Originally posted 2.09.08

Off and on throughout my life, I have had many compost piles….some more successful than others. I have lived in my current location for three years now and I still don’t have an “official” compost pile. Our focus has been on making our 100 year old house livable, so little time has been spent on the yard. This in itself presents the greatest challenge in making our backyard sustainable, but that is a topic all its own…meaning I feel a lengthy blog entry coming on…ha ha!
I have asked DH to build a super-duper compost pile, but it never materialized. He has promised one to be built in March. In the meantime, I have been saving my kitchen scraps in a large planting pot outdoors. I have been layering shredded newspaper between each layer of scraps. I know that it will not be compost when spring is here, but at least I will have a start on my new-fangled official compost pile in the spring.
I haven’t decided the location of my compost pile yet. I don’t want it too close to the house, but I want it to be easily accessible. Right now, the scraps stay in a bowl on my counter for a few days before I make a trip to the compost pot, but I am not liking that arrangement much….especially when there are onion scraps. I have thought about taking a huge butter tub and placing it in the freezer, so that I can add my small portion of compost to it every day. Once the tub gets full I can go dump the compost ice cube into my pile. Has anyone else done this before or have a great suggestion? I am open to ideas here. During the summer, scraps left on the counter can lead to those nasty fruit flies.