I know, it took years to finally get it finished but it wasn't the composts fault, it was mine. I spent all of the nice gardening days the last couple of years getting the front yard converted to a flower garden that I forgot to keep up with the compost barrel. I would add stuff to it, water it, turn it once in a while but for the most part it just sat there. Even getting so heavy last fall that I couldn't roll it, Randy could barely get it moving either so I decided that this spring I would just dump out about half of all the uncomposted stuff it in and start over again. Last week I opened the lid and nearly fainted. I had compost!! Nice, dark brown, not quite completely composted but close enough to use....Compost. Buckets of my first homemade compost ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) I scooped almost all of it out into these 5 gallon buckets, leaving some unfinished still in the barrel as a 'starter' for the next batch. I have two orders of plants coming in later this month and now I don't have to buy compost to add to the holes as I get them all in the ground cause I have my own.
Ahhhh black gold!!! There's just nothing like home-made compost is there? Every time I see ours I'm amazed that it's so rich compared to the stuff you buy from the garden centres. Your plants are going to love it Toni.
That stuff looks goooooood, Toni! Congrats. Maybe you didn't try hard, but it is a job well done, nonetheless. You must be over the moon.
I still get excited every time I think of that black gold waiting for me out back. I found some large planter trays that will act as covers for the buckets so stuff floating by from the greening trees and low flying birds wouldn't contaminate it and since there was a slight chance of rain over the weekend I moved them into my bloom house for protection. I almost don't want to use it, cause then I won't have any until the next barrel full is finished. And I am definitely not going to ignore the barrel again, I like having those buckets full. If I'm not careful I can see myself becoming obsessed, hoarding, coveting, fighting off marauders who might want to take it for their own. It's mine, my precious.
Congratulations Toni! The rebirth of the soil, s springtime pleasure for all gardeners, and you made your own!! Jerry
Toni, that's beautiful compost! You need another tumbler so you can have one working off and one to put stuff in (see, you're not the only enabler ).
I'm so jealous! I just started my compost bin... sure hope I can at least get something close to what you have made. Congrats!
