Make a Simple Compost Bin

Hi everyone!

One of the things we were happy to get into place at the farm is compost bin areas. We make our compost completely organically and with only vegetation (no animal products).

Cost and time are always an issue for us. Fortunately making a compost bin doesn’t require either!

We grabbed a few pieces of lumber that we got off of Craiglists for free (just had to load it up) and 5 pallets from the pallet pile at the farm. Craigslist is a good place to find free local pallets. They are always listed for free if you pick them up.

Simply stand the pallets on ends and start nailing the extra boards to the top. You are just joining them together. You don’t need to join them on the bottom if you don’t want. We didn’t.

Although ours is up against a hoop house, it is still free standing. Nothing was nailed into the end of the hoop house. And as you can see, we aren’t going for beauty here. The beauty lies in the compost! LOL

This is so simple, you don’t even need to worry about doing any measuring. Nothing has to be perfect. Pallets rarely are. One side is used for the fresh “to be broke down vegetation” and once it does, it gets moved to the other side.

This whole compost unit could be lifted and moved somewhere else if we wanted.

We are making several more of these compost stations in other areas at the farm. Keeping compost bins close to where you farm/garden is ideal. Less work and you are more inclined to use them.

Start dumping in your weeds and vegetable/fruit scraps. I am always so amazed when we drive down local streets on trash day and see the bags of yard trimmings and what nots that you have to bag up separate and put out for the trash. And quite often you have to pay for a certain amount of extra bags!

 

Do you compost? If so, what is your method?

It’s All About the Worms!

Hi everyone!

Last week we organized a special presentation for the kids during school. It was….Worm Day!

Let me explain.

At the High School we volunteer, we started teaching them about composting. And one of the very best composting is Vermi Posting. This is a worm compost method. The rich black compost that is created through this method is referred to as Black Gold by gardeners. The is the crème de le crème of compost! One tablespoon of this in a houseplant will do miracles for you plant. It is in very high demand and is very expensive.

Given the right environment, the worms will go to work to digest the kitchen scraps and bedding faster than any other compost method. The material will pass through the worms' bodies and become "castings." In about 3-4 months, the worms will have digested nearly all the garbage and bedding and the bin will be filled with a rich, black natural fertilizer and soil amendment. Compared to ordinary soil, the worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus and 11 times more potassium. They are rich in humic acids and improve the structure of the soil

Check out this source to read more and to learn how to built and maintain your own worm compost. UNL Extension in Lancaster County

Red Compost Worms

There is a select group of teenagers that have been working with Troy to create this compost and keep it up. Four teenage girls really got involved and decided that this is what they wanted to work on for their project for the FFA Leadership Skills Demonstration Competition.

We offered them the opportunity to practice their demonstration at the princess’s preschool class as a way to prepare for this big competition. The girls jumped at the chance! We knew the kids would love it! hello….we are talking worms here!

The girls did a great presentation and all the kids loved it.

The next day, this modified gray tub made it’s permanent home in the classroom. It is filled with worms, shredded newspaper, a little soil and a pulverized apple to get the worms feeding.

And of course, part of the learning process is to let the kids touch and pick up the worms. Those worms were all over this table!

The children gather around when one of us or the teachers feed the worms. They are excited to realize that their lunch time vegetable/fruit leftovers get recycled by feeding them to the worms.

There are so many amazing lessons that can be taught through this project. I know that our volunteer project aren’t exactly the “norm” for preschoolers but, they seem to enjoy them as do the teachers and even other classrooms want to visit this classroom!

And we have a worm compost and a regular compost at the high school. We are excited because we have been talking with a professional composting company in partnering up with us at the high school for even more learning experience in this area.

Composting

I will be doing a presentation on composting at the Wyandotte Farmers Market Thursday July 7, but I wont have nearly enough time to cover everything.

My composting tutorial has appeared on my other blog, but here are some quick links to take you through it step by step.

A step by step tutorial for the beginning composter.

Composting I -What is Compost?

Composting II -Getting Started

Composting III -What to Compost

Composting IV -pH

Composting V - Aerobic vs Anaerobic

Composting VI -Using Compost

Composting Q & A