Composting

Part of our plan for simple earth friendly living here at Mariposa involves composting. My set-up is basically the one suggested in Joseph Jenkin's book, "The Humanure Handbook". I have adapted the pallet design a little bit to deal with the evaporation which is a problem in hot, arid climates.

We combined our trip to return the Budget Rental truck in Show Low, Arizona with the purchase of a utility trailer and some bales of straw.

The composting bin is a simple pallet construct, but I lined it with plastic to slow the evaporation which often causes compost heaps in Arizona and New Mexico to be too dry to achieve good thermophilic composting.

An initial 18" layer of straw is used as a compost "sponge" which prevents unwanted leachate from contaminating the soil near the bin. The straw is also used as a cover material which allows aeration of the compost as well as keeping the flies from having a party in the compost. The straw is currently stored on a pallet next to the compost bin. There is a floating vapor barrier on top of the compost which serves two purposes. First it prevents loss of moisture through evaporation, and second it reduces leachate during heavy rains.

Our current toilet facilities are primitive but adequate :) I am in the process of building a small outhouse to give us some protection from the weather.