The Compost Bin

Now this compost bin may look like almost identical to the other one but it's contents are very different. The big bin is 100% leaves. No grass, no coffee grinds, no plants, no boat, no life, no motorcar. Now this smaller compost bin is a completely different animal. It starts with a generous base layer of leaves, then the core is almost completely vegetable garden waste, and I top it off with more leaves. Sort of a end of the season garden sandwich. And that's a great way to make compost.

That core has already gotten this bin to start cooking. I know this because if you stick your hand inside it, you can feel the heat. Yes, it may sound odd but it's one of my hobbies to check the temperature of my compost bin. I've accepted it, let's move on.

Underneath all of those leaves are a bunch of pumpkins, some giant eggplant that I didn't notice until they were too big (and seedy) to eat and tons of peppers that were rendered tasteless by the first frost this year. Vegetables are great for compost and so are the plants that grew them. My tomato plants were strong, healthy and completely disease free thanks to my constant attention and new pruning/staking techniques. No Blossom End Rot, no Black Spot, nothing. So these healthy plants that were still loaded with green tomatoes will help out and decompose to make some more healthy plants next year.

And a new comer to my compost bins this year is banana leaves. I'm a big fan of my Hardy Banana plants (Musa Basjoo). My three plants all had pups this summer and now I'm overwintering eight of them in my garage. And all those extra leaves make for great compost.