Weekend Compost Fun

Someone asked me this morning, "Did you do anything fun over the weekend?"  Did I ever!  On Sunday, I recruited Brandon to help me build a compost bin.  I've been watching this guys videos, and getting excited about mulching my garden with compost.  Until now, all my compost making has been rather passive.  I needed a dedicated bin so I can mix and stack my materials, and protect them from the weather and the chickens. 

Brandon and I scavenged around the farm digging up old pallets from their resting places.  Some of the old pallets had been resting on the ground, with hay stacked on them, so they were getting soft in places.  We used them anyway. 

Wendigo was very helpful during our work, thoughtfully bringing us toys and sticks to play with. 

With just a few screws and some heavy lifting, we had a double compost bin structure put together in no time.  While we worked we laughed about the first compost bin we ever built out of pallets, years and years ago.  We had little experience building things back then, and assembling pallets into a square seemed like such a major undertaking.  I'm pretty sure we spent an entire weekend on the job, but I can't remember what took so long.  It's amazing how much difference some experience and a workshop full of tools makes. 

To create a lid for the bins, Brandon used a metal cutting blade on his skill saw, and cut down some old tin roofing pieces to fit the bins. 

He even managed to scrounge up some hinges, so the piece in the front can be flipped back out the way.  The chickens did a thorough inspection and approved the compost bin for use. 

For my first intentional compost making experiment, I cleaned all the chicken dropping from the floor of the mobile chicken coop, and layered them with partially rotten hay.  I put a few inches of old hay, then a sprinkling of chicken manure, then more hay, and alternated layers until all the manure was used up.  I also used the hose, and sprayed down each layer of hay as I went, so the whole stack is damp.  I was hoping for at least three feet of chicken manure and hay, but didn't quite have enough.  I will have to finish my stack with donkey dung and old hay.  I shouldn't have any trouble filling both of these bins as the season progresses.  I hope to have some finished compost ready by summer, so I can mulch my plants, retain the soil moisture, and provide my crops with plenty of nutrition. 

By the end of the day, my whole body was tired from all that scooping, hosing, and layering.  I even got a bit of sunburn!  What a great day.