May 11, 2013 - Compost Palace Construction

 Hey Guys,

There were thrills, drills, delicious cakes, good will by the bucketload as a group of gardeners got together on the 11th of May for a very productive day spent constructing the compost palace.

With Thomas' detailed Master Plan to work from and all of the materials ready to go, the group sprung into action. They never looked back all day finishing earlier than expected while still having time for a communal lunch.  

You'll find a few some pictures of the day below and please check out the bottom of this post for a link to some good basic information how to  compost successfully.

The Master Plan

Thomas, The Man with the Plan

Barish was shrouded in a cloud of sawdust for most of the day, manning the circular saw expertly. Luckily there were two drills to every person present so we all got a turn to wield a power tool by days end :) .

Barish taking no prisoners

Alan and Kerry fixing the recycled
plastic sides of the bays in place 

Jules and Thomas pre-drilling planks

Alan led the charge early . Drilling, measuring, bracing and levelling, he barely stopped going all day.  He did stop for a sandwich but I am pretty sure I saw his drill finger twitching while he was eating it.

Alan , hard at it. 

Bracing before fixing

As well as hard work, there was still time for a natter, well-wishers coming and going and some delicious food (well done and thanks to everyone who brought food to share).

The end result is a really great resource for the garden and a mighty fine looking resource it is too.
Well done to everyone who could make it down. If you couldn't, don't worry, you still have a chance to get involved.

The compost team will provide more information soon on how we can all help our new compost pile settle in to the garden by:

• feeding it the right mix (fresh greens and drier browns), 
• keeping it warm and moist (tucking it in and watering when necessary),
• and allowing it to breathe (occasional forking to allow air in).  

We are passionate about our compost and soon you will be too :).  For a really good idea of what a happy pile needs, check out this link Composting Basics and do the whole tutorial.

And lastly LEAVES, LEAVES, LEAVES.....ahem, we need leaves. More on why later but before they disappear please consider bringing a plastic bag of leaves to the garden the next time you visit and leave it in the plastic lined wooden crate near the shed. 

Thanks,

The Compost Crew 

The first load goes in and a pile is born.