Harvesting Compost from a Simple Backyard Bin

Guest blogger Joy Landry

It’s compost harvest season so now is the perfect time to reap the benefits of your summer composting efforts before winter arrives.

This was my challenge last weekend as I surveyed the fallen oak leaves and a pile of straw in my front yard from a recent gas line repair. My compost pile was getting close to capacity and was going to need room for all that natural material scattered about the yard.

My compost pile is not very fancy – it’s a small square of plastic-coated wire fencing in the corner of the backyard. However, it allows for easy access. After shoveling away the top layer of recent grass clippings, vegetable trimmings, apple cores and banana peels, I uncovered that wonderful, rich dark compost. Another year of natural materials quietly decomposing now yielded the perfect mulch for the shrubs I had planted in the spring.

I made five trips around the house, lugging loads of compost in the old Red Flyer wagon (yes, it’s 30 years old: reuse, reduce, recycle!). As a result, my shrub bed was insulated for the winter and the compost pile was ready for the next season of leaves. After an hour of raking, the compost pile was a nice mix of oak leaves and straw, all first mulched up by the lawnmower.
 
I felt quite pleased with my composting yard work – too bad the maple in the backyard still has to drop its leaves. Well, that’s a project for another weekend!

Happy composting!

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