hee! because you REALLY want the details, don't you? he he
All of my composts (so far) are in my chicken coop. This is the one that's shaded by mock orange, that the chickens dig through, take what they want, add their own offerings, and this composter makes solid gold...
This is my quickest composter. It's at least 25 years old, inherited from my dad, been remade a few times, and still going strong. I can never get over how quickly this turns organic matter into beautiful black clumpy soil.
These are two fairly useless ones I inherited from my father-in-law. Difficult to stir, water runs off before it gets to the bottom, not sure why I keep them, except that I never have enough room for compostable materials... I mostly just put grass clippings (my fil's), leaves and chicken bedding into these. They're slow.
These are those ones that the county sells each year. Not bad. Not good. I keep inheriting peoples' who think it's a great idea but don't actually use them. Hard to stir, and a bit slow.
1 comment:
very informative, thanks for sharing. yeah we have one of those black plastic ones that are hard to turn. but it works for our little yard and well, it was FREE. found it in the back corner of our garden never used, when we moved here. its bee's baby really. i just peel the fruit and vege... x C
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