Build a Compost Bin - Elizabeth's Way
To build a compost bin Elizabeth, of the Lasagna Garden and the Dog Food Caper fame, transforms her poor little Chevette into a mini monster truck and hauls many heavy... Well here is the story in her words.
Elizabeth and her Trusty Chevette Build a Compost Bin
That summer, I made several trips to the lumber yard in my little Chevette and lugged home a quantity of those 8" x 8" x 16" cement foundation blocks.
I built myself two boxes side by side that were four feet high and eight feet wide and eight feet deep.
All summer long, I piled garden trimmings and grass clippings and vegetable refuse from the kitchen into the left-hand box.
Come fall, I piled as much of the neighbors' leaves into it as it would hold, and put the rest on my garden, along with a couple of layers of alfalfa hay, which I had to pay for this time because there weren't any rain-damaged bales to be had, but which I felt was important for the health of my garden.
The Father-In-Law Feud Continues
My father-in-law said that that box of clippings and so on would never decompose, that it was too solid and compact, but again he turned out to be mistaken.
It decomposed perfectly!
I used it on some flower beds I built and grew the biggest, happiest, most bug-free flowers you ever saw!
And while I was whittling down last year's pile of compost by spreading it around on the flower beds, I was building up next year's pile of compost by putting all plant refuse in the second box I had built for just that purpose.
It worked perfectly!
I hope I may be forgiven for seeming so smug and pleased with myself. It tickled me no end to get the jump on my father-in-law! To get twice the tomatoes (and more) out of my garden with half the work (or less) than he got out of his.
Build a Compost Bin or Two or Three - And Give the Chevette a Break
Today there's materials that make the construction of a compost heap so much easier than lugging those heavy bricks around. I saw some stiff green mesh at the hardware store the other day that sets up in a circle about three feet in diameter and all you do is just fill it up and start another circle. They're only about $15 apiece. What a concept!
Regards ... Elizabeth
Build a compost bin the hard way with heavy cement blocks - or the easy way with the mesh - or your way... with whatever you have lying around.
