Friday, May 30, 2008

Compost

With a picture of my much too full and messy compost bin just below, it is time to write about my compost. In Indy, I used a two bin method. These were good sized bins, just shy of 5 x 5 x 5, and they did an incredible job of composting fast and efficiently. We had a bunny for a number of years and his litter box always speeded things up. Fact is, there always seemed to be room for the days weeding scraps and the week's grass cuttings.

I moved into this garden and I was so happy it came with a three bin, wooden contraption which seemed very fancy to me at the time. The previously gardener said that she used the bins and I believed her at first, but when I did the early fall emptying of the bins, I found very good compost in the bottom half of each bin, and uncomposted garden waste in the rest. It was a dry late sumer so I chalked it up to that, emptied bins, rearranged what needed composting and started filling the bins with leaves and grass clippings.

Well, time has passed and is passing and the compost bins are really not settling down, i.e., they are not working. Maybe they are too small, maybe the winter was too cold, . . . Heck, I don't know why, but nothing is happening. I have found a bunny owner to help me out and I will try it through the summer, but I have the feeling that I am going to go back to my old method -- maybe bigger in Wisconsin will keep the compost center hot and working, at least through part of the winter.

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