Venturing into composting
We finally ventured into composting the other day.
It was simpler than I thought — we just went down to the hardware store and bought a solid-colored plastic bin with with a lid, drilled some holes in the lid, and set the bin in (one of the few) shady spots in our back yard. Then we added a little dirt to start it out with.
Since then we’ve added several banana peels, apple cores, onion skins, smashed egg shells, and some lint. (Yes, lint — this compost guide says lint is ok.) We will probably add a few pine needles soon; or at least as soon as I feel like sweeping up under the pine tree.
Now I just need to get into the habit of putting food scraps into the compost pile instead of in the trash or down the disposal. We’re going to get a couple of smaller containers too — one to go to my husband’s work (where he eats most of the apples & bananas) and one to fit under our sink. This way he will be able to bring usable items home, and we won’t have to make constant trips to the backyard.
Between composting and recycling we will have very little trash to put out any more, which makes me happy. Hopefully this will give us some good stuff for the garden as well.
Related Websites
- Sunday gathering - How's your budget? At the end of April I dared you to live 30 days on a budget. More than 23 people signed up and agreed to try...
- Tropical Granola Maybe it has something to do with summer, but I've been in a Hawaii sort of mood. I'm longing for pineapples, beaches, and palm trees....
- Waiting For The Composter To Arrive, And Other Trashy Tales... So, we finally ordered a compost bin from Amazon, as not one single store here in town had any left! Seems composting has taken on...
December 28th, 2008 at 6:21 am
I have a bucket I keep under the sink. Non meat food scraps, coffee grinds, used tea bags, all sorts of biodegradabel scraps go into the bucket!
The black gold produced is so worth the trips to the bin.
December 28th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Going the cheap route is wise. We have a drum composter (bought at auction, but it still was $55) that isn’t used now since we lost the gardening bug. You can always upgrade if you stick with it.
December 29th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
We had a compost heap when I was kid…and we got lots and lots of RATS!!
Therefore, I do not composte now.
December 29th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Doh, I hope we don’t get rats! It is a sealed bin though, so I think that is unlikely.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
While we haven’t taken the plunge yet, we’ve been doing out reading and will begin composting ourselves after the first of the year. Last year’s garden was disappointing, but with all we learned first time out, we expect this year’s to be better.