Our 1st Veggie Garden - Week 5 - Our Free, Recycled Compost Bin

Spent this weekend doing some transplanting, splitting and thinning.

Still haven't harvested anything, BUT we finally have zucchini!  We had 2 girl flowers that have produced fruit and there are several more girl stalks coming in.  Yay!!!  I think in a couple of weeks we are actually going to have a problem with way too many zucchini. all 8 plants I got from the school have taken off.  I'd love to give some away.

Soon you will be in my mouth little ones!!

The cucumbers have done quite well and I am pretty sure a couple of them will be working their way into my salad bowl by weeks end!  I can't wait.  Jerry picked some cucumbers up for me yesterday and they were a dollar each.  Right now the store bought cucumbers are sliced up with some fresh dill from the garden waiting to be in my tummy.

The view under out cucumber net/trellis right now.

Now for our big project this weekend, the free, re-purposed, compost bin.



All the leaves from this fall had been sitting in the corner of the yard making lovely leaf mulch, but we used it all a couple weeks ago around the trees in the front yard, so we decided to do an actual compost pile this year.

Step 1:  Our city has issued 96 gallon trash bins so we had extra trash cans.  We picked one of the bins and "drilled" 1 inch holes in the bottom for drainage and 2 rows around the outside not more than 12 inches from the bottom space a few inches apart.  This will allow worms and other bugs in to work their magic.  We harvested about 30 worms from the leaf mulch pile and put them in with the veggies. (try and use a dark colored bin to retain more heat from the sun)

Arrows show where some of the holes are

Step 2:  Dig a hole about 16 inches deep and round enough to put the trash can in.  Save the dirt to back fill around the trash can for a snug fit. (choose an area that will get plenty of sun to heat things up)

Here's hubby checking the final fit

Step 3:  Pop the lid on and you are ready to add grass clippings, leaves and kitchen scraps (no dairy or meat).  You will have to use a shovel or pitchfork occasionally to aerate the mixture.  Or if you have an aerator that is even better.  We were lucky enough to have been left one in the shed.

Finished bin in the back, NE corner of the yard where it will get afternoon sun.
The ivy and grass will grow back around it making in virtually unnoticeable.

 Now, we are using this bin for our "edibles" compost; meaning for the plants we tend to eat. There are different schools of thought as to whether or not dog waste can go into the bin.  Some people say absolutely not, while others say it's no different than squirrels, raccoons, birds and who knows what pooping on your veggies in the garden, you are going to wash them no matter what is in your compost. Right?

I guess it is a personal preference depending on the size of your dog, how many dogs, how much you compost, etc...  Our dogs are small, but we have 3 of them, so that's a lot of poop.  We are only 2 adults in our household so I don't think here is enough material to compost to balance out that much poop.

For now at least, we are keeping a separate pile for the dogs with dried leaves and yard clippings like we did last year and will use that leaf mulch for our "non-edible" plants.  It does make beautiful stuff!