A second compost bin - don't wait for Christmas, honey

I'm a garden geek. My son calls me a green freak. My daughter? You'll see.


My husband, while he doesn't actively seek out green behaviors, supports my green proclivities. In fact, he brought home my first composter and later bought me a small city-girl sized pitchfork to go with it. Lately I've been hinting that I need a second compost bin. "What's wrong with this one?" he asked. I answered him, "Nothing's wrong with it; it's full."






That was in May. Luckily, compost shrinks (compacts) as it decomposes, making room for more. Now it's August, and the bin is filled to the brim with organic matter. It needs stirring, and then I'd really like to leave it alone for a full year - a full twelve months or more. That means next spring I would not empty the bin and till it into the garden soil; I'd let nature take its course until spring 2011 instead, giving everything a better chance to decompose completely. But meanwhile, where would my kitchen scraps and yard waste go? Enter the new composter.


My new composter is smaller and cuter than my big beautiful bin. It has some nice features, too. This composter has a base and an insert to keep the solids off the bottom and let the liquids, the "compost tea," drain off, and a spigot in front for collection. Compost tea makes a great fertilizer, I've been told.


When I want to empty the compost, I simply open the back. It stays open nicely, which will make it simple to shovel the rich soil enhancer into my wheelbarrow.


The holes in the sides have purpose: they allow air to circulate and speed up the process, and the holes are big enough that I can poke a broom handle or stick inside to aerate the compost itself. And last, I mentioned it's somewhat smaller than my old one. It's still a hefty size - big enough to fit a college senior inside. Yes, that's La Petite, modeling the new composter for all of my lovely readers.

This great new composter is from Algreen Products. It's available at GardenSuperMart.com. As soon as I decide where to place it, I'll post more pictures! Then I'll fill it with kitchen scraps and weeds and other organic goodies, and let the compost happen - naturally.