Composter

I decided a while ago that I would put in a garden this year. I want to grow some herbs and veggies to get the freshest and most nutritious food available. So yesterday I decided to give over some of my cooking time to making a composter and starting it off. I had a plastic garbage can that has not been getting much use since I started recycling in earnest. So I hopped on the web and searched out recipes for home-made compost bins from garbage cans.

I was amazed to see how many postings there were on the subject....and how many differing and, in some cases, conflicting opinions existed. I read as many as I could stand and came up with a kind of hybrid plan of attack. Needless to say, we are looking at an extremely simple project here. Basically, we are drilling holes in a plastic garbage can (sides, top and bottom) to turn it into a compost bin. The size and spacing of the holes was gleaned from the web postings and the conformation of the trash can. I created five rows of holes 4-6" apart vertically, drilled into every second "valley" - about three inches apart horizontally.

Now it was time to build the compost. My sources said to begin with a layer of small sticks. This was a piece of cake (except for the bending over part) as my property is littered with small sticks and I collected a bucketful. Next was a layer of shredded paper. So I went to my office and shredded paper, tidying up somewhat as I went, until I had a bucketful. Next was a layer of green material. My gardener had just trimmed a lot of the plants and stacked the clippings in a pile that will ultimately be run through the chipper. I filled the bucket once more and added it to the compost. Then came a layer of soil. This process was repeated until the composter was almost full but with room to accept kitchen waste which will be converted to nutrient-rich soil in a relatively short time. Of course, I had to water the materials as I introduced them and will need to ensure that the compost is moist. Other than that, the only maintenance necessary is to shake or roll the trash can around once a week.

As recommended, I placed the compost bin on concrete blocks just outside of my outdoor kitchen. This way, I can access it even in rainy weather (of which we have six months) to deposit kitchen and other material. The added advantage is that my volume of waste material will be further reduced as will my carbon footprint as what would have been landfill is converted to soil and ultimately to food. The rainforest will be a better place.