LAST POST ON COMPOSTING?

HOORAY!!! NO MORE POSTS ON COMPOSTING? Well, maybe a mention occasionally but I promise not to bore you with dreary details.

Have you noticed my new profile photo? I am caught partway through making a portable composting bin and, in the process, reviving some satisfying carpentry skills. The bin is likely the final phase of compost bin construction for me; I set it up just last night. Here is the historical array, from left to right, the first to last.

As remarked in a previous post, a compost pile needs to be around 48 cubic feet (1.9 cubic metres) so that heat is retained while the myriads of microbes go about their work. A hot pile means compost faster. The catch is that the pile has to be kept aerated or else it will go anaerobic (smelly and not quite what one wants) which means that the heap has to be turned over regularly. A pitchfork helps a lot but a portable bin goes further to ease the work. The four sides are held together by 'hook and eye' latches. When the pile needs turning over one simply disassembles the bin, sets it up alongside the pile, and pitches the pile into the bin.

Here is the latch arrangement and you can see that the frames are lined with hardware cloth (of course, chicken wire is fine too). All this will be put to the test today (Memorial Day) when I do the actual forking over.

All told, I think it took about two days work to make the bin, no doubt faster if you have a proper workshop including a bench saw that would make the cutting out faster. I admit to enjoying the construction. The frames are quite square and exactly the same size. Why the white paint? you might well ask. Well, it was the paint I had and I thought it would turn out brownish. Ah well, at least it is weather proofed and will last longer.

Apart from the benefits of composting (great for the soil structure and worms love it), I have enjoyed finding out about the entire process. Maybe I will venture into vermiculture but worms seem to be a picky bunch and have to be treated well. As I say, Watch this space....

Expect the next post to be a Birthday Post.