I figured FREE STUFF would get your attention. In this case, it's really cool free stuff - a heavy-duty plastic compost bin. Compost is one of those un-sexy topics, but some people - like me - are really into it. It's gotten to the point now where just about everything we use in the kitchen, except those darned nonrecyclable plastic containers, gets recycled in one form or another.
Composting is so easy, so basic. Green and brown, grass clippings and leaves, most kitchen scraps - they all get tossed in the composter. I hear some people say it's so much trouble, they can't be bothered. But it's second nature in my household and takes no more energy than throwing something in the trash can and later bagging it up to take to the curb. And think of the good you're doing.
Back to the FREE STUFF. Penn State cooperative extension in Philadelphia is about to start its composting workshops again, and the first 100 people to sign up get a free compost bin. My husband and I have been to two of these workshops, separated by a couple of years, and each time we learned more and different things.
This means we have two bins in our garden, in addition to a small one by the kitchen door that we fill and then dump in the bigger ones. The workshop bins look like something from a Jules Verne movie, like an underwater capsule, or like the space vehicle John Glenn orbited in. You dump your leaves or grapefruit rinds in the top, make sure you have a nice balance of greens and browns and heat and water. Occasionally you need to stir things up in there, and before you know it, nice, rich crumbly compost to put on your garden.
For information on the free compost workshops, call the Penn State extension at 215-471-2200.
