one more reason to move west

the baron and the husband have, in their yard, two smith & hawken compost bins. the baron loves them. she loves that they're made with recycled plastics, that they hold 13 cubic feet of yard and kitchen clippings, that they are sturdy (and so can repel curious dogs and wildlife) and that they were ridiculously inexpensive (having been purhased through a community composting program in california). more even than those things, though, the baron likes the idea of them - that into the bin can go lemon wedges and apple cores, coffee grounds and tea bags (staples removed), onion ends and garlic peels, tomato innards and lettuce ends, and out will come dark, earthy smelling compost. the diy aspect of it appeals to her (a little work in, big reward out), as does the notion of having free, organic compost for the vegetable and herb gardens. also, she likes the idea of significantly reducing the amount of kitchen waste that makes it to the curb.

but.

what does not appeal to her at all about the bins is the fact that they are really only serviceable for a limited time each year. this is because there is winter where the baron lives. you may be thinking, 'baron, there is winter everywhere!' but the baron would retort, 'not so much. unless you count those 65 degree january days (the ones that the baron's mother and mother-in-law experience) as winter.' the baron is bitter, did you notice?

the baron can usually swallow her annoyance with the bins and the five-serviceable-months aspect of them, except that she and the husband placed them in a poor spot - a spot that gets just 1 hour of sunlight per day. this means that the content of the bins break down at a very, very slow rate... so slow, in fact, that last summer the baron only got one load of compost (and it wasn't very good compost at that, evidenced by tucker picking out partially decomposed apple cores and eating them).

this summer, the baron has vowed to make the most of her time with the bins. she spent the better part of saturday moving the bins from one corner of the yard to the other. this new spot gets minimal morning sun and significant afternoon sun, which will surely make a difference. she has also resolved to turn them more frequently, which should also make a difference.

if this new plan doesn't work, if she is not granted a good amount of nutrient rich, organic compost at the end of the season, the baron doesn't know what she will do. sob maybe?