GROW San Mateo

Our recent compost bin build at the Phoenix Garden gave us the opportunity to document the materials used, design dimensions and process steps involved in building & installing the bin.  We've segmented the process into 3 steps: Step 1: Gather Materials & Tools Step 2: Initial Assembly Step 3: On-site Installation Hope that you find these helpful.  If you have any questions, please email bill@growsanmateo.org. Happy Composting!

It was a beautiful morning out at the Phoenix Garden this morning.  Many volunteers were out at the Bee Orchard installing new fencing while Howard and I put the compost bin pieces together.  We started at 9:15am and were done by 11am.  Thankful for Howard's battery powered tools - the staple gun is amazing! Great to meet Kyoko from the Los Prados Community Garden this morning.  Would be great to take what we've learned from this project to install a compost bin for Kyoko and the other members of the Los Prados garden. Another GSM project complete.

Today the finishing touches were put on the compost bin for Phoenix Garden.  So many miscellaneous items were addressed, from trimming off the ends of 8 of the 12 front slats, adding a top 2 inch wide slat to each bin and driving the last screws into place.  Here's how it looked before the components were taken down and stored for transport to the garden tomorrow: For anyone interested in building a 3 bin compost setup, a brief description of our experience over the last few days may be helpful.  Here's how the week progressed: Sunday: Reviewing the Design and Triple Checking the Shopping List The original design we're using was published over 15 years ago by The Natural Soil Building Program, sponsored by the Seattle Public Utilities.  Here's a link to the document for reference.  Many of the materials used - cedar wood, for instance, are not readily available here in Northern California.  Also, from previous builds done through the County of Sa

The new compost bin for the Phoenix Garden took shape in the driveway today.  A few hours sawing lumber to various lengths this afternoon and an after-dinner build with Howard got the bin ready for install at 9am on Saturday, July 20th.  We'll be installing in the orchard of the garden (take Paul Scannell Drive until it ends at the intersection with Loop Rd.) Here are few shots from the build today: Pictured above are all of the various lumber pieces (I'll detail the specifics of the build in a later post). Above are the pieces arranged: bottom are the 2x4's for the dividers, then the 9 foot pieces for the base; middle are the front slats and slat supports; at the top is the structure for the roof. Putting the hardware cloth on the dividers is definitely a two person job - thanks, Howard!

Hi Everyone!  I'm happy to introduce you to Kris Jensen, Garden Manager of The Phoenix Garden.  The garden is located in the Youth Services Center - just off of Ralston Ave./Polhemus Rd (see map below).  On a plot of nearly 6 acres, the space is huge!  and the potential is even larger.  Our project is to build a composting bin for Phoenix Garden.  Funding for the project was secured through a "4R's Grant" from the County of San Mateo's Office of Sustainability.  The finished product should look very much like this: Here's the project plan: Monday, July 15th: purchase materials Week of July 15th: pre-build as much of the compost bin as possible Saturday, July 20th: installation at the garden If you have an interest in helping with the build, please email bill@growsanmateo.org . The Phoenix Garden Project is sponsored by San Mateo County Health - Behavioral Health & Recovery Services on county owned property.  Originally conceptu