we "harvested" our first batch of compost! we started bin #1 about a year ago, and this week, we scooped it out, and spread it on some garden beds (i learned from carol that the best time to prepare spring beds, is in the fall). the compost is probably not completely composted, but i think it is okay to work it into the beds, and let it sit over the winter. now we put our kitchen scraps, garden waste and layers of straw into bin #1 again. full circle.
we also dug into our leaf mold compost pile, and that stuff is delicious (no, i didn't taste it...)! last fall we piled up all the leaves from our yard in one spot, and just let it sit there all winter, and all summer. that mountain of crackly leaves, from one gigantic oak, and one enormous maple, over the course of a year, shrunk down to about 2 wheelbarrows full of dark, loamy, leaf compost. i wish we had a leaf shredder, it would speed things up. but our method worked out, and our garden beds can sure use the nutrients.
