Photo Guide to Pet Poop Composting

Kimbo helps keep my garden growing. Over the years, he’s helped make more than 20 wheelbarrows of finished compost. He doesn’t use a shovel or turn the pile. All he does is poop.

Kimbo is an 8-year-old pit bull mix (American bulldog - American Staffordshire terrier cross) we rescued from Town Lake Animal Center in Austin, Texas. He loves fetch, travels very well, and is such a good boy.

Ox beetle larva revealed

While breaking down two compost piles and a hugelkulture garden bed, my friend Jeremy and I uncovered loads of ox beetle larva. These grubs will mature in Jeremy's yard. Before they transform into North America's largest beetle, I hope to sell my house so I can buy an RV and travel full time. Read more about that on my blog "Welcome to Where We're Going."

Ox beetle larva feed on decaying organic material. Buried oak logs, part of a moisture retention technique known as hugelkulture, attract adults who mate and lay eggs. The grubs burrow into the logs, creating the deep pits visible in the upper right of the photo. After nearly a year, the plump larva metamorphose into giant horned beetles.

City of Austin | Net-Zero Hero: Joseph de Leon

The City of Austin has named me a Net-Zero Hero! Tiffany Lieu of the City of Austin's Office of Sustainability joined me for a morning as I worked the compost at Gardens at Gus Garcia.


Read the story:
City of Austin | Net-Zero Hero: Joseph de Leon

Compost wellness check following flash floods

Whenever it rains, I become concerned about my compost piles getting too wet. Over the past two weeks, it's rained an estimated 12 inches in the greater Austin area. Time to do a wellness check to see how my compost piles have fared.

Bee works during compost tour

A tiny bee works to pollinate a wildflower near a compost bin at St. David's Community Garden. The bee worked while a group of city officials and activists attended a compost tour to raise support for curbside composting in Austin.

Photos from the tour

KXAN | Compost tour spreads awareness of local composting efforts

Oyster mushroom experiment

A friend of mine dropped off some mushroom compost at Gardens at Gus Garcia community garden a few weeks ago. The spent material contains mycelium from a commercial mushroom operation in Austin called LoGro Farms. They turn organic byproducts, like spent beer grains, into food. A week or so after adding the mushroom compost to the community garden compost pile, oyster mushrooms fruited.

Green roach

While turning compost at Gardens at Gus Garcia, came across this beauty. Never seen a green roach before! It's a Cuban cockroach, Panchlora nivea.

Compost Pedallers | The Magic of Compost

Compost Pedallers are an Austin-based commercial compost hauler that transport organic material completely on bicycles. I've been a fan for as long as they've been in Austin and was honored when they asked me to be part of a promotional campaign.


Watch the Video
Compost Pedallers | The Magic of Compost




Courtesy Compost Pedallers

Composting: the birth of Funky Frida

I started a composting program at the Texas WIC state office partially to encourage my coworkers to keep organic material out of the landfill and partially to feed my backyard compost piles. In the process of encouraging participation, Funky Frida was born.

Making compost with chickens

Backyard chickens aren't just a source of food and endless entertainment -- they can also help turn food waste into nourishing compost. Every few months, I harvest about two wheel barrows of compost my chickens help produce. They scratch and peck their way through loads of organic material, turning it into every gardener's favorite soil amendment.