As we transition from the winter that never was here on the east coast of North America, gardeners like me have been stepping out into the yard, or at least thinking about it. The new season brings new possibilities and another opportunity to create.
By far the best return on investment that I can suggest for a productive garden is compost. This weekend I dragged two of my children (kicking and screaming) outside to help me prepare our humble vegetable garden.
We simply transferred the compost that had been patiently percolating for the past year and tilled it into the garden. Now we’re ready to plant.
I’m not going to dazzle you with stats on the virtues of composting, but it’s a simple way grow organic at home and helps to produce great results. Compost bins can be very simple. I built this with a neighbor last year in about an hour and it cost less than $40 in materials.
The alternative to composting doesn’t gel with me; stuffing yard waste into plastic bags for council collection makes little sense. If you despise waste like I do then it’s counterintuitive to go to all that trouble to throw away a valuable part of your garden.
Please enjoy the photos (below) of our compost harvesting.
Extracting the compost from the tumbler. Excited kids!
Compost ready for harvest. Gardening gold!
We filled four large bucket loads of compost this year, perfect for a small vegetable garden.
Reaching deep inside the tumbler to harvest the compost.
Transferring compost to vegetable garden. That's me wearing my best gardening / painting clothes.
Compost has been tilled into the garden, and now we're ready to plant.
Weeds from around the vegetable garden now go back into the tumbler to begin the composting batch for next year.
Do you compost? What do you do with green kitchen and yard material?
Great pictures, Hunter. I love them. I do not compost, because I do not garden. I plan to tiptoe into gardening this year with a potted herb garden. Do you have trouble keeping animals out of your garden? Our backyard is overrun with squirrels, bunnies, and animals of all kinds really.
Thanks Julie! I hope you share some pics of your potting project. We do have a few critters! Rabbits would eat everything we grow without the little fence around the vegetable garden.
That looks like a lot of fun! I’ve seen some cool composting stuff around here at Yale! I’d love to have a setup like that myself. I guess someday when I have a place of my own.
It’s super easy. I would definitely wait until you’re established, I don’t think movers like to pack your compost!
I need my husband to see this post. He’s been dying to start composting and I’m thinking that once we move, it’ll be a good idea. Our current garden is shameful and I’m hoping that when we have more room, it’ll look better. He’s the gardner in the family. Not me.
Also, how cute are your kids?
Ha! Thanks Jana, my kids love seeing themselves online too. I’m glad your husband has gardening ambitions. Hopefully he’ll be inspired by the images here!
Just in time! We were talking about composting yesterday and here you are with a wonderful post with pictures!
Less plastic, more composting!
It’s amazing how much material we put in that tumbler over the past year and it broke down so much much. I’m not sure if we’ll be living in this house long enough to enjoy any produce but I’m hoping the next residents get some benefit from it.
I still have yet to venture to compost. I hate to say it, but it just seems like a lot of work (and it seems like a lot to learn).
No. It’s super easy. Put your fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps in a bucket and they’ll decompose. Hey presto, you have compost.
It looks like the family is having a blast! We’re on our way, but with the move to Texas, everything we’ve tried to plant we’ve killed so far. It turns out I’ve killed my green thumb.
I’ve had a few failures in the past 4 years since moving into this house. I purchased a Ginko tree and learned the hard way that the clay bowl I planted it in also killed it.
No green thumb here from the concrete jungle, but you and the kids sure are having fun. Awesome pics!
It was a simple fun thing to engage the kids. Thanks Buck!
I can commend you for this work. I love gardens, unfortunately still in a condo house. But that’s my decision to delay gratification.
You have achieved so many things with this composting stuff. Having fun with kids, low cost compost, helping environmental cause by reducing waste. Well done!
It’s tough gardening in a condo. The single family home has some advantages and a few drawbacks, of course this is dependent upon your perspective. It’s great to have some space to call your own but it requires a lot of work. Luckily I enjoy the yard work
You’re making me REALLY anxious to get some yard work and landscaping done! I love doing outdoor work. Great pictures by the way!
Thanks MMD! Me too, it’s great planning and executing outdoor projects especially when the ground is no longer frozen.
Hunter, that first picture of your kids is priceless. Looks like you’ve got two lil gardeners on your hands. I really appreciated your message in this post as well – nothing too fancy, just bang on to the point. Thanks for spreading the word about compost!
d
Thanks Dave! I just had a look at your blog and we’re clearly on the same page, although you definitely take composting to a whole new level. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Thanks Hunter. For me, composting isn’t just about building soil, it’s a way of life.
I’m looking forward to learning more from you re personal finance. Your site looks like a real gem.
Greetings, Might I grab your page snapshot and employ it on my personal blog site
hey there and thank you for the info Ive definitely picked up
something new out of right here. I did in spite
of this expertise a few technical issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the
web site lots of times previous to I could learn it to load properly.
I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK Not that
Im complaining, on the other hand sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in
google and could damage your highquality score if advertising
and marketing with Adwords. Well Im adding this RSS to
my email and could look out for a large amount more of your respective fascinating content.
Ensure you to update this again very soon.
This may be that the proper blog for anyone who desires to check out this topic.
You already be acquainted with much its nearly hard to argue with you not
that I personally would wantHaHa. You certainly put an alternative spin over a topic thats been discussing for a
long time. Wonderful stuff, just wonderful!
This is actually serious, Youre an incredibly efficient writer.
I have joined with your feed and also will enjoy finding your incredible writeups.
In addition, I have shared your blog post with our social networking online pages.
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your web
site and in accession capital to assert that I get
in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way
I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
Thank you, I have recently been seeking for details about this subject for ages and yours is that the best I have found so far.
While hunting on Dating I found your blog, there
have been some first-rate posts here and Ill
be checking back
nice one for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love
learning more on this topic. If doable, as you gain expertise, could you mind updating your website
with more info as it is extremely useful for me.
Today, I went to the beach with my kids.
I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!
I am not very great with English then again I line up this very straightforward to translate.
My wife and i ended up being very contented that Peter could perform his reports using the precious recommendations
he was given out of your site. Its now and
again perplexing to just possibly be giving freely tactics that tons of others may have been making money out of.
So we keep in mind weve got someone to be grateful to
because of that. The main explanations you have made, the straightforward site navigation, the relationships your site
hand over support to create it is all sensational, and it can
be actually aiding our son in addition to us do think that issue is brilliant, and thats rather serious.
A whole lot of thanks for all!
Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful article. Thanks for supplying this
info.
Very rapidly this website will be famous among all blogging and
site-building people, due to it’s pleasant articles
I got what you mean , saved to fav, very nice internet site .
What’s up, of course this article is actually pleasant and I have learned lot of things from it regarding blogging. thanks.
i love alternative treatments as it’s effortless and does not have nasty side effects
contingent on fossil fuel is always a bad idea, we should
always concentrate on renewable energy.
Wohh just what I was looking for, thankyou for putting up.
There have been three eras of vintage watches, That the Original Vintage Era, That the Brand
Years, and that the New Designs Era.
hello!,I actually something like your writing very a large amount!
proportion we keep up a correspondence extra about your article on AOL I require an expert in this house
to resolve my problem. Maybe that is certainly you!
Having a look forward to see you.
She meets Tom Cruise, special agent, at the airport, gets a ticket on board a flight containing an entire crew and passenger manifest consisting of shadowy assassins attempting to
retrieve the battery—not to mention, eliminate Cruise who becomes “solitary killing machine when Diaz hits that the
ladys room.
That is plenty of inspirational stuff. For no reason knew that opinions could be this varied.
Thanks for all that the enthusiasm to provide such helpful info here.
We still cannot quite think I really could come to be that the checking important points entirely on your
blog post. My little ones and that i have been
sincerely thankful to utilize in your generosity enchanting giving me possibility
pursue our chosen profession path. Delighted information I bought on that the website.
Have you considered about introducing some social bookmarking buttons to these blog
posts. At least for facebook.
I am so happy to read this. This is that the type of manual that needs to be given and not the accidental misinformation thats at the other internet sites.
Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.
Hey, I just started reading your blog thank you for writing.
Because an FYI that it can be not displaying properly on the BlackBerry Browser I have a Pearl.
Anyway, Im now subscribed to your RSS feed on my laptop, so thanks again!
That the the next occasion I just read a blog, I actually hope that it doesnt
disappoint me around this place. Come on, man, I recognize it was my choice to read, on the other hand I
actually thought youd have some thing fascinating to convey.
All I hear is actually a quantity of whining about something someone to could fix when you werent too
busy searching attention.
Hey. Very cool website!! Man . Beautiful .
Superb . Ill bookmark this site and take that the feeds alsoIm satisfied to discover
numerous useful information here within that the article.
Thanks for sharing
Heard about this website from my buddy. He pointed me
here and informed me Id find what I need. He was right!
I got all of that the questions I had, answered. Did not even take lengthy
to uncover it. Love the truth someone to produced it so trouble-free for individuals such as
me.
Yo!. Certainly liked reading your post. It was very informative and helpful.
I hope you do not mind me blogging concerning this post on my personal blog.
Will definitely link back to you. Nice site theme! Salamat.
Spot lets start on this writeup, I must say i think this fabulous website needs far more consideration.
Ill probably be once more to find out far more, thank you that information.