I’ve written about composting before but here I am again. I love it so much I just can’t stop. The idea that our old banana peels and coffee grounds makes this rich garden soil is so amazing (and so is the price tag: FREE). I use this compost to fill up all of our containers of flowers and herbs every spring, with only a small bit of store-bought soil to smooth over the top.
This weekend it was finally time to check the backyard composter and get it going again. I tossed in a bowl of fruit peels and vegetable scraps and gave the whole thing a good turn. The scraps break down with the help of both aerobic and anaerobic kinds of bacteria (meaning, bacteria that needs air to survive and another that does not). The bacteria which needs air is faster at breaking down the compost, so that’s the kind I want to encourage by regular turning and poking of the compost. Water is important too, but in order to help keep the bacteria population healthy the compost pile can’t be soaking wet.
I was surprised that the leaves in our compost bin were crunchy dry after the long winter, so I dumped in a bucket of water right after I took this photo:
In a month or so I’ll scrape out the dirt that has been brewing at the bottom of the composter and it will be SO SATISFYING. I just hope our green bin won’t feel too neglected for the next while.