A little over a year ago, S and I went to a county-sponsored workshop about composting and thus we began that little backyard adventure. Well, I have been thoroughly frustrated with it. I started off afraid to have to much green matter in it and so I promptly loaded up the bin with all the brown matter I could find- specifically all the dried up leaves from my front yard. I filled the bin. There was definitely no odor, but then there was no compost either. I started adding the grass clipping and then started trying to turn it periodically. With a completely full, woefully imbalanced, compost bin, this was definitely starting a LONG process. In the meantime, I had a successful crop in the little raised bed next to the compost bin. By "a," I really mean one successful crop. That was it. All I had after that crop was sand instead of dirt.
Meanwhile, the compost started churning a little, finally got hot and I thought I was on my way to having success. But I kept adding stuff to it, instead of following the directions from the class and starting a separate pile. There are sound and good reasons for rules. Well then I was ticked off that I didn't have usable compost AND dead dirt. I abandoned the garden plot and the bin for months, with the exception of adding occasional kitchen scraps. At some point in the last month, I looked out the window at the little plot and the bin. I had a dandelion weed easily 3 feet tall and several other HUGE weeds in the plot and growing out the sides of the bin. And I thought saw a random tomato plant growing in the plot.
I finally got out there today to deal with it. I got the enormous weeds out of the plot and realized, yes, there was a thriving tomato plant. And I needed to hurry and get it staked because it already had a couple flowers on it. I went to the compost bin and saw I had about 10 potato plants thriving. I transplanted the potato plants to the freshly weeded plot and then started working on the bin. With an old colander I had long since designated for compost, I started sifting the compost to separate the finished product from the unfinished. It turned out most of the bin, about 75-80%, was finished compost. The plot is full of fresh compost and actually smells earthy and rich. I was even able to fill a bucket with extra finished compost and spread a bunch of finished stuff over the sandy backyard. I watered the plot and the rest of the compost and staked the potato and tomato plants.
I was reminded of a couple very important lessons by this process. First, follow the dang directions. It really is the wise thing to do. Second, sometimes we have exactly what we need, if we're just willing to sift out the garbage we keep adding to the pile. This second one has applications for me in lots of areas, from grocery shopping to my relationship with God.
Meanwhile, the compost started churning a little, finally got hot and I thought I was on my way to having success. But I kept adding stuff to it, instead of following the directions from the class and starting a separate pile. There are sound and good reasons for rules. Well then I was ticked off that I didn't have usable compost AND dead dirt. I abandoned the garden plot and the bin for months, with the exception of adding occasional kitchen scraps. At some point in the last month, I looked out the window at the little plot and the bin. I had a dandelion weed easily 3 feet tall and several other HUGE weeds in the plot and growing out the sides of the bin. And I thought saw a random tomato plant growing in the plot.
I finally got out there today to deal with it. I got the enormous weeds out of the plot and realized, yes, there was a thriving tomato plant. And I needed to hurry and get it staked because it already had a couple flowers on it. I went to the compost bin and saw I had about 10 potato plants thriving. I transplanted the potato plants to the freshly weeded plot and then started working on the bin. With an old colander I had long since designated for compost, I started sifting the compost to separate the finished product from the unfinished. It turned out most of the bin, about 75-80%, was finished compost. The plot is full of fresh compost and actually smells earthy and rich. I was even able to fill a bucket with extra finished compost and spread a bunch of finished stuff over the sandy backyard. I watered the plot and the rest of the compost and staked the potato and tomato plants.
I was reminded of a couple very important lessons by this process. First, follow the dang directions. It really is the wise thing to do. Second, sometimes we have exactly what we need, if we're just willing to sift out the garbage we keep adding to the pile. This second one has applications for me in lots of areas, from grocery shopping to my relationship with God.