A few folks that know me well read my blog post on Composting and  asked about my compost bin--because they well remember my constant complaints about composting. For me, it was sort of ridiculous to gather weeds/old dry stalks, etc. from the garden and then tote them to a compost pile, take care of them and then have to tote them back to the garden.  I preferred to do my composting "in situ"--meaning, to pull the weeds and lay them on the ground near my plants  and let them rot on their own. It refertilized the soil and acted as weed control and moisture conservation......and...it is a fantastic lazy gardener trick. I really still do prefer this method. But---that was when I had goats and chickens.

The loss of my homestead animals by way of a neighbor's huskie dog (and one of my chicken obsessed cats) was devastating. The side effects were not good. Primarily, every day, I had food scraps and nowhere to put them. I used to feed them to my animals, then use their poop for the gardens. Without them, I realized what a huge waste most people's garbage is--throwing out organic matter to end up in a landfill--it really bothered me. So until we can rebuild our delapidated barn and get new critters, I decided I could no longer be wasteful. I did try putting some of the scraps in the garden, but it sometimes attracted bugs--or rats unless it was buried---and I am a lazy gardener, remember?, So the compost bin was built by my longtime contractors, Ford and Bill. Over the years, I have promised them weird things to build--like a Maypole, an outhouse....and they are always up for the challenge of an unusual, outdoor project. My 2 year old bins sit near my outhouse--a bit of whimsy. I have come to like it and will probably continue to use it is some capacity even after the return of livestock. So to those of you who were confused by my "conversion"--there is a method to my madness!!