Sunday, March 8, 2009

Composting.

You start with a desire to Compost. And an old compost heap that "hasn't been doing much" according to our backyard neighbors. Note the plastic bucket, whole pumpkin and large openings. All, obviously, make for excellent composting.
Add some pallets, procured at no cost, via a woman on CraigsList! Nail three together.

Attach cardboard along sides to block openings.
P.S. The boxes that Curiak ships wheels in, are just the right measurements to be flattened along one side of a pallet.
P.P.S. They're also great for boxing up large framed pictures when moving...
Disregard that one pallet is crooked. This is not a sign of sub-par workmanship.
Add nitrogen-rich kitchen waste to the new heap, along with bits of the old heap which is all carbon-rich garden waste (with the exception of the two whole pumpkins...) in a ratio of 1:2 respectively. Eventually the new heap will be well filled and left for several months to finish the composting process, while new additions will then go in the "old" heap, with it's greatly diminished supply of garden waste, and a lower potential for stagnating from a lack of nitrogen.
Create the front door by attaching more cardboard to a fourth, ideally shorter, pallet. Be nice to the neighbors cat while you're at it.
And you'll have a happy compost heap.
"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

2 comments:

Designs By Leigha said...

Awesome! I need to make a compost bin :)

Meredith said...

Yeah ya do!

My lament is how slowly we accumulate kitchen waste to put in our bin, I bet with the amount of fruits and veggies the four of you eat, you could have a great heap going in no time!