You see, I used to be more active in trying out and practicing my hobbies and interests. Something happened along the way, school happened, work happened, family happened, and most importantly unfortunate life circumstances have occurred.
It's important to question yourself and why you are doing or thinking the things you are at times, particularly in times of reflection in the cold of winter perhaps, or after a shaking life event.
I used to run more, I used to take wonderful photographs for school and during my travels, I used to read books of history, biographies of famous politicians. I used to play guitar nearly every afternoon, learning my favorite songs as best I could, sometimes even mastering them and creating something my own off of their structure. I used to go to more concerts, even gambled on artists I was barely familiar with. Most importantly, I tried to get to know as many different people as I could with as much variety as possible.
I've decided to take up composting.
Well gardening mainly, but to start, composting! Decomposing plants and matter steaming in a pile in my backyard, that would be my first of many projects around the garden. I wanted to restructure our whole backyard and introduce new plants and begin cultivating vegetables and fruits, constructing raised garden beds and trellises for tomatoes. Perhaps even take a whack at growing hops! This is the Willamette Valley after all.
I had little idea what I was doing but I researched online and in garden books for ideas for a compost bin. Turns out there are a multitude of options! I opted for a simple start, something that isn't fancy nor far reaching; rather, a DIY option that is cheap and something I would complete all on my own!
I bought 4x25 Chicken Wire for 26 dollars,four 4 ft. Green Steel Posts for 16, and Rebar Tiewire for 3 dollars to hold it all together. I selected a section of the backyard that was nearly always void of sunlight and would not be suitable for growing much of anything of utility. It is on the eastern side of the house away from the majority of the garden in a section as compost bins aren't exactly the prettiest additions, though with work they can be! After the first afternoon of work, here is what I ended up with. I added as much leaves and dead plant material as I could and called it a day!
The malleable nature of the chicken wire led to it bulging in areas and encroaching towards the exterior of the house. Furthermore, the chicken wire left the compost open to air from all sides and the cold. This would prove detrimental as only some aeration is beneficial to compost piles and ideally there would be some covering over the top of the compost so as to keep moisture out and keep the eventual heat of the compost from escaping, delaying the progress of the whole pile.
I headed back to Home Depot for 20 6"x8"x16" concrete blocks at 99 cents a pop to enclose the compost pile and remove the chicken wire. I wasn't sure how many my old Subaru would hold but here is a photo of after the first day of work.
I was still determining how to shape it throughout the process but I've calculated that I need 56 blocks to build four blocks high on each side.
After two afternoons of experimenting, here are some photos of the process and the current state of the compost pile, which is nearing it's one month birthday! My assistant Joey is also featured, he's not sure why I've been building this contraption.
Best,
Aaron Robert Matney
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