Build a Compost Bin - Elizabeth's WayTo build a compost bin Elizabeth, of the Lasagna Garden and the Dog Food Caper fame, transforms her poor little Chevette into a mini monster truck and hauls many heavy... Well here is the story in her words.Elizabeth and her Trusty Chevette Build a Compost BinThat summer, I made several trips to the lumber yard in my little Chevette and lugged home a quantity of those 8" x 8" x 16" cement foundation blocks. I built myself two boxes side by side that were four feet high and eight feet wide and eight feet deep. All summer long, I piled garden trimmings and grass clippings and vegetable refuse from the kitchen into the left-hand box. Come fall, I piled as much of the neighbors' leaves into it as it would hold, and put the rest on my garden, along with a couple of layers of alfalfa hay, which I had to pay for this time because there weren't any rain-damaged bales to be had, but which I felt was important for the health of my garden. The Father-In-Law Feud ContinuesMy father-in-law said that that box of clippings and so on would never decompose, that it was too solid and compact, but again he turned out to be mistaken.It decomposed perfectly! I used it on some flower beds I built and grew the biggest, happiest, most bug-free flowers you ever saw! And while I was whittling down last year's pile of compost by spreading it around on the flower beds, I was building up next year's pile of compost by putting all plant refuse in the second box I had built for just that purpose. It worked perfectly! I hope I may be forgiven for seeming so smug and pleased with myself. It tickled me no end to get the jump on my father-in-law! To get twice the tomatoes (and more) out of my garden with half the work (or less) than he got out of his. Build a Compost Bin or Two or Three - And Give the Chevette a BreakToday there's materials that make the construction of a compost heap so much easier than lugging those heavy bricks around. I saw some stiff green mesh at the hardware store the other day that sets up in a circle about three feet in diameter and all you do is just fill it up and start another circle. They're only about $15 apiece. What a concept! Regards ... Elizabeth Build a compost bin the hard way with heavy cement blocks - or the easy way with the mesh - or your way... with whatever you have lying around. Return to Compost Bins from Build a Compost Bin |
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