Thursday, February 24, 2011

I've struck gold!

Black gold!

No. I haven't been doing any experimental drilling in the back yard. I knew exactly where to dig, the back of the alley...It may not look like much, but this plastic bin prevents us from having to throw our fruit and vegetable parings and garden waste into the trashcan, saving pounds of waste each week. A few times a year I take the lid off, stab my spade in and mix around all of the plant material. I also occasionally add a bucket of water to the top and, if I remember, a few handfuls of commercially available compost booster. In return for this small amount of work 2 or 3 times a year I open the bottom flap and scoop out shovel after shovel full of rich compost, ready to return nutrients to the soil.
This haul produced half of a large trashcan worth of compost. I picked out the peach pits and bigger twigs that have yet to break down (many people sift their compost to get all the un-finished bits out, in continuance of my lazy gardening style, I tend to just pick out the big stuff and let the egg shells finish their composting already mixed into the garden) and spread it on the slowly warming soil. Before I plant the peas and cabbage I will turn the compost into the soil, and even though the effects may not be as visually dramatic as Miracle-Gro, I know that my plants will be stronger and healthier inside and out.