I started a garbage can bin earlier this year. I was going to drill holes in the bottom, but decided to cut the whole bottom off instead and set it directly on the ground. I drilled lots and lots of holes all over the sides and a few in the lid too. My problem has been that it dries out too much on one side. It is near the house so one side is always in shade, but the other gets direct sun for a good part of the day. The "sunny" side dries out all the time. I should add that I'm in Colorado and it is *dry* here! I though it might just be that I went a little crazy with the holes so I've very loosely covered the sunny side with some plastic. So far things are going well in there, but I keep checking on it every couple days and doing a little mixing to make sure. :) If all else fails and it keeps drying out too much, I plan on just burying the compost bin in the ground, its got enough holes that it should make a good worm bin ;)

Annpat: Oh yes, as soon as I get your address, IÂll be sure to put the compost in the mail. IÂll even send it with a return receipt, so IÂll know exactly when it gets to your certification facility. I assume the certification process will not take too long and IÂll soon be getting a very pretty, glittering certificate in the mail. I canÂt wait! As for the fish parts, I think the best way to deal with them is throwing them into a hot compost pile. If you really want to bury them in the garden, not only should you bury them in a deep trench, but add a good 6-12 inches of soil on top. ThatÂs how a next store neighbor of mine did it, and he never had animal problems. He used a three row method: the first row was for plants, the second to walk on and the third to bury his refuse. Not only did he dig a deep trench to bury the scraps, but he would dig out from his walking path more soil to throw on top. This way as the scraps were consumed and the soil settled, he would still have good coverage from critters. My family would supply him with fish all summer long (mainly blue fish and flounder), and he and his wife put all of their kitchen waste into their garden. They didnÂt have critter problems but had the most beautiful, lush garden I have ever seen. Happy Composting, PJ

It's rare to see pallets made of 'treated wood', that is, in the sense of CCA or its replacement, ACQ. Foreign made pallets are indeed treated for insects, but as I recall they use a gas which will not stick around. So there is really no risk from foreign pallets in my opinion. We had an extensive thread on this awhile back. I think pallets are a good material for bins because they are often free discards, so you're keeping them out of the landfill and you can't beat the price. When they rot just pick up some more. Oak is best if you can get it, very heavy, durable and rot resistant. The newer wood treatment stuff is basically copper soap, which you can also buy in a bottle to spray on plants as a low toxicity fungicide. I wouldn't chew on the wood but copper is not particuarly toxic so I wouldn't worry too much about using it around the garden. Just my opinion, YMMV. I still like free pallets better, or plastic lumber which doesn't rot and helps recycle plastic.

ok where to you get bat guara from? My brug is suffering. I don't seem to be making it happy. I tried slow release fertilzer, epson salt, and no blooms. I know it blooms because I bought it with blooms on it. Now it is oct and the temps are getting cooler.. When is it time to put in in my greenhouse. I am envious of all of ya'll in your brugs. I have a woman down the street who has a yellow one that I have seen bloom all winter and summer. In the winter she had it in the garage with a grow light and in the summer she had it under her pines.. it kills me that I can't get mine to bloom maybe next year. just a question. I have it in a black container.. Is that a bad thing. I have not transplanted it in to proper pot yet.Yikes I am a bad girl if that is the problem. carolyn from tn