Composting

So, I've been super busy lately and haven't been on my computer all that much. I'm trying to find ways to be able to use my Kindle Fire tablet to post pictures and blog entries, but not really having much luck - but, here is a post!

  So we decided to start composting, we'd been talking about it a while, and now with me starting to garden, this is a perfect opportunity to do so. The compost containers at Home Depot or online can be pricey, and in for the sake of being more permaculturish and/or post-consumeristic I found something pretty awesome.
 
The city of Phoenix sells recycled trash cans for the specific purpose of composting, they have no bottoms and are pre drilled for airation.

 A week ago we went to the city of phoenix dump and picked up our recycled trash can they sell for $5.00. The process was a little strange, I couldn't believe just how much garbage rolled through there in the 30-45 minutes we were there for. Just goes to show you, out of sight, out of mind.

 Anyhow.

$5.00 compost bin

Day 1

Day 5

Today

 We set it up in the unfinished side of the yard, where the "RV" gate area is, lots of rock and crappy unfinished ground over there. Good place to put this big blue bin. So, I don't know much about composting yet, but I'm giving it a go. We started off with a layer of dirt from the yard, and then we put on some dried "brown" (sticks, dried grass, trimmings etc) and then we put a layer of "green" (tea bags, egg shells, veggie scraps etc).

Yesterday I put a top layer of dirt on it and gave it some water. I'll be watering it every few days to keep it doing its thing. I was pretty surprised, I assumed with all that decomposing food waste in there, it would have a smell to it, but it just smells like good dirt, no foul odor at all.

I am pretty excited, we've started a little collection container in the kitchen to collect our compostable waste and will be contributing to it daily or so.

In a couple of months (maybe sooner due to heat), with some turning, some watering and adding to it, we should get some nice nitrogen rich soil just in time for September planting!

My apologies for the piss-poor job on the layout of this post, not sure what happened.