Composing Compost, Part Two

Mandy and Emil dumped the contents of the compost container into the compost bin.

In went the coffee grounds and the coffee filters and the onion peels.

In went the banana peels with no stickers.

In went the radish leaves.

When the container was empty, the dolls climbed up to look inside. 
"It isn't doing anything," Emil said.

"No," Mandy said. "It happens too slowly for us to see. It can take months. That's why we have two bins for compost. In a few months we will have soil we can use in the garden. It will feed the plants and help them grow strong and healthy."

"I've been wondering," Emil said, "how it happens. What causes it to change from garbage into soil?"

"Well," Mandy said, "Some kinds of tiny fungus––that's what a mushroom is––and some creatures called microorganisms––sort of like bacteria––do most of the work. Sometimes worms or little bugs, like pill bugs come and work on it, too, if they can reach it. Those are the bugs that sometimes roll up into a ball when you scare them."
"I've seen those!" Emil exclaimed.

"Yes," Mandy said. "We have them. If they can get into the bins, they will eat the garbage, and what they leave behind will be good soil for plants."
"So," Emil said, "the soil is pill bug poo."
Mandy laughed, as they closed the bin and climbed down. "I guess you could say that. Bug poo and other things left behind when the microorganisms do their work."
Emil looked at the bin. "These bins look like wheels," he said.

"Yes," Mandy agreed. "That's so The Writer's husband can take them off the stand and roll them around to mix up what's inside," she added. "That mixes the air with it, so the microorganisms can have enough air to work well."

"Does composting happen in nature?" Billy asked. "I mean, I know leaves in the woods fall to the ground. The trees must have been there for a long time, but there aren't that many leaves left on the ground that we can see."
"That's exactly what happens," Mandy agreed. "Everything that stops living gets composted, but it takes a long time. We can make it happen faster, if we do it right. That's why the bins are made so we can roll them around on the ground."
Mandy took the dirty bag out of the compost container pail. "This is dirty," she pointed out. "We'll wash it, so we can use it again."

They left the pail and the bag by the steps. 
"Come to the garden, Emil," Mandy said, "and I'll show you what the compost turns into."
The two dolls walked over to the garden. Mandy used a tool to dig in the soil, so Emil could see what it looked like. It was very dark and crumbly.
"This compost had grass clippings in it," Mandy said. "You can still see little bits of grass. Every time the lawn is mowed, the grass clippings are put into the compost with the garbage," she added, "but we don't put weeds in the compost bin, because weed seeds could sprout in the garden. The weeds go to the city, because they can compost in a way that kills the seeds."

Emil nodded. He had helped pull and dig up weeds. "I can see little bits of eggshell, too," he said, "but it's mostly nice black soil. Next year's garden will be even better! Maybe the squash we grow will be even bigger!" He was remembering the one they didn't notice until it weighed more than he does.

Mandy thought so, too. The more compost you make and add to the soil, the better it gets.
The dolls took the compost container pail and the dirty bag back into the house. They rinsed the dirty bag in the sink.

Mandy hung up the wet bag and got out another bag for the pail. "This is the bag we used last time," she said. "We have two, so we can rinse one and use the other one while it's drying."
"I see," said Emil. "That way you always have a clean bag!"
"Yes," Mandy agreed, "and we don't have to throw the bag away until it wears out. Then we wash it one more time and put it into the special plastic-bag recycling."
The two dolls put the clean, dry bag into the pail, and Mandy poked it down inside.

Then Emil helped her put the pail back inside the compost container, and together they moved it to its place under the sink. It was easier to put back than it had been to take out.
"Now you can help me with the eggshells," Mandy said. "It will be fun."
She brought out the little tub with the eggshells, and the two dolls climbed up onto the countertop. They moved the blender out and smooshed the eggshells over the blender container as they dropped them in.

They used the eggshell tub to get some water from the sink and pour it into the blender container.
"OK," Mandy said, as she put the lid onto the blender, "you can turn it on now."
Emil pushed the button.

The blades went around and around. The eggshells turned into liquid.

They put the liquid into another, larger, tub and then took apart and rinsed the blender container. When when it was clean, Mandy put the bottom of the blender container back on.

She rinsed the little tub that the eggshells had been in, so it would be clean, too.

Then she wiped it dry, put the lid back on and put it back under the sink, so it would be ready to collect more eggshells.

While Mandy was rinsing the eggshell tub, Emil got out the cleaning spray and cleaned the countertop everywhere the dolls had walked, so it would be clean for cooking food again.

It was almost time for Jolena to come back into the kitchen to cook supper. Emil saw the window in the dining room as he was walking through. He knew it looked out on the backyard. He climbed up on the windowsill. "Hey, I can see the compost bins from here," he said.

He sat down on the windowsill and gazed out the window. He thought about all the microorganisms busy turning the garbage into soil.

"Eat away, little microorganisms," he said. "Get busy and make that great soil for the garden!" Then he saw the playground equipment. "I wonder if I have time to swing on the swing before supper," he thought. How great it was to have room to play and room for a garden and room for composting bins!

Note to children: Dolls are very small, so to work in the kitchen they sometimes have to get up on the counter. They are very careful to wash the countertops after they are done sitting there or walking around on it. Real children should not be up on the counter, though. It is a surface for using your hands to prepare food.

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer, St. Baldrick's Foundation or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

Pillbug image from Wikipedia "Armadillidium vulgare" page

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Copyright © 2020 by Peggy Stuart

Composing Compost

"What is this?" Emil asked Jolena.

Emil took off his hat and put a napkin around his waist. He had offered to help Jolena in the kitchen, but he had a lot of questions, because there was a lot he didn't know.
Jolena looked to see what he was looking at. 

"Used coffee grounds," she said, and continued stirring the sauce she was making. "That's what's left over after The Writer makes her coffee.

"Does it go into the trash or the recycling?" he asked.

Jolena laughed. "Some people put their coffee grounds in the trash, but we don't. We try to recycle as much as possible, but something like this can't go into the recycling bin." Then she thought for a moment. "I don't know much about it," she added, "but I think it needs special treatment." 

"Anyway," she continued, "Mandy has a special trash can for it. It's under the sink."
Emil looked at the coffee grounds. "It looks like...dirt," he said.

"Yes," agreed Jolena, "and it will be dirt, or soil, which is a better word than dirt for what it will be. It will be used to make compost, which is like soil when it's done. It makes the plants grow better."

"Did I hear someone say 'compost?'" asked a voice from the doorway. It was Mandy.

"Yes," said Jolena. "I was just telling Emil what to do with the coffee grounds."

"Good!" Mandy exclaimed. "Emil, you can be my helper, if Jolena can spare you. I was going to empty the compost container today. I need to take it out and put everything into the composter out in the yard. It takes two dolls to lift the can."

"What's compost?" Emil wanted to know. "From what Jolena said, I think it must be some kind of dirt...or soil, she said."
Mandy climbed up to sit next to Emil. "It will be," she agreed, "but compost starts out as plant material that we can't use, like garbage and grass clippings."

"And like coffee grounds," Emil said.
"Yes," Mandy said, nodding, "but even the coffee filter can go into the composter. She pulled out the box of coffee filters, so Emil could see. "That's why we use the brown ones. This is the natural color of the paper. White filters have been made white with something called bleach. Bleach isn't good for making compost."

Mandy put the box of filters aside and got out the box of tea bags. She pulled one of the tea bags out of the little envelope it was in. "We can recycle tea bags, too," she said, "but we take off the little tag, if it has one, and put that into the recycling bin."

"What else do you put into the compost?" Emil asked.
"Any vegetable matter we don't need," Mandy said. "Potato peels, vegetables that have spoiled or lettuce that isn't pretty, the stems and leaves that we don't pretend to eat. Here, you can help me with these banana peels," she went on. "We can put in the whole peel, but we need to take off the stickers and the plastic thing on the end." She handed Emil some of the banana peels, and he sat at the sink and removed the stickers.

Then Emil removed the plastic tape from the end of one of the peels. 

He put the sticker and plastic tape into the trash.

Mandy had Emil help her pull out the compost container from under the sink. It's where the dolls put things that need to go into the compost bin outdoors. It was very heavy, because it was full.

Then Mandy put the coffee filter and the coffee grounds into the compost container while Emil watched. Emil put the banana peels into the compost container all by himself. He had to step on a little pedal to make the lid go up, the way he had seen Mandy do. That way he could use both hands for the banana peels.

"One more thing," Mandy said. "When I'm ready to take the compost container out to the backyard to dump everything into the compost bin, I get out the eggshells from under the sink, so I don't forget to get them ready for the compost after we dump the container." Mandy reached in under the sink and pulled out a small tub. She took off the lid, so Emil could see inside. 

Emil looked at the eggshells. They were sort of smooshed. "Why don't you just put the eggshells into the compost container?" he asked.

"Well," Mandy said, as she put the eggshells up on the counter next to the blender, "eggshells don't break down quickly. We like to run the eggshells through the blender with some water to grind them up first, and add that separately."
Emil climbed up on top of the compost container to try to get the lid to close all the way. "Is there anything else doesn't break down quickly?" he asked.

"Things like orange peels," Mandy said, "and watermelon rind. We chop those things up when we're ready to put them into the compost. We don't put meat or bones into the compost," Mandy explained, "nor do we put nut shells into it. Meat and bones can attract rats and mice."

"It takes too long for things like bones and nut shells to turn into compost, so we just throw them away in the bin for yard waste. We can use grass and leaves, but the big branches don't work in the compost, either. We put those into the yard waste bin, too. The city picks that stuff up for us. They chop it up and use it in their compost."
"So what's the compost for?" Emil asked. "Jolena said it was like soil and it makes the plants grow better."

"Yes!" Mandy exclaimed. "It can be used on the ground in the garden. It gives nutrients to the plants.
Emil liked to work in the garden. The Writer had given him a big serving spoon to use to dig with, but he only dug where The Writer's husband said to dig.

He liked to help The Writer's husband dig and pull weeds. He was proud of their garden.

Emil loved the little tomatoes that just fit in his hands.

He loved pulling up the radishes when they were ready to eat.

Emil had been wondering where the radish leaves went, because they never showed up in the salad, and they weren't in the trash. Now he knew! He had seen them in the compost container, under the coffee grounds.

Now he was looking forward to putting the finished compost down on the garden...compost he had helped make!

"I wonder how the compost gets made," he said to himself. "How does that work?"

To be continued....

Note to children: Dolls are very small, so to work in the kitchen they sometimes have to get up on the counter. They are very careful to wash the countertops after they are done sitting there or walking around on it. Real children should not be up on the counter, though. It is a surface for using your hands to prepare food.

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer, St. Baldrick's Foundation or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.


Like our Facebook page: The Doll's Storybook

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020 by Peggy Stuart