BREAKING: Compost Bin Unboxing

Oh boy oh boy it’s Unboxing Day, when we unbox the heretofre sealed east compost bin and scatter its contents upon the thirsty earth. Revealed:

The east bin was closed in September 2024, and its interior has settled down about a foot in that time while new composting has been diverted to the west bin. Shoveling out the top layers, there’s a fair amount of unrotted or partly rotted avocado pits, by far the most enduring kitchen compost denizen. Plus a few dessicated avocado peels, now brittle and crunchy like old papyrus. All of these holdouts get tossed into the west bin to cook another year, or however long it takes. There’s always scattered chips and wads of eggshells and the occasionally pustulent potato, but I let those go into the garden with the compost.

And look who else showed up!

I didn’t have nearly this many worms when spreading the last load of finished compost, so it appears the batch of red wrigglers I introduced have really taken a slimy shine to the place. Several hundred of these beauties will be transferred to their new home in the garden bed along with the compost, bringing news of the old worm world to the new and the worms who live there.

Less refuse remains unrotted from the middle of the bin on down, which is almost entirely a tasty dark soil, moist without goop, and no doubt ten thousand cherry tomato seeds that will sprout up in the garden whether I like it or not, but that’s okay. I do like tomatoes.

The east bin still has a layer of good dirt on the bottom, but I got all I need for this spring, happy to leave a little as a base. The west bin likely won’t be full until fall or maybe even early winter, so any remaining eastern worms under there can redirect their appetites to the fresh feast to the west. Time to grow some stuff.