Composter Results!

 Today was a perfect day for gardening:

1.  After weeks of 90* temps, we hit a high today of 70*, thanks to a rainstorm that blew in overnight.
2.  I was all ready to teach my Friday class this morning to cover for a coworker, but he made it back from his trip in time and I didn't have any prep to do for tomorrow.
3.  Kaylee, who has stepped out of gardening duties due to a bug or plant that is driving her crazy out there, had a meeting at 3pm.
4.  I harvested the last of the cherry tomatoes this morning, leaving just a few onions and a couple cabbages in our plot.

So it really was the perfect opportunity to spend some time with my girls, digging in the dirt.

Well, when I say "dirt," what I really mean is sand.  That's pretty much all it is.  We didn't do anything to improve it on our last gardening attempt and it didn't produce much except cherry tomatoes and a few green beans and cukes.  We're really hoping to change that with this composter.

I've been wondering how well it was working.  I can't spin it with the door open, obviously, and I really hadn't rummaged around in it much until last week, although I could tell it was fairly mixed up.  The girls and I set a 1/2-inch screen on the wheelbarrow and got to work!

Naturally, we talked about a lot as we worked, but the girls were very curious to know how weeds, grass clippings, chicken manure, lemon rinds, and a lot of other things turned into such nice dirt.  They also wanted to know how it was going to help our garden.  So they got some science knowledge out of the deal as well.

For my part, I was a bit shocked at how well it turned out.  I thought that screening it that fine would surely leave a lot that wouldn't pass through.  It turned out to be maybe 3 shovels-full of rocks, various fruit pits, and a few sticks that hadn't broken down.  And the material we got was excellent!

After we finished cleaning it out, I loaded it up again with our dead tomato plants and then raked out the chicken yard again for the manure, wood shavings, and uneaten fruit/veggies.  It's all loaded up and ready to start working again!

For details about the compost tumbler itself, see this post: Project: Compost Tumbler

Project: Compost Tumbler

Although our change in ministry has removed some of the necessity for me to be innovative and tinkerish, I still continue to work on projects.  We can still benefit from them, it helps me stay sane, and it's just part of me.

Now that we're a bit more settled (can I really say that?), we have been trying our hand at chicken farming (5 hens) and gardening.  We're not really actively involved in either, but want to improve and make the most of our resources.  The dirt here is very sandy and it is tough to garden in, so we need some good compost to fix it up.

Ever since I first saw a commercial compost tumbler years ago, I have thought about making one.  My parents have always had a compost pile for their garden and I wondered if we could "cook" it more efficiently.  I have looked at many designs on the internet and had filed a few away "for the future," meaning: once we're settled.

During our CLA English practicum in June, I decided to finally build one, since I needed projects to do during which the students could spend time with me.

First, I bought a barrel and hauled it home:

Then I cut a hole in the side with my circular saw.  It's just big enough to get my flat-bottom shovel into it easily.

I used rivets to re-attached the door with hinges and slide bolts.

There are a variety of ways to make it tumble.  I chose to build a base with casters mounted on it upside down to support it.  A note on this:  I used some steel 2.5" casters that I had on hand, but they really need to be bigger, especially wider, with bearings. It's a bit hard to turn sometimes.

I put it out by the chicken house and I occasionally rake their yard to collect the manure, bedding (woodshavings), and leftover veggie scraps to throw in to it.  I also throw in grass clippings and ash from the barbecue.  It is definitely cooking!  When I checked it at about 8:30 on this 64*F morning, it was steaming as I opened it and the sun had barely just hit it.

I can't wait to see if we get some good dirt out of it!

Update: We emptied it today! Read about it and see the results in this post here!