Tag Archives: composter

Composting Failure

Posted on January 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

Last year I made my own composter  out of a plastic trash can, based on plans I got from a blog.  The author said it worked great.  For me, not so much.

I don’t know where that enterprising blogger lives, but it must be in a place where there are no squirrels.  One of the determined little buggers, with the precision of a robotic plasma torch, chewed a perfectly circular hole about the size of a soup can in the side of my can.  It then crawled inside to feast.  On one particular day the trashcan was rocking like one of those wobbly tables down at the all-you-can-eat buffet joint.

Gotta buy a new trashcan and start over.  This time it’ll be metal.

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Adding a Rain Barrel and a Composter

Posted on April 16, 2012 | 3 comments

My rain barrelI promised I was going to do this, and I finally did (my tax refund at work).  For less than $100 I have done some things that are good for the environment and will also pay for themselves, probably in the first year.  City water costs money, and so does bagged dirt from Southern States.

I got my rain barrel from a guy named Gene over in Lakeside for $60.  It took 10 minutes to install.

I made my composter with a trash can I got at Pleasants Hardware for $18.  Here’s a series of photos illustrating the process.

Drill it full of holes (I used 3/8")Make a level base that allows air flowTa-daa - a trash can composter.

Add plenty of leaves with your food scraps, and keep the contents moist, like a kitchen sponge after squeezing it dry.  Do not add meat or cheese, because small compost piles don’t develop enough heat to break down that kind of stuff.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

UPDATE 1/6/13: The rain barrels are awesome, but the composter stinks.  I’ll blog about it soon and the link will be here.

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