I am fine and thanks for asking;
Recently, I have found myself addicted to all things green. I have my canvas bags and my DVR is absolutely chock full of programs on Planet Green. Fantastic.
Unrelated, my parents have a garden where they grow some tomatoes, peppers, etc. etc. This year (after we moved) we transplanted them to the rich North Carolina soil and have not seen a single plant produce a single fruit. Turns out "soil" in North Carolina is more like sand and little bits of rocks and is rather free of nutrients. So, we were faced with a dilemma.
How can we bring nutrients to this miserable soil? Composting is a cheap and environmentally friendly method of fertilizing. So, we would have a compost bin! I did my research (my father has a collection of sustainable living books from the 70's and 80's) and found out there were a plethora of composting options. In lieu of buying a bin, however, I determined I would build one!
One sunny day, as I was walking around the backyard trying to find a suitable location for said compost bin, I looked up into the branches of a dead tree and saw an old tree house, or at least the start of an old treehouse. It was a project obviously abandoned in the early stages. It was then I had the idea for a completely recycled material compost bin! I would use as little new material as possible! I climbed the tree and stripped it of the tree house lumber. And it sat in the yard for two days before I did another thing with it.
This is the tree stripped of it's lumber.
This is the wood I managed to salvage.
These are the nails I took out of the wood. I will reuse these (except the small trim nails).
So, thusfar, I had wood, nails and a spot picked out. I did a rough sketch of the compost bin, and realized I was missing a board! Kind of crucial, as it held two posts in place. I was walking back into the house, defeated. I would have to buy lumber, I thought. I paused to examine the damage our daschunds had done to mom's flowerbed that I saw this:
Stacks of lumber under the back porch!
It wasn't in great shape, by any means. Most of the wood had dry rotted and some was infested with what I can only describe as maggots. However, I managed to find a piece that was only damaged on one end, and cutting it to match the other pieces of lumber I had would cut that end off! So to the carport (which is currently a makeshift workshop).
The workshop a.k.a. this dumb brick planter that is on the carport and dad's Skilsaw.
I cut the wood I found under the porch to size and then started cutting 45 degree angles into the wood I would drive into the ground as posts. The first two were ugly, but I hit my stride on the third and all in all I think I did alright.
The wood, finally cut to size and ready to be built into a compost bin.
It was right after I got done cutting that I was called into work early, so that put a damper on the construction project. Having got this far, though, I figure another hour of work and things will be done. I will need, however, to purchase a roll of chicken wire. That (it seems) will be the only new material I will need. Will keep you posted.
-kyle
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