Box 3 is now full and locked, quietly maturing – like some of us around here…..
Box 2 is now ‘active’ – it’s been emptied and given a base of corrugated board;
Box 1 has been drilled to encourage drainage and received the contents of Box 2 as our bid in the Olympics, giving the compost a final ‘turning’ – now more or less dry and crumbly and full of the fattest worms I’ve ever seen. It is ready for collection. A spade and fork for turning are locked into Box 1.
Please get in touch, anyone, if you want compost, a caddy or a chat by the village pump….
Finally, a compost facility does not run by itself – it requires periodic attention. We have just set up a monitoring rota to spread the burden among the users: a pair of volunteers take on the task for a month at a time, spelling each other so that the boxes are visited 2-3 times a week to remove any plastics, open up any wrapped material to allow air to circulate. make sure there is enough cardboard added, spread the load around to fill the box and keep the area tidy. In addition, once a month or so ‘turning’ is recommended, which involves mixing and breaking up the compost using a spade and fork (locked into one of the boxes) – it takes 10-15 minutes and can work up a bit of a sweat. ….and oh yes – do you know about the fruit flies? (if not, see the doggerel below based on the Teddybears’ Picnic)
Could you please find out for us from your neighbour what arrangements they have for removing their compost? it would be interesting to know….
…and do sign up with FOPA to stay in touch with the community – visit the website www.fopa.co.uk and register with a small donation. You can use it to publicize the facility you plan to set up in Adelaide.
With kind regards
Balint Bodroghy