When we started the garden, we decided it would be a good idea to start a compost pile. It would be great to get the stinky stuff out of the kitchen trash can and also give nutrients to our garden! Currently, this is what we have:
Yes, we are using an empty cat litter container to store our compost. We truly thought it would work, up until we came upon these tiiiiny, little, itsy-bitsy (huge) problems:
1. No lid.
2. Koop eating it.
3. Maggots.
4. Too close to house.
5. Koop eating it.
I (sort of) fixed problem #1 by placing a lid on top that wasn't securely fastened to it. Well, that isn't stopping problem #2, so neither are ultimately resolved. And #3 is just intolerable. Sure, they might be necessary for the decaying process or something, but I don't care. They are disgusting. Have you ever seen one? *Shivers* They're awful. So #3 poses a threat because of #4 and yet we can't really move it to another place in the yard because of #5. Therein lies my problem. [Insert blog post title here].
After seeing the maggots, I was 100% positive that I was throwing the container out with the trash Monday morning. However, Ryan still really wanted to keep our compost going. And since he pretty much dug out all of the dirt for our garden, I guess I should take into account what he had to say about the way we treat it. Right? Haha! So, I started asking around, as I always do, and got a few pointers as to how I should approach it. Mainly, it was the issue with what it was stored in and where. I swear if any of those nasties somehow end up in my living room, I will get very, very violent with them.
Anyway, it's been pretty recurrent through this gardening process that we really didn't think anything completely through. Thus, I took the time to research home composting to gather some ideas about how to do it right. Gardening tip #8: First of all, I sound like a broken record, but - Plan before you garden! And second, composting is a lot more difficult than it seems. You can't store meat or anything that's very fatty, it's just not organic enough I suppose and doesn't decompose properly or maybe the meat is so steroid-filled that it would just choke your garden to death. Haha! It's best to store organic things like banana peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, grass clippings and leaves. Now that you know what to store, you've got to find something to store it in. Preferably not in an empty cat litter container, close to the house and easily accessible to your dog... :) If you don't have the space (or have animals) and can't place your compost in a pile in your backyard, get something to store it in. In something like this:
After seeing the maggots, I was 100% positive that I was throwing the container out with the trash Monday morning. However, Ryan still really wanted to keep our compost going. And since he pretty much dug out all of the dirt for our garden, I guess I should take into account what he had to say about the way we treat it. Right? Haha! So, I started asking around, as I always do, and got a few pointers as to how I should approach it. Mainly, it was the issue with what it was stored in and where. I swear if any of those nasties somehow end up in my living room, I will get very, very violent with them.
Anyway, it's been pretty recurrent through this gardening process that we really didn't think anything completely through. Thus, I took the time to research home composting to gather some ideas about how to do it right. Gardening tip #8: First of all, I sound like a broken record, but - Plan before you garden! And second, composting is a lot more difficult than it seems. You can't store meat or anything that's very fatty, it's just not organic enough I suppose and doesn't decompose properly or maybe the meat is so steroid-filled that it would just choke your garden to death. Haha! It's best to store organic things like banana peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, grass clippings and leaves. Now that you know what to store, you've got to find something to store it in. Preferably not in an empty cat litter container, close to the house and easily accessible to your dog... :) If you don't have the space (or have animals) and can't place your compost in a pile in your backyard, get something to store it in. In something like this:
Apparently it's good to grind up the compost, so this has a nice mixing handle at the bottom that spits out the nicely decayed compost.
And look - it's taller than Koop!! Also, it's not that expensive, around 40 bucks. The other reeeeeally nice ones are more like 100-200 bucks, but I think I can settle for this one. It's the next item on my purchase list for the garden. Then it will have nutrient rich dirt whenever it pleases! I think, after looking at better ways to store it, that I am pretty sure about keeping a compost pile. At least until I see more maggots. *Shivers*
Well, I'll leave you with that. If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know I'm destroying all of the maggots in the world. Until next time...
¡Adiós!
--Gardener in Training
And look - it's taller than Koop!! Also, it's not that expensive, around 40 bucks. The other reeeeeally nice ones are more like 100-200 bucks, but I think I can settle for this one. It's the next item on my purchase list for the garden. Then it will have nutrient rich dirt whenever it pleases! I think, after looking at better ways to store it, that I am pretty sure about keeping a compost pile. At least until I see more maggots. *Shivers*
Well, I'll leave you with that. If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know I'm destroying all of the maggots in the world. Until next time...
¡Adiós!
--Gardener in Training
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