Ron holding one of the new compost bins.
The black bin has a secure screw-on lid.
Ron cut the bottom out and cut holes in the sides.
It will be placed bottom side down in a small hole in the garden bed. Soil life can enter through the side holes and bottom and we will feed it with kitchen scraps and scoops of soil from the top.
There are 2 of them - one to fill and one to leave to compost. When the composting has happened we lift the bucket up and move it to another location. The new compost is then chicken-scratched into the soil in-situ.
With permaculture gardening, the area is divided up into zones. The beds nearest the house are in zone 1 - the 'Fluffy Slipper Zone' because one can hop outside in slippers to harvest the most accessible plants. These compost bins are in our Zone 1 - Kitchen Beds where the soil is being kept rich and damp. Continually making compost within the bed helps to keep the soil fertility level up.
Ron came back from a shopping expedition with 2 bags of chitting potatoes. He said they were free to a good home. The sprouts were long and pale so there may not be enough energy left in the potatoes to support new growth. I planted them anyway because it is all good organic matter for soil building and if some do grow into plants it is a bonus. I am thinking of them as soil fertility plants but we may get to harvest a few potatoes as well.
Some of the potatoes had small shoots so I cut them up and planted those too.
Now to wait and see what happens.
Gardening involves a lot of curiosity tempered by patience.
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