I couldn't find any garbage today, even if I wanted to!
I loved snow days when I was a kid. School was cancelled, I drank lots of hot cocoa and watched the People's Court and Pasquale's Kitchen all day on TV. I have yet to see this much snow fall on Ajishima; we got dumped on with over 20cm (8+inches) overnight, so I am gonna take a break from garbage collecting today.
I would like to highlight one of the other projects we have done in the past using only garbage, driftwood and disaster debris. Introducing our first ever shipping pallet driftwood compost bin with water catchment, constructed two months after the disaster:
I would like to highlight one of the other projects we have done in the past using only garbage, driftwood and disaster debris. Introducing our first ever shipping pallet driftwood compost bin with water catchment, constructed two months after the disaster:
All materials are disaster debris gathered primarily from the shore, with a few bits from the dump
Shipping pallets galore and huge plastic buoys
An entire wall from someone's house respectfully given a new lease on life
Four pallets and four posts set on four broken cinder block footings...
...all different sizes and shapes...
...but it all ended up square, level and plumb!
It took me two days to figure out how to layout the roof with literal scraps, then an hour to build it!
The roof was only as big as the biggest scrap of wood, yet...
...it perfectly fit three sheets of corrugated metal roofing on top!
I then cut bamboo poles from the grove behind our garden...
...and wove them into a retractable cover...
...to keep the crows out
The water collecting buoys filled up sooner than I expected!
All this compost bin cost us was a few bags of screws and nails from the 100 Yen store (dollar store) and the electricity to charge up my cordless drill! I used hand tools for everything else, because at that time: 1. We only had a couple hours of generator electricity per day, and 2. I had no power tools!
It actually took me three days to finish all components of the compost bin. I spent almost all of the second day trying to figure out how to piece all the misshapen scrap wood together into something sturdy and coherently roof-shaped.
After designing, scraping and redesigning, building, demolishing and rebuilding several versions in my mind, I ended up with four rafters and three purlins as the basic structure of the roof. Incidentally, at that time I did not have a ladder nor access to one, so...I built the roof on the ground.
For the final weatherproofing, I nailed and screwed three bent, rusty pieces of sheet metal with all but the last four nails and four screws I owned. I even pulled several dozen rusty nails from the scrap pallets and straightened them out and used those too, because I knew I might not have enough.
Next came the fun part...I lifted the roof up and maneuvered it into place. It only weighed about 45kg (100lb), so I heaved it up and over the posts all by myself. It turns out that the patch-work purlins made excellent hand holds as I stood over the open pit of the bin with a foothold on the front and back pallets. I had propped the roof against the left side and then proceeded to hoist it up a few inches at a time. With the last four nails, I hammered the side rafters to the posts, and with the last four screws connected the beams to the underside of the innermost rafters.
In retrospect, I probably should not have lifted the roof up all by myself. For that matter, I probably should not have built the roof on the ground in the first place! I suppose I could have built a ladder, but then I wouldn't have had any more wood for the roof. Such are the conundrums one faces when building a driftwood compost bin.
We have been using this bin for almost two years now and the compost we get has really livened up our garden beds. The more we compost the better and more productive our gardens will become once we add it back to the earth. If we are able to incorporate a composting toilet down the road, we will also be able to complete the nutrient cycle, returning as much as possible to the land that feeds us.
I have drastically improved designs in my head on a new two bin composting system for our new house. I have already gathered up some materials during my Ajishima Clean Up adventure, and I will post more about those later on. We will probably get started building it later on in the spring, once all this snow melts and it warms up a lot more.
It actually took me three days to finish all components of the compost bin. I spent almost all of the second day trying to figure out how to piece all the misshapen scrap wood together into something sturdy and coherently roof-shaped.
After designing, scraping and redesigning, building, demolishing and rebuilding several versions in my mind, I ended up with four rafters and three purlins as the basic structure of the roof. Incidentally, at that time I did not have a ladder nor access to one, so...I built the roof on the ground.
For the final weatherproofing, I nailed and screwed three bent, rusty pieces of sheet metal with all but the last four nails and four screws I owned. I even pulled several dozen rusty nails from the scrap pallets and straightened them out and used those too, because I knew I might not have enough.
Next came the fun part...I lifted the roof up and maneuvered it into place. It only weighed about 45kg (100lb), so I heaved it up and over the posts all by myself. It turns out that the patch-work purlins made excellent hand holds as I stood over the open pit of the bin with a foothold on the front and back pallets. I had propped the roof against the left side and then proceeded to hoist it up a few inches at a time. With the last four nails, I hammered the side rafters to the posts, and with the last four screws connected the beams to the underside of the innermost rafters.
In retrospect, I probably should not have lifted the roof up all by myself. For that matter, I probably should not have built the roof on the ground in the first place! I suppose I could have built a ladder, but then I wouldn't have had any more wood for the roof. Such are the conundrums one faces when building a driftwood compost bin.
We have been using this bin for almost two years now and the compost we get has really livened up our garden beds. The more we compost the better and more productive our gardens will become once we add it back to the earth. If we are able to incorporate a composting toilet down the road, we will also be able to complete the nutrient cycle, returning as much as possible to the land that feeds us.
I have drastically improved designs in my head on a new two bin composting system for our new house. I have already gathered up some materials during my Ajishima Clean Up adventure, and I will post more about those later on. We will probably get started building it later on in the spring, once all this snow melts and it warms up a lot more.
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