A German composter, and other useful ideas

I wanted to write about a German Composter. If you didn't read carefully, you might be expecting Brahms or Beethoven, but they are composers. Actually they were composers. Now they are de-composers. You probably wouldn't want them in your compost anyway.

Here are the results from some more weeding of my email drafts box.

Materials for making raised beds...
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/16676705/list/8-Materials-for-Raised-Garden-Beds

...how to make them...
http://www.wikihow.com/Construct-a-Raised-Planting-Bed

...and please avoid treated wood
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/lawn-garden/4308264#slide-1

Self watering planters
http://www.verticalveg.org.uk/containers-with-water-reservoirs/

Drip irrigation
http://eartheasy.com/grow_drip-irrigation.htm

Drip irrigation design guidelines
http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/dripguide.htm

And here's an instructable
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rainwater-drip-irrigation-system/

And another recipe here
http://thewrinkleddollar.com/garden/drip-irrigation.html

You can use drip irrigation on your lawn
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-use-drip-irrigation-system-lawn-area-70912.html

But you need to make a lawn first
http://uktv.co.uk/home/stepbystep/aid/65

Choose which grasses to use
http://www.gardenplace.com/content/calculator/seeds.html

Or you could even think about alternatives to grass
https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/grass-free-lawns/rethinking-the-traditional-grass-lawn/

Then you'll need to mow the lawn
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/tuzukiya/ryobi-pab-1610?scid=rm_198680

This ain't gardening, this is herbicide
http://www.permacultureorchard.com/the-farm/

Here is the German Composter. Available on Amazon. We ended up getting a Japanese one that is black. 

And by the way, the picture at the top was James Watt, a Scottish inventor.

Harvesting Rainwater

Here is a list of municipalities in Nagano prefecture that offer financial incentives to have rainwater tanks (in Japanese; no guarantee that it's up to date and I can't remember where I found it):

市町村	指定タンク	助成金額	担当部署連絡先
長野市	100リットル以上500リットル未満	費用の半額 25000円	長野市河川課 026-224-5046
	500リットル以上	費用の半額 50000円
安曇野市	100リットル以上500リットル未満	費用の半額 25000円	市民環境部環境課 0263-82-3131
	500リットル以上	費用の半額 50000円
飯田市	100リットル以上500リットル未満	費用の半額 25000円	地球温暖化対策課 地球温暖化対策係 0265-22-4511
	500リットル以上	費用の半額 50000円
上田市	100リットル以上500リットル未満	費用の半額 30000円	市民生活部生活環境課 0268-23-5120
	500リットル以上	費用の半額 50000円