I haven't been doing much work on the compost pile other than turn the dirt over every once in a while, and add scraps. I'm extremely happy with the progress I've made so far. I haven't been able to completely focus on it, because this week has been ridiculously busy. This weekend I hope I might be able to get my photos uploaded, but it's very difficult to upload them to my computer and then find them so I can put them to a post.

This week's rain has been very helpful! It's helping to weigh down the leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc etc, and make it easier for the worms to reach different areas. All the rain will also break down everything faster. It's not very time consuming, and I just have to turn the dirt/compost mix every other day. The only problem I've had is uploading pictures to this. Hopefully I'll have it figured out soon, and will be able to post pictures of my progress.

These past two weeks have been very busy, and I have not had a lot of time to work on my compost pile. I've been trying to upload some pictures, but it hasn't been easy, and I haven't been able to. Next week (hopefully), I will able to upload some pictures to show my progress! Fingers crossed!

This weekend we are finishing up the compost box and adding the worms and scraps! We've already started on the box a little bit but I haven't been able to upload any pictures yet! By Friday, I will have some pictures uploaded for sure.

I'm not yet done building the box that will hold my compost pile, but I have started figuring out prices for different types of wood, and other supplies I will need for the box. My older brother is going to help me build the box, because he has built small things like this before, not exclusively for compost piles but for storing things. I have not yet found an expert to help me but I have been looking at websites and contacting the authors of them. I can't post any pictures yet, but next week I will try to post pictures of my progress!

Project Proposal

Proposal: The Making of a Compost Pile

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure… or a plant’s nutrients.

Needs and Opportunities

Are you solving a problem for yourself or others? How will this project be a learning and growing experience? What is your goal?

I will be making a compost pile and supervising it, it will help me realize how much each scrap of food, and trash effects our environment. My goal is to cut the amount of perfectly good food my family throws away.

Audience / Clients / Users

Explain who will benefit from your project. Who is your audience – who might be interested in following your blog and learning about your project?

I hope everyone will be interested in helping the environment, but it will bring people who are trying to be eco-friendlier. This will help people wanting to see an example of helping the environment simply.

Mentors

Who can help you with this project? Who will you need to contact and what will you ask them to commit to in helping you?

My older siblings have already offered to help with the building of my compost box, and my parents have told me they would help collect the food scraps.

Timeline

What is your monthly timeline for this project? I want to see a list of deliverables with deadlines. You may find that the timeline needs adjustment during the course of the year, which may be fine. Check in with me if that’s the case.

February 17	Get the building materials and begin working on the box and making sure it can hold enough dirt/compost.
February 24	Finish the box, and prep it for the dirt, worms, and scraps.
March 3	Buy worms and start putting a little bit of scraps in at a time.
March 10	Turn over dirt, air out, water daily.
March 24	Do daily work.
March 31	Do daily work.
April 7	If it is broken down enough, start using it to plant things.
April 14	Focus on planting more and daily work on compost pile.
April 21	Focus on plants and daily work on compost pile.
April 28	Focus on plants and daily work on compost pile.
May 5 (Prep for Presentation Day)	Make poster, and take pictures of final project. Make sure the plants are healthy.
May 12 (Presentation Day)	Bring poster, and some of the plant I grew using compost mix.

Product

What is the actual product you will show this spring? This project may or may not be made of atoms or bits, but you must have something to show. I’m not interested seeing a bunch of great ideas at the end of the year. I want to see things.

I will bring the plants I grew and (if it doesn’t smell) a little bit of the compost itself in a jar/container of some sort. Also a poster with pictures of the progress of the compost pile and plants.

Technology

You will have to use technology in some way on presentation day – think about how you can use the tools available to add life into your project and enhance what you are doing. (Video, laptops, apps, cell phones, music, etc.)

I will have my laptop out with a slideshow of all of the pictures going on.

Reality Check

I am looking for you to shoot for the moon here and do anything you can dream of, but even moonshots need budgets. What equipment are you going to need? What other capital expenditures do you anticipate, and how will you meet them?

I will need wood for the box the compost pile itself will be in. One side will be made of plexi-glass so that you can see inside. I will buy worms, and a tarp to put on the inside of the box so nothing gets in or out. The top will be hinged like a trapdoor. I will need a shovel in order to rotate the dirt. It will not cost much.

Possible Roadblocks

What other roadblocks can you predict – time, resources, motivation etc. Explain what you might do when you come to each roadblock to reach your goal.

The compost might not be decomposed enough to plant yet. If this happened, I would sift through the compost for broken down dirt. The plants might not have time to sprout by the time the presentation comes. If this happened, I would instead put already sprouted plants in and wait for them to grow. The box could break, or I might not finish it in time. If this happened, I would use a storage box to put the compost pile in instead of a homemade box.

Conclusion

Wrap it up. Why are you fired up about this project? Inspire me to support you, and give me a great reason to approve your project.

Coming from a big family, I have always been concerned by the amount of trash my family throws away, food included. I had heard about compost piles before and I’ve always wanted to see if they actually helped plants grow and reduce waste at the same time. I’m excited by the prospect of doing my part in helping the environment. After all, we only have one Earth and we shouldn’t be filling it will trash.