Oh Poo

We are expecting cooler temps this week so it was time for me to get a start on next years garden.  Many of the flowers are still blooming such as the zinnias and Jacob's Beard but once we get the hard freeze that are predicted mid-week my gardening, for this year, will be done.

First I emptied my compost tumbler and sifted it.

I use the wheel barrow and an old door screen.  It provides the perfect size to spread over the gardens.

With the tumbler now empty I took what I had going in the compost bin and put it into the tumbler along with leaves and shredded paper.  The best combination for heating up compost is 3 parts dry (the leaves and paper) to 1 part wet (coffee grounds, kitchen scraps (no meat products), lawn clippings).  You want compost to heat up to kill off pathogens (bad stuff) and to break it down into good loamy soil. Home composters like myself love a hot bin.

My bestest gal pal, Ms. K, is a recent convert to the benefits of composted poo.  She lives in a condo and doesn't have her own plot of land to garden in.  Ms. K wasn't going to let that stop her from having pretty flowers to greet her as she returns home from either of her two jobs.  She claimed the rock bed at the bottom of her stairs and made herself her own little garden. She even made this adorable birdbath herself! 

Each fall Ms. K and I load up Mr. B's truck with shovels, pitchforks and bins and head to a nearby horse rescue farm.  We go in the pursuit of hot steamy semi composted manure, good old fashioned poo! 

 

The poo is free for the taking but we always leave a donation so that they may continue to care for abandoned and/ or abused horses. 

And poo they have!  Mountains of it in fact!

Ms. K and I dug in.  The warm temperatures had heated the pile up pretty good.  If you look closely you can see it was steamin'!

We loaded up our bins as full as we could.  I am thinking I need to get some more bins for next year.  I'd do a truck bed full if I could!

We took one of the bins and spread it over Ms. K's garden.  The other bins came home with me for my compost bin.

I started first with a layer of shredded. paper.  I am able to get the paper from work, friends like Ms. K, and Mr. B. He shreds up, each week, all of the junk mail and any other documents no longer needed.  

Next comes a bin of poo.

I continue layering in this way until all of the poo has been emptied.  I am left with a full compost bin.  

I will continue to add materials until early spring.  Then I will empty and sift what is the tumbler to add to my gardens and refill it with some of the material from the compost bin.  Now, some will say my way isn't the most efficient but it works for me.  I don't get weeds and my gardens seem to love it!  I am a strong believer in composting.  Done right there is no smell and it keeps tons of waste out of the landfills.  

Here are my tools:

And an example of the results:

(Don't miss this post where I announce that I am planning a giveaway soon)