The bin is nice enough for inside. Can it live inside for 8 weeks? That just might get the bin over most of the heat. Perhaps it would be a good time to harvest and start with new bedding at the same time. Consider a micro bin inside in case of overheat of your main bin. For shade I am thinking bamboo poles making half of a tee-pee that is structural so you can just move it aside to work on... play with the bin. Or perhaps something that looks like an old fashioned child's doll house that can be moved aside and is hollow inside. You do not want the sun to touch the sides of the bin. You do not want the sun to heat up the side of the building or walking bricks. The picture helps us greatly. In the summer will the sun's path cross the walking path left to right with both buildings providing some shade? or shoot straight down the middle of the path all day? Where is South and are you above the equator? Can you put a hollow brick into the ditch right next to the house and move the bin over on to the bricks? This might provide a tiny bit more of shade which may make a difference. There seems to be a window above the bin. Can the air conditioner drip onto the bin or cover? This walkway may be a fire isle. Can you move the shelf on the right along the path and put a few stepping stones across where the shelf was across from the bin? It is great to see people taking what they have available to them even if it is not ideal and turning it into something beautiful that was not there before and would not be available for others to see if it was not for the gardener making the world a better place.

I also have a worm bin where I raise redworms, and worm orgies are very common inside layers of corrugated cardboard, or in the middle of a rotten apple. They are completely shameless about it too and just lay their little eggs anywhere they happen to be at the moment. I toss the worm castings into flower pots and in the planting holes in my garden. A couple years ago, I made worm casting tea for my Christmas cactus and used it to water them. Then I noticed that one of the plants was really growing fast and it bloomed like gangbusters that year. So I waited another 6 months or so before I repotted it since it had gotten so big and that's when I found the redworms in the pot. Baby redworms are about 3/4" long and about fine as a human hair, so they could have easily slipped into the pot from the tea. They had plenty to eat from fallen blooms and leaves in that pot. I took them out though and that plant has never looked as good as it did that year. I'm pretty sure it was the worms that made the difference. They can't normally live in potting mix because it doesn't have the right kind of nutrients for worms, but if there is organic material for them to eat they could thrive. If I'd known they were in there I would have given them bits of apple and banana peels and occasional bits of shredded brown paper, too. I love worms. There's a vermicomposting forum here, you should check it out if you want to know more about them. Cheryl

please see link below or search 'TEA' in this forum Here is a link that might be useful: Tea thread

This is a great topic. Not just a great topic -- a crucial one for all gardeners. Critical for the well being of our planet. Why? Because we're grappling with the issue of improving our soiI. And our soil supports life on Earth. And we've gotten it wrong long enough to really mess things up. So I think it's worth carrying on this conversation. I'm a novice gardener with no training in botany, so I look to people like Kim for his knowledge and experience. I do have a background in biochemistry and medicine, so I feel comfortable with scientific information such as that provided by the University of California system. And I'm a passionate gardener, immersed in the experience, and have been mulching and composting in a big way. Regarding compost v mulch, Catspa is exactly right. Mulch is organic matter (leaves, paper, kitchen scraps, wood chips, etc) that have not yet broken down. They can rob energy from the soil, so we don't mix mulch into the soil. We lay it on top of the soil where it helps hold in moisture, and insulates the soil from heat in the summer and cold in the winter. Mulch eventually breaks down (faster when moist), and when it does, it nourishes the soil. Compost is organic matter that has broken down completely and aged. It's leaves and paper and poop, and urine, and kitchen scraps, and garden clippings that have been completely transformed into rich, nourishing soil. It looks like soil, and it smells like fresh dirt. In an established bed we don't dig compost into the soil either. We lay it on top where with time it works into the soil and nourishes it. In a new bed, compost should be part of the mix, but preferably throughout the bed rather than just in planting holes. Ingrid, if I were you, I would buy good organic compost and spread it on top of your beds. Lay 4" of mulch on top of the compost. If you've already laid down mulch, don't worry. Just add compost on top; it'll work its way down. Then I would start a compost pile. Don't worry how complicated it is. If you get it wrong, you'll still end up with compost -- it'll just take longer. There are lots of ways to do it, but here's what I do to keep it simple (and it WORKS): 1. Dig a hole. The bigger, the better. 2. Throw in all your kitchen scraps, leaves, clippings, paper-based trash, coffee grounds, and manure. Whenever you throw in manure or yucky kitchen scraps, make a little depression first, put your scraps or manure in the depression, and then cover them completely with straw or leaves so there is no odor to attract critters. I have tons of critters that rip up my garden, but they never bother my compost holes. If you're concerned, cover the hole with wire. 2. Keep the contents slightly moist (not wet). 3. As you're filling up the compost hole, the decomposing materials will shrink, so you'll keep finding more room to keep adding. 4. At some point stop adding stuff to this hole, and start another one while you let this hole sit. Do keep it slightly moist. 5. Enjoy your compost. Yes, it will happen. Faster if the carbon waste and nitrogen waste are properly balanced, and it's kept moist, and it gets to the proper temperature. Slower if not. But so what? It's practically no work, you're helping the planet by recycling waste, and once you have the cycle going with a couple of holes (or piles, or however you want to do it), you're going to have rich, nourishing compost for your garden. No, I don't turn it. No, I don't shred stuff first. No, it doesn't get anaerobic and stink. Yes, it does work. You can spread the compost on your garden beds. Or you can leave the aged compost in the hole, add soil as needed to fill it, and use that rich new area as your next planting bed. jannike