curious george taught me how to compost

We've been talking about composting for awhile. I've always liked the idea, but the truth of the matter is that neither Shawn or I have green thumbs. Shawn can belt out a song in a way that makes you want to sign him a recording contract on the spot, and I can make my child's clothing, but at gardening...we fail miserably. So while the idea of composting interested both of us, we realized we should probably first have something planned for the compost before starting.

We've spent the past three springs in our house trying to tame our wild foliage. It was crazy. When pulling up weeds in our beds, we'd often find rusted parts of random tools, cinder blocks, picture frames, and all manner of weirdness. I'm really not lying when I say it took us three years to completely level our landscaping so that we could start fresh. This was finally the year that we stopped finding random things in our yard, so we've made a plan. We've planted some flowers and will be purchasing bushes to put in the beds along the front of our house (the bushes won't go in until the fall, however). Do you know what bushes need? That's right - good soil. And cheapskate me loves the idea of finding a way to take something that could be expensive and doing it myself.

And then there's Curious George. Because our lack of composting wasn't just because we had no place to put the soil, it's also because we were kind of intimidated by how to start. One morning, Jude and I watched as Curious George learned all about composting. Even though the crazy monkey tried to compost in small containers throughout the house (thus frustrating the ever-neglectful Man in the Yellow Hat), I got the message loud and clear. If a fictional cartoon monkey can compost, so can I, dang it.

I did some research and found out that you can make a compost bin out of an old trash can with a locking lid (cheapskate didn't want to shell out a few hundred bucks for something I wasn't sure we'd stick with). The majority of my instructions on just how to go about turning a trash can into a compost bin came from HERE. The only difference is that Shawn used a drill and drill bit to make the holes. And behold, my friends - our beautiful compost bin.


I have to admit that I get a weird sense of satisfaction when I can compost something instead of throwing it away. I'm looking forward to using our home made soil to improve our landscaping, and if I'm ever not pregnant I'm also looking forward to using it for our very own vegetable garden. It's actually ridiculously easy, and I'd highly recommend it. In fact, if you get started on your own bin now, the compost should be ready by the time you're looking at improving your fall landscaping.

Besides, if Curious George can do it - you can, too.