Compost Bin
The composter is not unattractive as it is made from wood and it is off to the side of the yard. I decided to place a narrow garden in front of it anyway. Any excuse for a new garden... The tall grasses get high enough to screen it from view when I am on the deck, and the garden is full of yellow, white, red, orange, and blue flowers in mid to late summer.
My Composting Bin: The Oldsmobile of Composters
My husband Tom knew more about gardening than I did when I started digging in the dirt in 1983. He also knew more about DIRT than I did! He told me about "improving" the soil and the value of adding organic matter known as 'compost' to the dirt on our property. And everything I read thereafter confirmed the validity of his advice.
I bought a wonderful book called "Crockett's Victory Garden" written by PBS guru Jim Crockett (Little, Brown & Co., 1977). In it there was information about the nature and process of composting as well as a design drawing and materials list to build "the Cadillac of composters", a three-bin structure that I simply had to own. But since we couldn't afford a Cadillac, Tom built me "the Oldsmobile of composters", a perfectly adequate two-bin composter that still functions, 34 years later. It is left-of-center in this photo.
Composting is a smart thing to do for the environment's sake--you know: reduce, reuse, recycle--but I compost selfishly and for my own sake. What results from composting is a miraculous substance--black gold, we gardeners call it. It is the best thing you can put into your garden. It's full of nutrients (which is good for both poor and rich soil), it adds a lightness to the soil that permits air circulation (which is good for roots), and it has a sponge-like quality that holds moisture (which good for sandy soils and is great during droughts).
There are places you can buy compost, but it can be done simply and cheaply--you don't need an Oldsmobile or a Cadillac! Look it up in any garden book or Google "composting" for all the information you need to start. It is worth the effort.