Steve Coffman

A couple of people mentioned BSF (black soldier fly) larvae. When I first saw them in my worm bin I thought oh shit...maggots. Then I googled what I saw and it turns out they are quite safe and beneficial for compost piles. Apparently they work symbiotically with worms....and they are voracious. See them eating fish here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-zAbzRx29I&NR=1). They eat just about anything....and very quickly.

I live in So. Oregon and in the spring the BSF comes in when it warms and leaves when it cools. This year I attracted them with fermenting corn. You can find out more about them at http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/
Anybody else have experience with this very cool composter?

Some thoughts.....
I too am concerned about the drywall blowing out at the bottom. That would be ugly! Whether it would do this or not would (I think) depend on a variety of factors like the type of fasteners used (nails or screws), the number used, stud spacing, stud width, thickness of the drywall, and I'm thinking the humidity in your location. Drywall bends very easily under a load.....particularly when moist.
If the other suggestions (drums of water, brick planter, etc.) are not an option, one possibility is to add a small amount of dry Portland cement to the sand mix which would bond the sand particles over time. I live in southern Oregon, which has a very dry climate. Several bags of concrete in my garage began to set up last winter just from the ambient moisture in the air. You'll want to make sure all holes are sealed like around and in electrical boxes.
Or you could add another layer of (5/8") drywall to either side and use screws spaced 6" apart that penetrated at least an inch into the stud. That should do it. The added drywall would add thermal mass as well.
Or you could just add extra fasteners to the existing drywall, particularly in the lower half of the wall and baseboard.....and take a chance!

solarguy,
I think the preponderant question is, "what if your neighbor wants to install a wind tower and he IS inept...and the inspector allows him to go ahead with his plan....and a wind blows it over onto your house, or worse, onto your head?" All I'm suggesting is that the code is there to make sure something like that doesn't happen. It's too bad for people like yourself who are capable....but not so bad for people who live next to someone who isn't.

It seems to me, for the most part, planning codes are designed for the "Lowest Common Denominator". They for protecting the land from people who would do stupid or unconscious things to the rivers and the forests (etc.), or to their neighbors, the community, or to themselves. Unfortunately, the "LDC" based code can limit special case projects that actually make sense in some way. I say, get creative....limitation is not always a negative.

I've been a builder for 30+ years and, as I see it, "the Universal Building Code" is mostly designed around worst case scenarios (the 7.9 earthquake, the unexpected fire or flood, the 120 mile per hour wind, etc.). It often seems unrealistic....until disaster happens. Then lives are saved and property is still standing.

I've been primarily in the remodeling business and have seen a lot of shoddy work. In my mind, work done by inexperienced individuals and without the oversight of building standards can be very wasteful and at times dangerous. I've seen a lot of unnecessary rebuilds because the initial builder didn't follow code, or sensible building practices.

For me the saddest part about this is material wastage. Way too much used building material makes it's way to biomass or the landfill because it just wasn't used in a thoughtful way. That said, way more people are paying much closer attention to thoughtful building practices and land usage these days....go permies!