Tulips

IMG_0528.JPG
Originally uploaded by junogle.

Blooming in the flower bed out front.

Compost bin, final chapter

The compost bin is done!


I had hoped to have it done by now, but after getting the pieces set in the yard where I wanted them, it got really, really REALLY windy (and I live in Kansas, so it has to be windy for me to say that!). And then there was a busy work weekend. So today, I have the day off from at least one job and could get it done.

First, after putting the pieces back together, since the wind blew them down, I screwed the L-brackets of each side into the back piece. That was easy.




Then came the trickier part: putting the door on. I hadn't taken one thing into account — that the ground in my yard isn't near as level as the garage floor, where I had previously fit the pieces together and marked where the holes for the screws should go. So I had to use some extra wood scraps lying around to line up the door piece as close as possible. I re-marked the holes for the hinges anway, just so it would fit better. Then I pre-drilled holes for the top hinge and put in the screws before doing the lower hinge.




Ta-daaa!



The last step was to put the eye hooks in the gate to keep it closed. I put one in the upper part of the gate and one in the lower half, because I thought about cutting the door in two, and still might, if I think I need to. That way, I could get to the finished compost at the bottom of the pile while the upper part of the pile stays behind the door. We'll see.



And to prove the gate really works:


UPDATE: And, the first load of grass clippings is in! I mowed the west side lawn, next to the garage, and since there's a lot of weeds, bagged it.



The clippings nearly filled up the bin the city provides, but I'm not sure exactly how much that is (it says it can hold 200 pounds, but today's wasn't near that much).



Anyway, the compost bin isn't even a quarter full with all that, so this thing could hold a lot! And since the grass hasn't completely greened up, there's a nice mix of "brown" and "green" yard waste in there to start. I even have a few kitchen scraps I could go dump in there!

I think I'm going to need a pitchfork, too.

Compost bin part II

OK, I finally got around to doing more work on the compost bin.

I finished up putting the L-brackets on the other side, then got started on the door. I went ahead and temporarily put the right side and back together with screws, so I could see where the hinges would best be set for the doors.

I set the door on a block so that it'll be above the ground and therefore easier to open.



I marked the holes to drill for the hinges on the door piece.

On the side piece, I needed to add a couple blocks where the hinges go because it wasn't thick enough for the screws. Probably adds a little strength, too.

I neglected to plug in my drill when I worked on this last week, so the battery ran down today. So I'll have to finish putting it together another night. But here it is, in place in the back yard.

Compost bin Part I

Time to do some catching up, so I'll start with the latest.

One of the things I've wanted to do since buying my house was to have a compost bin. I thought about buying one over the years. There's plenty to choose from, like ones that make it easy to turn the compost and others that make it convenient to get to the finished compost. But those are kind of expensive.

So some time ago, I found a gardening blog whose owner wrote about making a compost bin from wooden shipping pallets. Pallets are pretty easy to find; just check with any warehouse-type business. They might even give you what you need for free. Or there's always dumpster diving, heh.

I picked up these pallets from where I work:


I decided to start on it tonight, but got kind of a late start, so didn't get too much done.

I first did a dry fit to figure out just how would be the best way to position them. Positioning them with the slats running vertical put the bin at a good height for me, and I turned them so the grass clippings and other things I'll put in there are less likely to get caught in the middle. I decided the biggest, heaviest one would make the best one for the back of the bin:


It's a bit wider than the one I wanted to use for the door, so I think it will actually help make a good fit for the door.


Then I marked how the L-brackets should fit. I was going to attach them to the back piece first, move it to where I want it, then attach the sides, but I thought it would actually work better to attach the brackets to the side pieces first, because then I'll definitely have the L-brackets attached to the frames of all the pieces, rather than just the slats of the sides.



The I predrilled the holes for the screws. I actually didn't pre-drill the holes deep enough and broke the the head off the first screw I tried to drill in. Oops. But it'll hold. It's not like I'm building a house or anything.



So after redrilling the other holes a bit deeper, I attached the L-brackets with screws.

And there's one side all done.

Tomorrow night I'll attach the L-brackets to the other side piece, and attach the hinges to one side piece. We'll see if I finish putting the whole thing together tomorrow. It depends on what else I need to get done.

Blue heron

blue heron
Originally uploaded by junogle.

At long last, I managed to get a picture of one of the blue herons that populate the creek. This was as close as I could get before it flew away.

Interesting daffodil

Interesting daffodil
Originally uploaded by junogle.

This one sits by itself, a little farther down the hill than all the other flowers, and its coloring is a bit different. Notice the bee hanging on for dear life — it was a windy day!