Since I need room in the compost bin for the upcoming fall clean-up, I figured it was time to start taking out the finished product. I hauled 6 small wheelbarrow loads today and figure I have another 6 or so to do.

It always amazed me how all that plant material - the garden, last years leaves and a years worth of kitchen waste condenses down into such a small volume of compost, but that's how it works. I love the process!

And no, I don't follow what the books say. You know, the proper ratio of green material to brown material and added garden soil and all that. The raw stuff just get dumped into the bins as I get it. I keep it moist and turn it a couple of times during the summer. A year later, it's finished. My two boulevard gardens are the lucky recipients of all of it this year. I can't wait to see how the zinnias do next year.

Kevin

What kind of bin do you use?

Making compost is work. There's no getting around that. A few times a year, I pitch-fork out all the material inside and pitch-fork it back in. Trust me, that stuff is heavy and not a pleasant task on a hot and humid July day, but you have to do it.

Karin - I have three bins. Here they are with a few comments. Least favorite first.

This one is as close to worthless as you can get. It's too small, the walls are too thin and all the air vents make it almost impossible to keep the contents moist. I think I got this one from Gardeners Supply or someplace similar.

This one is a lot better. It's larger, the walls are thicker, not as many air vents. However, one kind of annoying feature are these little doors on the bottom sides. They keep falling off and I never use them. Contrary to what a lot of ads say, you don't shovel the finished product out these bottom doors. It just doesn't work that way. This is by Toro.

By far, my absolute favorite is this one by Rubbermaid. I simply adore it because it works. It's very large, the walls are thick so they really keep the heat in. There are NO air vents and no little doors on the bottom. It took about a minute to put the whole thing together. Very simple and material inside starts to decompose very quickly. I would like to get another one of these, but I don't know if they still make them.

Kevin

It's very satisfying when you get a great batch of compost. Congrats!

Dee