And....we're back! After many weeks of traveling, a wedding (congrats Nick & Kurstin!) and hosting company I'm back in the blogging business.
Today I fulfilled a little fantasy I've had since we moved to Portland, I'm officially a composter! In my mind this means the veggie gardens that will (hopefully) exist by next summer will be bountiful and uber-organic.
Word on the street lead us to
Metro after hearing they had a great composter for $39 with a retail value of $80. And indeed, Metro had the Earth Machine at that great price and we snatched one up (ours ended up being $46 because we got the aerated bottom add-on which helps keep critters out). One of the label reads 'The Earth Machine: 21st Century Home Composting'. So...unfortunately I have to report the composter is not period-correct for our 20th century home, but what can you do? You can't win them all.
We got the compost batch off to a good start with kitchen greens, yard greens and yard browns. Yeah, that's right. I know all the fancy pants compost terms and I'm not afraid to use them.
The first compost:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqAkc9t6iWkpIRV9ERY5770hyphenhyphenpBgnwhL2alBIf3lZX2-9dfWia2EBm2b8MMCtOQfZW7aOj07D7zqVYU65cxKR27QvgH6RoMoqZuGlk3YK5LI6ra0PmQ6TZ7guq7rF3uDgu9GpEZZlLnkt/s320/composter2.gif)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vojOyrZOLRQzpQvNmVrXFm-dcaE2Ex8rD2oMT42J7UBta1boUn24HidvFmkRbKsVDgkTVa4ge6C_wJCTx9kErgDrqfsqPp6z6SpKEPf0z9C7UcnyUT1I3ZlP7-3NaJ-9mouovw6Rbe6P/s320/composter1.gif)
I also want to say a hello to Leslie, Zack (sp?) and their adorable dog who live just up the street. I had the pleasure to meet Leslie as she was walking by the house this afternoon. Her, Dave's mom Susan and I were chatting when she realized she recognized our house from the blog. Who knew, people ACTUALLY read this! In a VERY huge coincidence, Leslie had also been to Metro today to buy The Earth Machine...happy composting Leslie!