Project 1: Compost
Composting! Am I right? Who knew that there were so many options and different methods of composting!! Not us, that's for sure.
Most of them seemed very complicated, time consuming and stinky! There are things called composting heaps which are three piles (collected, turned, finished) and they take years from setting up to shovelling the compost out. Not to mention the back breaking work! Big NO!! Who's got time for that?!?
After many (and I mean maaaaany) Google searches & YouTube videos researching the easiest and physically low impact method to make compost we both finally decided on the Maze Compost Tumbler.
Why? Well, these are our reasons:
It's easy for Yianni to use (most important reason!)
There's no smell, or mess
Developed & designed in Australia
Rodent proof (also a very very important reason)
Easy to collect compost that's ready to use, while you're "cooking" up another batch in the 2nd compartment
It's also easy to clean, if we need to
Great independent reviews
Company had great aftermarket service
We also bought a compost cart to wheel under the barrel when the compost was ready to empty out.
How, you may ask, does putting together a compost bin equal therapy?
You may not think it, but getting someone to follow instructions on how to put things together is quite good therapy to get the grey cells firing.
Thankfully, the compost barrel/bin that we chose had fantastic instructions and even had a guide of actual sizes to compare all of the screws as a double check! Awesome!!
Yianni read the instructions for the cart and put this together by himself and he did a great job!
The compost tumbler was a different story. He read through the instructions (twice) and due to the 20 or so steps, we put it together as a team...and we both survived!!
From start to finish, it took us about 3 hours. It's pretty nifty right?!!
We put it in position at the back of the garden and will start using it soon.
How Does a Compost Tumbler Work?
This compost bin doesn't need worms to be added. You fill it with shredded paper, lawn clippings, organic waste such as vegetable peels or leaves fallen from trees. You can chose to use a starter, manure or even soil to get the process going, but it's not necessary. We have chosen to use nothing at all...you know because we're super proficient in gardening and all that!
The organic material is broken down by lots of microbes and living organisms that are fuelled by oxygen.
Once we fill in the 1st compartment, all that Yianni has to remember is to turn the tumbler two or three times a week to mix everything together and allow fresh supplies of oxygen to enter the compartment through the vents.
We will check back in about a month to see how he goes with the turning and to see if we have created any compost to put into the soil for our garden!!
Wish us luck!!
PROJECT 2: CHOOSING PLANTS TO GROW
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