This is a snap shot of the square foot garden a few months ago. The tomatoes have all died from the heat and a nasty fungus, but the basil and jalepeno peppers are loving the hot weather. It is taking lots of water to keep the alive! If you look closely at the photo you can see the fungus and some leaf miner damage on the leaves of the tomato plants.
snapshot: basil, big boy tomatoes, S100 cherry tomatoes and jalepeno m peppers
I am always looking for faster ways to generate quality compost. Ensuring the pile has plenty of air is a great way to speed up the composting process. The solution is a compost tumbler. Store bought tumblers can be expensive (I think they are worth it). I wanted to create a compost tumbler, but for less money than a store bought version. I bought two food grade screw top containers. The containers were used to transport olives in their past life. Now with one modification they will help me to generate compost in less time. These containers have enough room to get a mass of compost big enough to heat up. I have tried 5 gallon bucket composters and they just don’t give you enough compost mass to heat up. One of the primary goals is to get as much air to the microbes and bacteria that generate compost. I drilled small holes (1/8″) all around the sides and bottom of the container. I add ingredients that I have stockpiled for the tumbler. If everything is combined in the correct ratio the compost will heat up and really cook delivering great compost in less time. To rotate the compost tumbler I just push it over and roll it on the ground. Simple, yet effective.
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