You know your compost is great when.....

I have been a fan of compost and composting for as long as I can remember!  When we were kids one of the "chores" was to take the compost out to the bins.  It was never a favorite chore of anyone - usually the compost in the bucket had started to "turn" so to speak and was stinky and a bit slimy often.  However, once I saw and smelled the results of the compost pile, I loved the outcome!  Good finished compost is the most beautiful black soil you can get anywhere!

I have written about my rolling composters before a little bit and my pallet compost bin as well.  I have two rolling composters and three pallet ones.  I get about a bushel of compost per summer out of the rolling ones and a couple of bushels out of the pallet bins.  It is never enough, but it is better than none!

Above is one of my rolling composters - the black one.  The organics go in the opening(anything that is not fat, milk, or meat) and where the legs attach is a bar with some small paddles on it so when you roll the compost barrel the paddles stir the stuff up and keep it aerated!  Its a great system.

The other day I went out to "harvest" the compost out of this one and lo and behold I open the lid and what do I see?  A whole tomato worth of tomatoes growing in the darkness in the composter!  You know your compost is good when the tomatoes sprout up from a tomato that was put in the bin more than a couple of weeks ago!

So I potted them up and once they are a little bigger Ill separate them into bigger pots and see what happens!  I remember the tomato that these are from - it got lost in the bottom of the fridge from a salsa making event that we had here one night.  This particular tomato had a moldy streak through and through and so into the bin it went!

Ill keep you posted on these little buggers and what they produce.  It is always an adventure when you have an unknown tomato plant to see what happens.  I love a good garden adventure!

I hope you get one once in a while too!