Bring On The Rain!

Image: Helen Sakamakha, photos-from-Ukraine.com

It might still be March, but we’re ready for those April showers–or at least we will be soon!

Robb and I just registered for a rain barrel workshop at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens in April. (Thanks in part to some inspiration from the ever-industrious couple at This Young House!)

Springtime in Ohio is notoriously rainy, so why not turn all the gloomy days into something green? Store-bought barrels are great, but they’re also quite pricey at more than $100 a pop (ouch!) So we’re going to make a rain barrel of our own to capture all of that wonderful (and free!) rain water for watering our houseplants, veggie garden, even giving the car a quick bath or rinsing off muddy shoes–pretty much anything except drink it (and some boiling or water purifying tablets could make that possible too). The best part? The class, including all the materials, is only $75 per barrel. Sure, that’s still kinda pricey, but it’s knowledge we’ll have forever–plus there’s something priceless about getting your hands dirty and doing the hard work yourself.

Our landlord at our current apartment pays the water bill, but even if it’s not our dime, conservation is always the way to go. Want to join us at the workshop? Find more information or register online Here.

Check back at the end of April and we’ll post pictures and tips from our workshop. We can’t wait!

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Compost Happens

Image via Denvergov.org

Well, I’ve done it. I have finally gone and made us a composter.

Thankfully, law school still follows the time-honored academic tradition of giving students a spring break. I’ve been off all week, sitting around the house in my slippers and watching Judge Judy like a member of Tom Brokaw’s “greatest generation.”  But I finally got off my keister and finished a project I’ve been meaning to get to for a while now.

Designing this composter was somewhat of a challenge. Since spring is coming up shortly,  I’ll be planting vegetables, etc. soon. I didn’t want to wait months and months to have beautiful, nutrient-rich, black compost so I decided that I needed a  hybrid design that combined the functionality of a pile with the effectiveness of a tumbler.  What I ended up designing was an easily stirred, removable bucket that filters the compost and sits inside a larger bin that catches that compost. Thus the “Whirly-Composter” was born.

Check out the steps below and DIY!

For more information about the benefits and process of composting, including a list of what exactly you can compost, check out How to Compost.org.

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