ON Jan 9 of this year I wrote a post about composting on a small scale using 30 something gallon lidded garbage cans like this:
I have four of them. I boosted the Jan 9 post so it's just below this one. Feel free to read it.
I'm always interested making improvements to any of my methods, and I had a little epiphany this weekend when I dragged one of my multi hundred pound cans of finished compost over to the bed to dump it. OK, maybe only a hundred pounds. But it was HEAVY. And I had to go a long ways- like 20 feet or something.
Halfway there I wished it was half empty.
The thought of a half empty can gave me an IDEA. I've been using the Earth Auger (March 5 2020) to turn my compost inside the can. It works, its easier than any other way I could think of to rotate the compost inside the can.
I think this year I'll line my cans up right next to each other, and in my head they are numbered one to four, with number one being the closest to the house. All my scraps- yard and kitchen, (and some of my neighbors scraps) along with charcoal and shredded paper will go into can one. Here's the new part- when can one gets one third to one half full, I'll pick it up and dump it into can number two. Turned over, viola. Put more fresh stuff into can one,when partial full dump can two into can three and can one into can two. Continue. By the time the first half can gets to can four it will have been turned three times. Can four will be the first can to fill up. Eventually can three will fill, then can two, and by then the season will be over and can one will be freezing and thawing over the winter. I still fill a can with kitchen scraps over the winter, and I think the freeze thaw actually speeds up decomposition.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Meantime, go plant something.
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