Sunday, May 05, 2013

compost screen

compost screen  030 compost screen  033 compost screen 029 My husband made me a compost screen today. It is a big frame that fits nice on top of a wheelbarrow. The mesh is made from doubled chicken wire. I've seen many ways to make a compost screen. The main thing is that the wire mesh is well supported by a frame and the mesh size is not too small.

Over the years, my compost bins have been accumulating things that don't compost so well (branches, avocado seeds, Christmas trees, oyster shells, plastic plant labels...) Instead of returning them to the bin this year, they went into the trash.

We screened about 10 wheelbarrows full of fresh compost and piled it onto my garden beds. I spread it and turned it under. The beds are ready for planting now.

3 comments:

Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl said...

Just did our compost this week, we're in the same boat as you with avocado seeds (which I use pretty frequently). We need to trash them now, they just take too long to break down.

Mike the Gardener said...

What a great idea! I think I take the "lazy way" out and just mix my finished pile in with my garden, without screening it.

Cary said...

That is quite a compost haul! Congratulations on a job well done. Kathy, I've decided that reading about gardening and seeing great pictures of it, is almost as much fun as gardening itself. Thanks so much for posting!