Lettuce sowed in ground (collected last year)

On both sides of the air conditioner.  Ruby Leaf and Black-Seeded Simpson (the mature bag), all from seeds collected last year.

Kelp meal worked into the soil of the south-of-a/c, plus fresh dig-in kitchen scraps.

North-of-a/c has some kelp meal in the part closest to the a/c, but not the most north part bec it has last week's dig-in kitchen scraps which I didn't want to dig up.

Dug-in compost today (first time this year)

Into the north-of-air-conditioner bed, where lettuce will soon be sown.  Many worms were in there, hope they'll make it.

WOW! Dig-and-drop composting works SUPER FAST!!!

OMG!  I dug up several of my dig-and-drop composting holes today, curious to see what they look like.  There is essentially no sign of the original material in holes that were dug as recently as July 25th, i.e. 3 weeks ago!!!!  Also the older holes that I checked, July 5th and July 11th, no sign at all.  They all held a full fridge-bin worth of scraps.

The most recent one, from August 8th, is definitely still there, still ample recognizable chunks.

But the others!  I would have sworn I wasn't digging in the right spot, if it weren't for the large rocks and ziplock bags with dates that I placed over the holes.

Oddly, the soil in the holes looks dry and boring, not the rich gorgeous stuff that comes out of the compost bin.

Dig-in composting

This summer I started burying compostables directly into the garden soil.  When my fridge bin is full, I dig a hole and dump it in, and recover it with soil.

This is to avoid odours from the bin which I seem to get every year.  I don't mind the smell, but I'm sure my neighbours do!

I've put a rock over the spots, with a note in a little Ziploc bag showing the date it was buried.  Will be interesting to go digging later on to see how it's going.

So, the compost bin isn't getting much contribution this year.