Compost

Composting is such an un-sexy topic.  Not that I am into things being super sexy or anything, but it's just so unappealing sounding.  And I happen to be somewhat passionate about compost.

A couple of years back, I was on a mission to compost whatever I could in order for disposables to avoid a trip to the landfill.  And if you're from my home state of Rhode Island, you know the joke that the highest point in the state is the landfill.  So, I had 3 jumbo coffee containers that I would rotate through.  I would leave them under the kitchen cabinet and run them out to the small compost waste pail I had in the yard.  It's possible my step-children thought I was nuts.  (The waste pail was a mini project I found instructions for online.  Total cost was approximately $25.)  I was very faithful about this.  Any time the dinner plates were being scrapped, compostable materials were scrapped into the coffee containers, which eventually made their way outside.  Making coffee?  Old grinds went into the container.  I did this throughout the fall and winter.  I would turn the compost with a garden hoe in order for it to decompose better or faster.  Come springtime the contents of the pail was a rich, dark brown color.  And being it was my first composting experiment, I thought I would use it to fertilize my gardens.  Well apparently the contents hadn't broken down as much as I thought they had and Maggie, our Lhasa Apso, was enjoying the remnants of our table scraps...straight out of the garden!

Coffee can mini compost bins.

Compost pail partially buried.

Almost empty bin.

I didn't want to abandon my efforts, though.  So I started to plan a large 4' X 4' wooden bin that would allow enough room to divide it into two sections.  One section that has 'finished' compost and another that we are currently using. Right now we are in the midst of 'unorganized compost'.  And by that I mean there is a large pile on the side of the yard that is waiting for said compost bin to be completed.  One side is built and the other three are still in process.  One of these days I will have 'organized compost'.  Until then, I am recommitting to composting one coffee container at a time.

One of the completed sides for the future bin.

The 'unorganized compost'.

The site for the new bin.

Do you compost?  Would you consider it if you knew the benefits?