Prep work

Before

Matt and I hit the garden on Saturday to prepare the area by the compost heap for our new composters. We'd decided to build our own three bay compost system after looking at the flimsy premade composters available to buy, and we're drawing up plans for that system now. We measured the area and we have room for three bays, each 3' wide, 3' deep and about 4' tall.

Next volunteer day is June 4th and on that day we invite anyone with tools and woodworking skills to come out and help get that project off the ground.

As we moved compost and weeds to make room for the bins, we realized that the big pile, where we throw weeds and pine cones and stuff that doesn't really make good compost, has actually composted down at the base (surprise!) and made some lovely looking dirt. We transferred some of that to the plastic bin (designated for food scraps and good stuff) which is now very full - fingers crossed the high heat and 2 years of composting time has killed off any weed seeds.. We also moved some into a heap up at the top of the garden.

After

Midway through doing that we realized that if we remove too much material at the base of the big pile, our bins will be sitting in a hole. And since we want to move the tool shed up there too, under the loquat tree, we need to excavate some dirt and make a terrace to sit the shed on so it stands vertically on the slope.

So we stopped excavating compost and started clearing out the ivy from the place the shed will go. I also cut back a few loquat branches.

After getting tired it was time to retreat home and plan the bins, as well as decide on what type of shed we'll get to replace the too-small metal cabinet we currently have. We need something about 6' tall, 4' wide and about 6' deep to get all our tools into, and to roll the hose cart and wheelbarrow directly in. Shopping time!