RE: plastic trash cans

To be honest with you, Nan.  I've never done the trash can thing.  I'm just
trying to encourage a fellow gardener to compost and not give up.  It's the
only thing I could readily come up with at the time.  Actually, any ideas
would probably be well received from Doreen.  To help in the unsightlyness
area and shorter decomposition time.  However, I can definitely see how the
"sludge" would build up in the bottom.  I guess one would really have to
pick it up and do the Macarena with it in order to get it to really mix
well.  Here's a new one to add to the Gardener's list of dances.  Now we
have the Flamingo dance and the Gardener's version of the Macarena (trash
can required).  But I guess the Flamingo dance would have to be a
prerequisite.  How else would we have the volunteer grass and other plants
(no weeds please!) from the perennial beds (with exception to the many other
wonderful items needed to create the Gardener's black gold - see Rot Web).

Have a wonderful Day!!!
Craig Wallace
craig.wallace@emotors.com
Brighton, Illinois
Zone 5 (old zone)

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose, I would always greet it in a
garden." -Ruth Stout


> ----------
> From: 	Nan Sterman[SMTP:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com]
> Reply To: 	perennials@mallorn.com
> Sent: 	Tuesday, June 01, 1999 8:05 PM
> To: 	perennials@mallorn.com
> Subject: 	Re: plastic trash cans
> 
> Craig -- I've also tried the trash can method and the results were less
> than satisfactory -- rolling the trash can helps aerate the top half or so
> of the contents, but the problem is that you can't mix the contents from
> top to bottom.  You end up with sludge in the bottom of the can.  I do far
> better with rounds of chicken wire attached to wood stakes at the end and
> hooked together with hook and eyes.  I wrap the inside of the chicken wire
> with black plastic and cover the compost (in our dry climate, we need to
> make special efforts to keep our compost from drying out).  Every week or
> so, I unhook the chicken wire bin, reassemble it next to the pile and fork
> the pile back in, mixing it as I go.  The three bin system is the best one
> I've ever used but have yet to make one for my own backyard.
> 
> Nan

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