Starting My Garden... With a Compost Pile

(All right I meant to write this up on Sunday, but instead I took an impromptu trip the the Magic Kingdom. And by the time we got back I was to too tired to even think about writing this up.)

For a while now I've played around with the idea of starting a garden. I just could never figure out what I wanted to plant first. (Its a little overwhelming looking at all the different types of tomatoes; let alone all the different types of plants.) And really I'm not closer to deciding on my first plant now, then I was a couple of years ago.

So I decided that perhaps the first step in starting a garden was to start by composting. That way by the time I finally pick a plant, I will have some kick ass soil to grow it in. (Because Florida's natural soil is more sand than anything else. Which is impossible to grow anything in).

The Project

Start A Compost Pile

instructions from Mind Body Green

Results

For my compost pile I used an empty coconut oil container.

Its probably not the most ideal container, but I love that I was able to reuse the container. And then I just followed the instrutions from Mind Body Green to set it up. Starting with a layer of potting soil on the bottom, followed by shredded paper and then finally layers and layers of coffee filters and coffee grounds. I know you probably shouldn't just use coffee filters and coffee grounds, but that is the most eco friendly item I use on a daily basis.

I've been working on composting for about a month or so now. And I mix it up as best I can now about twice a week or so.

As you can see I'm near the top of my container, so mixing right now isn't the easiest. And well I don't own a spade, so I just jam a fork down in there. 

Its just a hard project to know if I'm doing it right or not. Or how long it should take to turn all of this into kick ass soil. But I believe this is going to teach me some patience that I need when I finally pick a plant to start growing.

And I guess I'll get right on that.