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Compost happens. Naturally. If it can. If it has a decent balance of wet and dry (green and brown), a little moisture, and gets stirred now and then. My poor compost bin was drying out because its lid kept falling off. One rickety section of a backyard fence was leaning on it, and leaning hard.

There used to be three sections of fence. The first two fell in a storm, so we asked the property owners next door if we could take the fence down for safety’s sake. They said sure, of course! Thanks for helping out. We put the old boards to use as stepping “stones” in the garden.

That was 9 years ago. Since then, the friendly neighbor tree grew, and grew, and grew until it pushed what was left of the fence aside and into my bin. Well, moving a full compost bin is not in the realm of easy possibilities. So finally, I grabbed a hammer and Husband grabbed an ax and we went outside to be destructive. Now we have more boards for stepping “stones” and a much happier composting mama. The balance of wet and dry (green and brown) is maintained, the moisture stays moist, and I can take off the lid and stir it with a pitchfork once in a while — and replace the lid when I’m done. 🙂