Inner City Farmer

Until yesterday, the Inner City Farm didn’t have a compost bin. When I started my garden in the early spring, I actually went to a s-t-o-r-e—but, admittedly, a really cool one—and bought ten bags of their Revitalizer Compost. Nothing makes you feel like a bigger idiot than buying dirt, and shitty dirt to boot. I vow never to do it again.

I blame my hens for my lack of a compost bin. They have been getting all my kitchen scraps, and it’s hard to deny them this pleasure. They live to eat the stuff most people toss into the garbage. Whenever they see me walking towards them with the compost bucket from the kitchen, they race towards me with such enthusiasm it’s almost frightening. As excited as they get, there are certain things they just won’t eat: banana peels, lemon rinds, coffee grounds, onions, and their own shells, to name a few. These used to sit on the ground, rotting and attracting flies, but no longer.

My motivation to make a compost bin yesterday can be traced to a specific event—I mowed my front yard for the first time this year. Yes, I confess that I actually have a “real lawn” in front of my house. Because it consists almost entirely of Bermuda grass, it doesn’t require any watering so I have no real objections to it. Then again, if it were suddenly to die I wouldn’t be very upset either—I would happily plant native plants in its place. To mow my yard, I use one of those old-timey push mowers that leave the cut grass pretty much where it had been standing so it’s really easy to rake up and throw on a compost pile. One of the great downfalls of a compost pile from what I’ve read is lack of greens, but thanks to my front yard that shouldn’t be a problem this summer.

Building the compost bin was a fairly straightforward procedure. Luckily, I had all the materials I needed on hand. I knew when I hauled off the eight sheets of particle board I found at the fraternity house last fall I’d eventually find a use for it, and so I did. I have to laugh (and cry) when I hear of people spending a hundred bucks at Home Depot to buy a plastic compost bin… as if the world needs more plastic. I put together a bin in a couple hours and at no cost, other then my own labor. Its best attributes, as far as I can tell, are its size (quite large) and functionality (it’s got two compartments). I do fear that it might not allow enough airflow, but I’ll address that problem only if it actually becomes one.

As happy as I am to finally have a proper compost bin, I’m actually far more excited about the idea of sheet mulching, which involves adding a thick layer of newspaper or cardboard on top of your soil and then heaping a pile of mulch on top of that. Not only does this prevent weeds from popping up, it also helps build your soil. Basically, you’re composting in place. Ecological gardeners swear by it. If you want to read more about it, I recommend checking out Toby Hemenway’s book Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture or Ruth Stout’s classic The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book.