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Every couple of weeks or so I turn them over, unstacking them, setting them up next to the old location, and shoveling the contents over. This keeps the oxygen in the compost bin and speeds up the decomposition. In between turns, I bury kitchen scraps in the compost for the red wiggler worms I added. Then I keep them covered with fallen leaves to cut down on flies, which usually are not a problem, but the leaves also help add carbon. The worms love the scraps, and I get some really great compost out of the deal.
the one eared badger on the compost bin, the intact badger one the wall and just after I took this pic the one eyed badger appeared and frightened these two off so she could finish the food (not the best of pics as it was getting dark)
Three-sectioned compost bin. The deck slats come off the front so that we can lower the front side to make it easier to remove the compost from the bin with a shovel. There is mesh on both ends and between the sections to easily allow worms and air to travel throughout the pile. The stuff on the right has been there the longest (excluding the green stuff I just added on top) with the stuff on the left being newest to the bin. There are lids also made of the repurposed decking to help keep unwanted critters out. The slatting on the inside is elevated with a gap to allow liquid to seep out and there is an area for bins to go to catch all the liquid to make compost tea. :)
Today our new president was inaugurated in Dublin, and he said some wonderful things, which he really means, but most notably: "We live in a country, not an economy".
I took this in late July and forgot to upload it. I made this discovery when I opened one of the composters to add some vegetable waste. A whole nest of Black Garden Ants (Lasius niger) which is probably the commonest species in the British Isles. They are amassing their grubs, probably before marching to a new location. Compost bins are very warm and ideal creches for many creatures. It looks like a factory or a warehouse, and some wonderful strength being displayed too.
This summer there was a population explosion of Black Garden Ants everywhere across the globe, which points to a cyclical event, or something we just don't know about. This year I have never seen so many, and then there were the previously mentioned spiders, yet almost all other creatures were at the usual level. It has been suggested that the extremely cold winter last year killed off many of their predators, but it's very hard to know.
Actually, the old compost bin from Paw Paw, set up in a new location at the property. Got it nearly full, mostly yard waste, lawn trimmings, and garden debris from when I cleared out the old garden. The last batch of compost I made turned out beautifully, which has inspired me to do a lot more composting. The interior of this pile is already scalding hot to the touch after a day or two, a nice mix of stuff. Bin is made from 4 shipping pallets and 4 wire coat hangers cut in half (to tie the pallets together), for a total cost of nothing. :) I'll probably add a second "bay" next to this to facilitate turning the pile and to also have more than one batch going at a time.
I'm sad to report that our old Asian Plum (probably a Santa Rosa Plum) which has given us tons of fruit the past 18+ or so years is dead. It has been declining the past few years and this year it just isn't waking up from the winter. All of its branches are also dried and snaps easily. I don't know what caused it, but it had sap or a resin like substance the oozed from its trunk. Our cherry tree that was next to it also died the same way. Anyone know what the cause is?... Thank you Plum trer for all the fruits. I think I will leave it up for now and let something climb it because I'm not ready to cut it all down. #plum #asianplum #deadtree #storage #garden #compostbin #tree April 11, 2020 at 10:49PM
My husband pointed out the black paint makes it look like Darth Vader, so there'll probably be more photos of this soon.
Our second compost bin is getting full, so I took one of the tiers from the first bin and placed it on the second... making this one 4 tiers high.
We have stopped placing compost in the first bin, so it will finish the final step of composting before we empty it out.
Note the tight-fitting lids to keep animals out of the compost. I will add bungee cords later on, if the lids are not enough.
For more information on this project, check out my blog post:
adellefrank.com/blog/how-to-compost-beginners-easy-simple...
Today we got our composting bin. It's a Earth Machine compost bin. We ordered it through our county for $45. If you buy it elsewhere or online, it's like $125+. I wanted to get two of them, but man...I had no idea it was this big. I was expecting it to be about 2 feet tall. I was quite surprised when I went down to the county office to pick it up. The thing barely fit in my Prius since I had both my kids with me.
Now we're ready to start some real composting. Woohoo!
The lawn - what there us of it - is no longer a jungle. I've also added compost and blood-n-bone to the passionfruit vine then covered that with mulch. The top of the papaya is out of this shot but it has at least ten fruit from huge to small. Also found three ripe passionfruit which I'll have with rhubarb, pear and apple 'stuff' I made yesterday. Noms.
Tis a pity I sprayed bug repellant all over my body except for the ankles.
We got a new compost bin (won it at the Seward Co-op grand opening). The kids like to play in it. I'm sure they won't when there's actual compost in it.
I added the top to the bin to keep the furry critters out (they love those fruit & veggie scraps). Now it sort of resembles an odd coffin. I plan on growing life to vegetation from the dead that go in here. All materials used were recycled scraps from other projects.
when i asked whether i should light the chicken coop to maintain egg production in the winter, i received quite a range of answers. some folks said they didn't get any eggs in the winter without supplemental lighting, others said their birds kept laying at about 30% of their summer production and still others said their birds kept laying at 70% of summer production without light. i should add that several folks responded that i shouldn't light the coop in the winter since there is no reason to "burn out" backyard birds since we're obviously doing this for love and not money.
i certainly have no interest in burning out the birds and even though i'm guessing that we'll still get enough production in the winter to yield a few dozen eggs a week without supplemental lighting, i decided to run dedicated electrical to the coop for a variety of reasons. regarding supplemental lighting, i think we'll turn on a light in the morning for a few hours, not so much to drive production as to try and get them all to lay before we leave for work in the morning so we can collect eggs before they freeze ( supposedly most of The Girls will lay within a few hours of "daybreak" ). and even if we weren't turning a light on, we'll still want electric service to power a warmer to keep their water from freezing and for running a heat lamp on the coldest days of winter. and, of course, it will always be nice to be able to turn on a light when i'm shoveling out a path to the coop in the dark after the inevitable snowstorms that will come this winter.
in keeping with their new interest in me and my activities since The Dude Who Looked Like A Lady left, The Girls were more than happy to inspect my work and cluck approvingly from the compost bin while i dug the trench for the electrical line.
now that they have electrical service and a strong wifi signal from the house, i wonder if i should put a laptop in the coop so they can send me a tweet when they lay an egg.
3-8-09
Sometimes the best thing you can do to help is put the dog in a headlock!
This is our third compost bin in as many years ~ having big, determined dogs has proven to be quite a challenge! We got the idea (and basic how-to's) for building a bin using old pallets from here: www.instructables.com/id/Pallet_Compost_Bin/
The dark pallet has hinges on it so it can be swung open for emptying. We nailed ours together, instead of tying them to each other.
I separated the earth worms from the scoop of compost I'll use to make compost tea. This is a lot of worms for a fist size scoop of compost.
I splurged on my drill bit, but I think you could make twice as many holes with a 3/8" bit and be fine, too. I got the bi-metal hole saw bit (1"), because it goes through metal well and because I thought I might use it later on to make more rain barrels. You must get a pilot drill bit to fit inside the white hole saw bit.
Made this temporary semicircular bin out of chicken wire for composting a large amount of leaves into "leaf mold"...both to recycle the leaves and to kill the grass underneath for planting into in the spring of 2012. Hope to have it filled to the top in the next week or so.
Here is our homemade compost bin that is actually doing quite well. After numerous aborted attempts, we've come up with this model. We've had it going for about 5 months now with no odor or insects. I'm very proud of us. This is the porch off our apartment so it works in small spaces. We've added a second bin now. In my wandering around the apartment complex I have discovered several dead potted plants that people have thrown away. I use the dirt from the pots to help start the compost.
This lil guy was hanging out on my compost bin last night. Surprised the heck outta me as it was dark and I went to open the bin and he was sitting on the handle, so I got myself a handful o' frog. Surprisingly, he didn't bolt into the bushes. He just brushed it off as a minor indignity.
The weather dried up a bit today. I had an appointment at Specsavers this morning, my first for several years. They always seem to do a good job with checking things over, and usually confirm what I am aware of. The optician was happy for me to continue with my off-the-shelf glasses, and answered all my questions well. I went on to do several other jobs while I was in Cirencester, including dropping off a load of stuff at a charity shop, and buying in the same shop a lamp to go on the dark bit at the bottom of our stairs. I then went on to Tesco's, and was very good - I didn't get in the reasonable short queue for petrol, as I still have half a tank. The current 'fuel crisis' caused by panic-buying is bonkers!
I was pretty tired when I got home, so had a lovely hour in the sun in my egg chair, before getting on with more jobs. One was to empty the kitchen food waste bin into the compost bin. We've had this bin for 20 months now, putting all our kitchen waste and grass clippings into it, and have taken nothing out. It is still less than 1/3 full! Awesome the way stuff gets broken down!