I found simple plans for a hot composter (for yard clippings and such) by fastening together five shipping pallets. It's free once you find the pallets and it will eventually turn your yard clippings into nutrient-rich compost. It's uninspiring and less than romantic, but it's clean and will boost the fertility of my Alabama red clay garden.
The problem with an open back-yard composting bin is that it cannot do kitchen scraps. Those attract pests and that's just not cool. But we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and often have peelings and cores and other kitchen waste that we wanted to dispose of differently, so we bought a vermicomposter. Yes, that is fancy talk for worm farm.
Strange, yes, but necessary I think. CJ surprised me with this for our tenth wedding anniversary. (Who knew that the tenth anniversary was the worm anniversary?)
Regardless of what the occasion is, I am almost as excited about the worms as I am the bees. It's going to be nice to see the bees pollinate the garden that grows in my homemade worm-processed compost.
