Gardens

  $10?  hell to the yeah that's a good deal!   Just remember to load it with a 50/50 mix of "Greens " and "Browns" (Carbon & Nitrogen's)  Lawn cuttings and brown tree leafs!  and a little bit of water.
   When the composter is working right, you'll find that the center can reach 140*F!  when it starts to cool back down that's the time rotate it, mix up the contents!
Good luck with that the $10 composter!

Thanks Troy!  Combined with the worm bin I should be good to go come next year for compost!  Now off to build my garden bins.

~Bill

 
  That thing may churn out completed compost in under a month!  It al depends on it's heating up cycle.  When the compost won't heat up any longer, it's done!  You can then choose to remove a sizeable portion to use in the garden, then reload and use the remaining compost to "Kick start" next batch, or simply empty the bin, and reload it! 
   Keep in mind, you need to keep the contents moist.  Not sopping wet, just moist.    The directions for the tumbler should explain how your tumbler should operate!

For $10 they made it a point to inform me it was being sold w/o directions    Just downloaded & printed the directions from the manufacturer web site.  Got lot's of "browns" around this time of year & this will give me a good use for some of the sawdust I produce in my home woodshop too!   This will make for a good place to toss our leftover "greens" after dinner.  Circle of life....  toss out greens >>> make soil >>> grow greens >>> toss greens into composter >>> make soil >>> grow more greens!

 

  Cut lawn will help kick start the puppy off.  My office space has it's lawns mowed every Friday, when I start my compost bin again, I'll empty of the grass piles (Saves them from hauling it!) and rake some leaves from my property and combine them in my bin.
  It's such a great feeling to reach in and grab a handful of rich, dark, good smelling soil out of the bin and not a store bag of soil.
Your plants will thank you as well!
 

We don't have "lawns" this time of year out around our property.  I have to cut the greens on top of the leach field year-round so I'll be able to kick start this with those greens in about another week or so.  Heard egg shells are ok too.  We go through a 1/2 dozen a day with the kids home.  I'm turning into a hippie!   Actually, I think this will be GREAT learning for my kids for only a $10 investment!!!

 

 
  Crushed egg shells are good for the worm bin!  It gives the worms calcium, and it helps them digest better (Like birds use gravel in their gizzards)  Other things to add to worm bin, cardboard (soak it first) the worms will go crazy for the pulp and the glue, coffee grounds! caffeinated worms are HAPPY worm, lint from dryer!  I use the tailings from a paper shredder to build the bedding for the bin.  Never have to worry about Uncle sam being able to puzzle back together the paper to read after the worms get through with it!  Of Couse veggie waste.  Meat products you want to avoid them. They will attract unwanted visitors, wasps, (Some will eat the worms!)  rodents, etc...
  If I can remember, I'll get some shots of the compost separator I made to sort the worms & compost. (Small scale definitely)

Incredieble how things grow...went fishing for 5 days and my garden seemed to double in size...corn went crazy...watermelons, sqaush, toematoes, peppers, lemon cucumbers and a grip of other stuff...

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Now that's a nice Garden !!!!

OK this will sound like heresy, but is there a brand of compost I can BUY in a bag to do that? I ask because I have a very small yard, that, due to microclimate, is upwind of 80% of the windows in my house, and we open the windows just about every night. I would give my wife (who at times can outsmell a bloodhound) about 15minutes of the smell of composting coffee grounds and banana peels before she would start complaining 

I have turned a lot of this stuff http://www.lowes.com/pd_233866-11628-685_4294707957__?productId=3026867&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo= into the soil, it has made the soil looser, but obviously hasn't helped the plants.

If any wants the very best soil...stop by Lakesidematerials in upper lake. If your rolling through to the coast stop by i will hook you up wih your first gallon of compost tea Free, we sell it for 5 bucks a gallon new clients get the first gal free...its a liquid compost thats produced out of potter vly from Cold Creek...we've got a 1400 gal holding tank...i feed my garden every other day and things jump, people come in and get it 25-50 gals at Time...bring your own container we run out...
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Do you guys sell the five tray worm bins there? One of my customers in Santa Rosa uses that tea and his garden is always huge. and you know how their growing season is there.

Do you guys sell the five tray worm bins there?

I will ask my brother we can get anything And will PM u...if anyone has request pm me....sorry to thread jack...
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   My tomatoes love the chicken manure I spaded into the ground last fall.   I surprised how much watering the other veggies (not so much the tomatoes) need in Santa Cruz a mile from the beach.  And I think I get ripe tomatoes sooner than when I lived in the Central Valley - my guess is that the ground is warmer when the plants start off in late March-early April.
   

Chico in the summertime, only one bicycle in the background, not a car in the
 lot. enjoy your garden

Yeah, it is ghetto, but you work with what you have.  That bike has been locked to that post since I moved here, almost six years.  I've just been to lazy to demand the property management cut it off.

This is my first year with a real garden.  I've done stuff in pots before, but this is the first time I rented a rototiller and churned up the earth.  I didn't do a very good job.  No soil analysis and winging it with the plants I put in the ground.  I will be more scientific next year and hopefully be out from under the organic yoke of my partner/neighbor.

MolBasser

A lot of the rental roto tiller front tine units work better if you pull them backwards, instead of letting them run forward.  Spend the couple of extra bucks and rent a rear tine unit.  They do a hell of a better job and don't beat you up so much.  You can also try mulching your leaves and green waste like yard clippings. does a great job holding in water.

Dang Sledge, that's not a garden, that's a fruit stand farm!
 WTG! 

Here is a picture of mine when it first started( minus some plants), I need to take a more recent picture.

List of veggies-

Tomatoes- (49 total)
Brandy boy
Black Krim
Big Rainbow
Better Boy
Sweet Tangerine
Pineapple
Roma
Cherry
Heirloom
Eggplant- (15 total)
Early Midnight
Nadia
Black Shine
Fairy Tale
Bell Peppers- (7 Total)
Sweet banana
Gypsy Hybrid
Basil- (18 Total)
Genovese
Summerlong
Squash- (2 Total)
Yellow Crookneck
Zucchini- (2 Total)
Ambassador
Cucumber- (2 Total)
Lemon Cucumber
Carrots- (12 rows Total)
Red cored Chantenay
Heirloom Touchon
Lettuce-(20 rows Total)
Romaine (Ceasar favorite)
Looseleaf
Garlic- (6 Total)
Beets- (10 rows Total)
Detroit Dark Red
Sweet Peas- (25 Total)

Man o man what a garden...impressive...

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