Composting and our compost pile.

"Composting" is something that I've known about for over a decade; however, I've never exactly partaken in composting or creating a compost pile. We weren't really "green thumbs" at my parents' home in South Georgia as it was just too entirely hot in the Spring and Summer.

Because we've decided to plant fruits, vegetables, and more at our home, I've been looking at composting.

I think one main mistake people make is creating their own compost pile, or a unit to contain the compost. That's not really the mistake. It's the mistake of putting the compost pile right outside their back door, near a window, or close to their home.

Let's think about what compost is. Compost is decomposing matter: kitchen waste (carrot peels, egg shells, etc.) and composted material (in our case...manure). Would you want decomposing manure and egg shells near your house? No.

We are opting against forking out $300 for a composting unit. Instead, we will be constructing our composting unit out of 4 wooden pallets that I was able to get from work. For those of you not as lucky, you can buy them at pallet companies for about $2.50-$4.00 per pallet. Remember, they do not have to be brand spankin' new pallets. We are also opting to use chicken wire inside of our pallets to contain the compost. We have seen other units that don't have the chicken wire, but we'd like to keep everything nice and tidy while also providing oxygen to aid in the decomposing process.

Pictures and plans soon to come.