Gardening? ? ?

I love to garden. I love growing things I can eat. HA HA , to bad you can't grow chocolate. Ok, I am having a bit of cabin fever today. The kids are home yet again because of the snow. I do love my children but I also love my "me" time too.

Back to my gardening question. I want a compost thingy. My husband and I got into an argument, shock surprise, over if I need one or not. He says, "You don't need a composter. You can take everything you would put in a compsoter and put it directly in your garden and till it under." Ok then where do we keep it until we can do that? So the argument went on. Ladies I need some advice. Do any of you have a compsoter or know what they are and if they would be good or not?

I want one so that I can use it to fertilize my garden naturally. My sister uses horse manure and goat manure on hers. She usually has a really good garden. My mother has always used horse manure on her gardens. Yes, she used to have at least two going. She had one at our house and one at the barn. My sister and my mom both use horse manure because they have an abundance of it. I think my sister does her own compost as well.

Mark has given in to the fact I am going to have a garden this year. We have not had a garden since 2004. The last one we had we grew: zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, lots of peppers, tomatoes, green onions (my favorite), and we tried our hand at cantaloupe. During this time I was making a lot of fresh salsa. Since moving in 2005 I have only done little pots with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and of course my herbs. This year I want a BIG garden with lots of stuff in it. I think I could do without the peppers this year. But, everything else I want.

I would love to hear from everyone about what their plans are for their gardens. I would also like to hear what you think about the compost thing too.