Compost Pail/Hole Update

As promised, I'm updating now that I've recieved my bamboo compost pail. It got here super fast and I love it. It sits on the counter next to my sink and it looks nice, it's convenient for dropping things in, and it doesn't smell at all, even if I leave things in it for a couple days. If you compost, it's worth the money for sure.

Just Ordered A Copost Pail

As you know, I started a compost hole last spring. It was super easy, I dug the hole, put some fencing in to stop burrowing creatures from finding their way to a meal.

The only thing that has been frustrating is not having anywhere to keep my goodies until it's time to go to the compost hole. I finally broke down and bought this:
It's a compost pail, I got it from http://www.baregreen.com/ for $34.99. I saw it in a magazine for a higher price. Bare Green had the best price with the same shipping as everywhere else and it looks like I should have it by Friday, I ordered it Monday, so not too shabby. It's made from bamboo and recycled plastic, so it's pretty eco-friendly. You put your veggies scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc... inside and then the plastic pail pulls out for easy transport to your compost hole. The lid has a carbon filter to eliminate order (aka kitty temptations) so that you don't have to dump every day.

My first compost hole...

Nice, huh? This is for Jene, b/c I told her I would do this weeks ago. Sorry for my tardiness. Summer classes have been taking up a lot of my free time. It sucks.

Here is my little hole:

I'm quite happy with it. It's about 2 and a half feet deep give or take. I kept the dirt that I dug out and put in the woods next to my hole. The employee at the garden center that i went to for instruction indicated that after I throw in compost a few times, that I should shovel in a little dirt to cover it. Then to stir or turn it every few days. He also showed me this stuff called organic bio-excellerator. He said that if it's not decomposing fast enough for my use or if my hole is getting too full, to put in some of that and it will decompose super fast. I didn't buy it though, I figure I'll go back later if I need it.

Gross, I know. I lined it with the fence to guard against burrowing animals. We have a mole problem around us. We don't get as many in our yard as our neighbor does, but I wanted to be safe.

So far, I've put in: all of our fruit and veggie scraps (if they are large, I cut them up a bit), egg shells, and coffee grounds and filter. It's been about two weeks, and I can already see the difference in our trash.

I'm showing you this picture to prove that I won the disagreement between me and the H on whether or not the hole is in "the middle of the yard" (quoting my H). The property line is two feet to the left of the telephone pole--into the trees and that pile of wood there. My hole is about two feet to the right of the pole. Not exactly the middle of what is nearly an entire acre. Am I right here people? You can barely see the fencing right in front of the pole there. That corner of the yard barely grows grass for some reason. He told me I could dig my hole back where the grass doesn't grow--voila!

And now I just need to add a nice set of bright outdoor light fixtures to the back of the house, so that I can go back there anytime I want to. We have one out there, but it's small and doesn't do the job.

Garden update

I've had my little potted garden out on the deck for what now, about four weeks? That sounds about right. I've already used the cilantro and the basil quite a bit. The cilantro is growin like crazy. I took some update pics.

Look at all that cilantro. It's easily twice the size of when I bought the starter plant. And if that wasn't enough proof that I can keep a plant alive, I clipped (and used--yum) about ten stems from it two days before I took this pic and it's back to the same size.






And my cute little baby strawberries. There are four, I think.









Buds on my jalapenos.

My Potted Garden

So, not gonna lie, I really don't have much of a green thumb. I really want to grow some veggies this summer though. I've decided that aside from being pretty, flowers don't really give me anything in return, and that's probably why I end up neglecting them and they die. But veggies, I get something! Here goes nothing.

Here is my cute little deck-garden.

Cherry tomatoes
Jalapeno peppers
Basil
Cilantro
Strawberries