Black Gold

Ever since early spring hit all I can think about is being outside in the garden. There isn't much there right now, but that doesn't stop it from taking over my every thought. On Saturday night I literally woke up several times with images of planting seeds and pulling weeds in my head.

Our frost free date isn't until early May, so I still have some time before I can really get my hands dirty, but we already started a few projects. One of the things I have been wanting to do for a while now was starting a compost pile. Every gardener knows that compost is the indispensable black gold of the garden.

So after spending some time searching on the web I decided to go with a diy bin made from pallets. I got my pallets for free (thanks mom and 3m) so this was really cost effective for me. We just screwed them together to make two bins and lined them with chicken wire (again free) to keep small things in and small things out (rodents). I originally wanted to have a swinging front door, but the pallets where a bit cumbersome for the task so we are going to figure out a different way in the future. For now it works great.  For the cost of some screws and my time I can now make my very own black gold. 

Jennalou

Comments

[Courtney]

Looks great! We're going to be building a compost pile real soon.
I'm so excited, we have marked next weekend as our time to till and go to the nursery for plants, hooray!! Just keep an eye on your compost right up against your house like that. You might be asking for mold and bugs...ewww...
Happy Spring!!

[Caroline]

I was just having this discussion with my husband on Sunday. He will never consent to a compost pile because they attract rats and generate a pretty awful smell(the exact words were "He!! No" and "Over his dead body." If we had a larger lot and didn't live in a subdivision, I might be able to pursuade him to let me have one then.

It would be such a great way to recycle our kitchen scraps. I recycle everything. The only thing that actually goes into the trash can are the items the city recycling program won't accept and kitchen scraps.

[Lauren]

Great DIY! It's going to be 70 degrees today, Jenna!

[miranda]

i'm am so excited to see this! and i have some good news: we are looking for jobs in Mankato... which this reminded me of, because if we move back, i'll be able to do the community gardens again (next year, probably). i absolutely LOVE to garden, and i'll be so excited to watch yours grow through your blog!