A gift that keeps on giving

Every once and a while something drops into your lap.

A friend who had a rental in the city said tenants left a composter and would I like it. She knew the answer before asking and last Saturday I took my truck over, intrigued to see what it might be.

This is a Suncast rotating compost bin, it's worth about $100 and its brand new. It was on the back of a deck and the bonus was the thing is filled with compost!

My friend's father helped me wrestle it off the deck, down the stairs and up the street to my waiting truck.

This is one of the best ways to make compost, every time it's turned over the material decomposes 50 percent quicker.

The trick is to get the ratio of ingredients right and make sure there's enough water. There are two basic types of fresh material, brown and green. Green is most of the stuff coming out of the kitchen, brown is leaves and other high carbon material. The only thing from the kitchen we don't throw in there are meats, oils or dairy, they can attract rodents.

This type of bin should be filled three quarters full and then nothing else is added. Turn it once a day and in several weeks you'll have nice compost.

If you don't want to spring for a new one, or you don't have friends giving them away, you can build one with plans here. You can even convert a trash can into a composter that could be rolled on the ground. All you would need is a few holes in the sides and to attach the lid so it wouldn't fall off when rolling.

Composting is one of the best ways to recycle; you get the direct results by harvesting the rich black soil amendment.

Plant grown in compost are happy and that's why I was overjoyed to get (another) rotating compost bin.