The beautifying effects of compost

My original post on our inexpensive compost bin has been getting a lot of traffic from Pinterest - welcome, Pinterest friends:) It has been almost a year, and I thought it was time for an update.

What we started out with: a mix of leaves, weeds, peels, and shredded newspaper

When our compost bin filled up, we stopped saving our compostable items because we had nowhere to put them. The material in the bin turned into a lovely rich soil compost, but because it had a lot of weeds in it, and a few bugs, we were hesitant to put it on our organic garden. However, after some consideration, Handsome Husband found the perfect place for it.

Behind our home, there was a large ugly patch where the machines building the house next door ripped up the natural grasses and plants. It left a jagged, rocky swath in the midst of our lovely little tree canopy. Handsome Husband dragged our compost out there with Scott, spread it out, and then sewed some native Texas wildflowers. Thanks to the recent rainfall, it is greening up nicely.

What we are working on: beautifying the space behind our yard which was ripped up by bulldozers involved in the building of our neighbor's house. This is the current state, which is much improved. Unfortunately, there is no before picture.

We have started saving all our peels, eggshells, apple cores, and shredded newspaper to compost again. I have to say, composting feels so virtuous. It greatly reduces the amount of trash we are producing, and I love knowing that our efforts are beautifying one little corner of the world.