Kim’ Composting System

A few weeks ago I cleaned out my old composting box which I built with hardware cloth and wood two years ago.  The leaves and grass broke down into beautiful compost but the branches, roots and twigs were still solid.  I decided to redesign my structure into two simple forms and use only grass clippings, leaves and kitchen scraps  (no meat or diary products) in these.  Instead of building the big boxes that I wanted, I decided to go with simple and cheap (in this case free) since my resilience money has run dry. I used my old 5′ tall hardware cloth.  I secured the sides with twisties.  I may pull a couple of black garbage bags over these to heat up the compost and speed up the whole process once they fill up.

I also use a large trash can that I drilled holes in for composting but I have to be careful to keep the green a brown matter equal.  Too many fruits and veggies without the addition of leaves, dirt or paper products result in maggots.

Occasionally I help out the city garbage collectors by picking up the neighbor’s leaves all bagged up on the curb.  In the late fall there was plenty to fill up my entire composter and cover my dormant garden beds.

My worm composter works well but slow.  It takes a while for the worms to break down our scraps.  The best thing about this composter is the compost tea that comes out the spigot every time it rains. I’m hoping the bottom tray will be full of castings by the end of summer.

The chickens are the best composters of all.  They eat EVERYTHING and turn it into gold (eggs and manure).   We don’t have eggs yet but it won’t be long now.