My de-cluttering was outside today in a space beside the garage that is a catch-all for gardening stuff. Extra trash bins, buckets, planting containers, stakes and cages for the garden, etc. And I had two 18-gallon bins over there since last fall for my compost experiment. I started with one bin, but by the time I had filled it there was still too much stuff that wasn't broken down so I got another and set it on top. Kitchen waste (I don't put in meat or grease, the veggie stuff is enough) goes out at least once a day.

Today I decided I would empty the lower bin. It weighed a ton, and when I opened it, it was a liquid stinky sea of wiggling stuff. Maggots, I guess. Yeeecchh! Into the house for orange oil and a watering can, and I poured a powerful dose in to knock out those critters. I then got a bucket and slowly poured it off out of one corner and carried a couple of buckets full into the back where I had excavated a large hole in the compost pile and I poured it in. When the bin was light enough so I could heft it into the wheelbarrow I lugged it back and the contents went into the compost, to be covered over. Bin was washed out and is airing. The second bin was also emptied--in this heat, and with that reaction, there is no way I'm going to continue that experiment. For now I'll dump kitchen waste into a 5-gallon covered bucket and every few days I'll bury it in the compost where the dogs can't reach it.

But after those were gone and I moved an iron wood storage rack with grass and vines around it I mowed and trimmed and it looks quite tidy. I poured a bucket of mulch/compost (from a different source than the compost pile) over the spot where the bins used to stand. Swept up (I mowed this morning) and put everything back and it looks really good. I've finally cleared the extra bags of mulch and manure away from the veggie garden edge and it is an interesting looking space now. I'll get a photo in the morning when the light is mellow on that side of the house.

SRS