Very short post today. The weather's really crappy out. Everyone at work was commenting on it, though it had nothing to do with gardening. Myself, I was thinking that I should ask Judy how often to water an SWC in fall and winter, since that's the weather we're having. 50 and rainy grey. And to think it's going to be 80 on Friday. I'll believe it when I see it. That said, my tomatoes are getting a little droopy and aren't growing at all. I think this weekend I'll get some mulch for the top to keep it from getting any water in the holes I cut to feed the plants through.
Good news, I got a shipping confirmation from Johnny's for my trellis netting. Hopefully it will get here this weekend so I can set it up.
I've also asked on GW about my un-sprouted potato. I hope I can force it to sprout, or maybe cut off a portion of a multiple sprouting seed potato and replant it in the blank spot, or at very least, get a new seed potato soon to hope that it catches up with the others. I would hate to have tons of open space in my Butte bin.
Well that's it for tonight, the kids are both sick with different things and my wife's at wit's end after cleaning up every mess imaginable. I had better go relieve her.
P.S. after getting the little one down because the eldest was going to eat and unfortunately we're starving the little one to keep anything in his stomach, my wife asked me to empty the crisper. Tons of store-bought veggies were well past their prime. So into the compost bucket with the dryer lint and other stuff from the week. It had been a few days since checking the temp and when I did (raining at the time) it was down in the 90s. It was dry when I cleared the middle so I wetted it down a bit and then dumped the great mix of greens and browns into the middle and recovered it with mostly composted grey matter. Let's hope it heats up nicely. I've had to much positive experience so far with it I'm not sure what I'll do if it stops working, hehe.
Enjoy your garden!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
May 12, 2008
Short post today, but I've got pics. Too bad they're a bit dark. I had to take care of my little one while my wife took a class with the eldest. So by the time I got out it was getting dark and the camera auto flashed. May have helped, not sure.
Anyway, the first thing I noticed was that my Yukon Golds were getting some height to them.
Notice anything about the pic? Well the first thing I noticed was that Round Up hasn't killed the weeds behind it yet. I may have to pull them soon. Then the second thing I noticed was that dark spot in the middle left... can't pick it out? Well here it is in close-up...
Yep, you guessed it, a coon print. I mentioned a while ago that I was overdue for putting down more predator urine pellets, but I just didn't follow through. Right after I took this I ran inside and got it. I'm almost out now after doing a heavy dose all around my back yard and garden area. I recall that after I finish it I need to find a competitor product so the coons don't get used to the smell. Not sure where I'll find one since Haveaheart is so prevalent. /shrug
After this I planted more corn and beans. Precocious and Jade that is. They're notoriously slow/bad to sprout, even after germinating them inside. I may have to complain to Territorial, though they'll probably tell me I am planting too early. I thought it was only problems germinating this early so I did that in coffee filters inside. /shrug (hehe I'm doing that a lot lately)
Here's a current pic of my piled high compost pile. It's still in range so I'm happy. I'm also happy because I've got a full compost bucket inside and should be able to mow this weekend. Brown and green!
Notice how it's looking more and more like compost every day, even the top part. That's because I mixed it up.
Finally I thought a progress update on my veggies would be in order. I just love looking at them growing. I hope you do too!
Radishes (I've got tons more planted where these came from!)... Note the yellow leaves? I hope it's not a sign of disease or lack of water or over watering. I'm still new to this watering thing and it's been so unpredictable rain wise here lately. Oh and the green twigs on the left are my wife's green onions. I think they're doing well.
Next I'll share two pics of my lettuce. The Red Sails and Salad Bowl...
Notice the succession plantings of lettuce and spinach in the foreground. No they don't look that golden, it's the flash. And the pointy lettuce is actually Italienshier. But notice it's overshadowed by my monster cauliflower?
Lastly, my pride and joy. My spinach. I can't wait to make a spinach and radish salad!
And the leaf my hand's covering is even bigger!
I'd just watered, thus the drops on the leaves. Before this Friday I'll remove the cover for the season. It's forecasted to get into Judy's temps... yep the big 8-0! I don't believe it but it'll be hot.
Anyway, the first thing I noticed was that my Yukon Golds were getting some height to them.
Notice anything about the pic? Well the first thing I noticed was that Round Up hasn't killed the weeds behind it yet. I may have to pull them soon. Then the second thing I noticed was that dark spot in the middle left... can't pick it out? Well here it is in close-up...
Yep, you guessed it, a coon print. I mentioned a while ago that I was overdue for putting down more predator urine pellets, but I just didn't follow through. Right after I took this I ran inside and got it. I'm almost out now after doing a heavy dose all around my back yard and garden area. I recall that after I finish it I need to find a competitor product so the coons don't get used to the smell. Not sure where I'll find one since Haveaheart is so prevalent. /shrug
After this I planted more corn and beans. Precocious and Jade that is. They're notoriously slow/bad to sprout, even after germinating them inside. I may have to complain to Territorial, though they'll probably tell me I am planting too early. I thought it was only problems germinating this early so I did that in coffee filters inside. /shrug (hehe I'm doing that a lot lately)
Here's a current pic of my piled high compost pile. It's still in range so I'm happy. I'm also happy because I've got a full compost bucket inside and should be able to mow this weekend. Brown and green!
Notice how it's looking more and more like compost every day, even the top part. That's because I mixed it up.
Finally I thought a progress update on my veggies would be in order. I just love looking at them growing. I hope you do too!
Radishes (I've got tons more planted where these came from!)... Note the yellow leaves? I hope it's not a sign of disease or lack of water or over watering. I'm still new to this watering thing and it's been so unpredictable rain wise here lately. Oh and the green twigs on the left are my wife's green onions. I think they're doing well.
Next I'll share two pics of my lettuce. The Red Sails and Salad Bowl...
Notice the succession plantings of lettuce and spinach in the foreground. No they don't look that golden, it's the flash. And the pointy lettuce is actually Italienshier. But notice it's overshadowed by my monster cauliflower?
Lastly, my pride and joy. My spinach. I can't wait to make a spinach and radish salad!
And the leaf my hand's covering is even bigger!
I'd just watered, thus the drops on the leaves. Before this Friday I'll remove the cover for the season. It's forecasted to get into Judy's temps... yep the big 8-0! I don't believe it but it'll be hot.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
May 11, 2008
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
I hope everyone pampered their mothers or if you're a mother were pampered today. We had a BBQ despite the 45 degree temps and overcast weather. I love spending time with my brother now that we can talk gardening. But I digress.
Despite taking care of the kids and helping to pamper my wife today, I did manage to get some things done in short trips outside.
After hearing yet again about using blank space around big plants when they're small, I found the answer to my radish problem. Even with 16 per SF, that is not enough when you want 2 per salad, hehe. So my 5 SF just wasn't cutting it. So I took the opportunity today to plant radish seeds all around my broccoli seedlings. Well not all around the biggest since it shades one side too much. So while they grow, I'll hopefully get fast maturing radishes for a change now that the weather's hopefully better. I may do that elsewhere but I do have some unaccounted for squares at the top of bed #1 and the bottom of bed #2. I still felt good about making better use of space. Oh, and I threw some more bush beans in the ground that had sprouted overnight.
As for the compost bin that I turned yesterday is perfect according to some experienced folks at Ft2Garden.com, and to prove it when I took it's temperature this morning it was already back up to 145. Amazing what natural chemistry can do. Hehe I should have paid more attention in high school chemistry. I'm sure it has something to do with the natural reaction of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Otherwise known as who cares... hehe, it works! That and my family convinced me that though I probably didn't need two bins, I should build them just in case. So I will and hope to fill them both some day.
Finally, after visiting three nurseries, calling a fourth and checking all over the internet to find the exact sized nylon netting trellis, my father convinced me to just buy the one from Johnny's that fits perfectly. It was way more expensive even without the shipping, but I had an idea. Since my radish seeds are dwindling to the point that I don't think I'll have enough for the season, I bought more. They're not the same variety as my Territorials, but they look like regular radishes and the shipping was free, so the price was right.
Enjoy your garden!
I hope everyone pampered their mothers or if you're a mother were pampered today. We had a BBQ despite the 45 degree temps and overcast weather. I love spending time with my brother now that we can talk gardening. But I digress.
Despite taking care of the kids and helping to pamper my wife today, I did manage to get some things done in short trips outside.
After hearing yet again about using blank space around big plants when they're small, I found the answer to my radish problem. Even with 16 per SF, that is not enough when you want 2 per salad, hehe. So my 5 SF just wasn't cutting it. So I took the opportunity today to plant radish seeds all around my broccoli seedlings. Well not all around the biggest since it shades one side too much. So while they grow, I'll hopefully get fast maturing radishes for a change now that the weather's hopefully better. I may do that elsewhere but I do have some unaccounted for squares at the top of bed #1 and the bottom of bed #2. I still felt good about making better use of space. Oh, and I threw some more bush beans in the ground that had sprouted overnight.
As for the compost bin that I turned yesterday is perfect according to some experienced folks at Ft2Garden.com, and to prove it when I took it's temperature this morning it was already back up to 145. Amazing what natural chemistry can do. Hehe I should have paid more attention in high school chemistry. I'm sure it has something to do with the natural reaction of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Otherwise known as who cares... hehe, it works! That and my family convinced me that though I probably didn't need two bins, I should build them just in case. So I will and hope to fill them both some day.
Finally, after visiting three nurseries, calling a fourth and checking all over the internet to find the exact sized nylon netting trellis, my father convinced me to just buy the one from Johnny's that fits perfectly. It was way more expensive even without the shipping, but I had an idea. Since my radish seeds are dwindling to the point that I don't think I'll have enough for the season, I bought more. They're not the same variety as my Territorials, but they look like regular radishes and the shipping was free, so the price was right.
Enjoy your garden!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
May 10, 2008
Today was the first of my two-day celebration of Mother's Day. Of course mothers deserve every day to be Mother's Day for all they do for their families, but I digress.
We had a nice (filling) breakfast at the Maltby Cafe and then proceeded to waddle around Flower World for a few hours. I was looking for odds and ends since I don't have room for more veggies and my aunt gets me all my plants. But what I was really looking for was a 7x15 nylon netting for my trellis. Twelve feet just won't cut it to span all three of my beds plus the pathways. I've found one for $17 with shipping at Johnny's but I hate to pay extra shipping if I don't have to. Alas, Flower World only had 5x15, so I decided to hold out, despite the price at $8. Note to self, I should have bought it. hehe. I did get some tomato cages to help support the heavy fruit-laden vines (positive thinking). I also found a good price on gloves and bought some of that self-cutting twisty ties that GardenGirl has on one of her videos to help train plants to trellis. Overall Flower World was fun, but not for a veggie gardener. I was interested in their chickens that run around the park and pond. There were regular ones, ones with fluffy feather head dresses on and ones that looked soft as bunnies. Very cool. I mentioned that we should get some to my wife and she put her foot down. Eggs, fertilizer and weed control did nothing to sway her. Ah well.
When we got back home I took my eldest and headed north to Wally World to see if for once they had something Judy got at Wally World in Alabama. No luck, all they had there was 5x8 nylon netting. Grrr. Damn you regional procurement. hehe. What I did get there (other than socks and underwear for the kids) was a half pitch fork. My aunt won't leave hers here and it was only $18. Even if it's cheap and doesn't hold up I can buy a new one later. Hehe after I bought it I read Judy's blog and she wants one for Mother's Day. Great minds think alike! And so do ours...
After I got out of Walmart, I headed to Emery's nursery, which is a mile from Walmart. I've got a $25 gift card from the preschool auction last month and was hoping to use it on a trellis and maybe some other garden thingy. Too bad they were closing when I got there, but a nice sales person did show me their netting. 5x15 again, but for $9. Grrr. Since it was my first time there she showed Logan and I their Coi pond, beautiful fish! If only I had a pond, and no raccoons... hehe. She also told me they've got 6 acres there including a chicken coop. Hmm, I'm going to have to go back and look around, and maybe look more closely into the rules on chickens in the city.
When I got home I checked out my garden. The radishes are almost totally unburied, the spinach has ladle sized leaves, the lettuce is almost ready to pick and I'm getting more spouts from my bush beans. However, my final seed potato still hasn't sprouted. I'm thinking of taking it out and putting it under sunlight and heat to try to get it to sprout then put it back. Not sure.
Here's a current but blurry pick of my blueberries. Today I removed 95% of the flowers and sprinkled some acid-loving fertilizer around the ring you see in the picture. That ring's what's left of the coffee grounds I put around them a month or two ago. I sure hope it's working to make the soil acidic enough for them. I left just enough buds on the strongest canes to let just a few blueberries grow, just so I know they can, and to placate my son. hehe
After that I tested my compost bin just about 7 days after I created it. Low and behold, the temp was 135 degrees, below the zone. So out came my new pitch fork and I turned the compost. The middle was grey and clumpy so I replaced it with green and moist, with some weeds and paper towels thrown in for good measure. It's now a thinner tall mound hoping the magic will happen again. Here's to hoping I'm doing it right.
Tomorrow I'll call Sky to see if they by chance have my netting, then if not I guess I'll either bite the bullet and spend the shipping on what I want or maybe head back to Emery's and buy the 5 foot one and just raise it a foot off the beds and run a piece of twine under it. Not sure.
Oh, and let me add another twist to the whole, can I plant tulips around my trees. ROFL I forgot to mention that under the mulch and yummy compost is a layer of landscape fabric to keep the weeds and grass from growing up through it. I'm kind of doubting the tulips will make it through, or would they? Maybe I'll add some to my new rock garden when it's time to plant them.
Well, to all the mother's out there, Happy Mother's Day! You deserve to rest (and much, much more!) and maybe get out in your garden for fun while your family makes breakfast.
We had a nice (filling) breakfast at the Maltby Cafe and then proceeded to waddle around Flower World for a few hours. I was looking for odds and ends since I don't have room for more veggies and my aunt gets me all my plants. But what I was really looking for was a 7x15 nylon netting for my trellis. Twelve feet just won't cut it to span all three of my beds plus the pathways. I've found one for $17 with shipping at Johnny's but I hate to pay extra shipping if I don't have to. Alas, Flower World only had 5x15, so I decided to hold out, despite the price at $8. Note to self, I should have bought it. hehe. I did get some tomato cages to help support the heavy fruit-laden vines (positive thinking). I also found a good price on gloves and bought some of that self-cutting twisty ties that GardenGirl has on one of her videos to help train plants to trellis. Overall Flower World was fun, but not for a veggie gardener. I was interested in their chickens that run around the park and pond. There were regular ones, ones with fluffy feather head dresses on and ones that looked soft as bunnies. Very cool. I mentioned that we should get some to my wife and she put her foot down. Eggs, fertilizer and weed control did nothing to sway her. Ah well.
When we got back home I took my eldest and headed north to Wally World to see if for once they had something Judy got at Wally World in Alabama. No luck, all they had there was 5x8 nylon netting. Grrr. Damn you regional procurement. hehe. What I did get there (other than socks and underwear for the kids) was a half pitch fork. My aunt won't leave hers here and it was only $18. Even if it's cheap and doesn't hold up I can buy a new one later. Hehe after I bought it I read Judy's blog and she wants one for Mother's Day. Great minds think alike! And so do ours...
After I got out of Walmart, I headed to Emery's nursery, which is a mile from Walmart. I've got a $25 gift card from the preschool auction last month and was hoping to use it on a trellis and maybe some other garden thingy. Too bad they were closing when I got there, but a nice sales person did show me their netting. 5x15 again, but for $9. Grrr. Since it was my first time there she showed Logan and I their Coi pond, beautiful fish! If only I had a pond, and no raccoons... hehe. She also told me they've got 6 acres there including a chicken coop. Hmm, I'm going to have to go back and look around, and maybe look more closely into the rules on chickens in the city.
When I got home I checked out my garden. The radishes are almost totally unburied, the spinach has ladle sized leaves, the lettuce is almost ready to pick and I'm getting more spouts from my bush beans. However, my final seed potato still hasn't sprouted. I'm thinking of taking it out and putting it under sunlight and heat to try to get it to sprout then put it back. Not sure.
Here's a current but blurry pick of my blueberries. Today I removed 95% of the flowers and sprinkled some acid-loving fertilizer around the ring you see in the picture. That ring's what's left of the coffee grounds I put around them a month or two ago. I sure hope it's working to make the soil acidic enough for them. I left just enough buds on the strongest canes to let just a few blueberries grow, just so I know they can, and to placate my son. hehe
After that I tested my compost bin just about 7 days after I created it. Low and behold, the temp was 135 degrees, below the zone. So out came my new pitch fork and I turned the compost. The middle was grey and clumpy so I replaced it with green and moist, with some weeds and paper towels thrown in for good measure. It's now a thinner tall mound hoping the magic will happen again. Here's to hoping I'm doing it right.
Tomorrow I'll call Sky to see if they by chance have my netting, then if not I guess I'll either bite the bullet and spend the shipping on what I want or maybe head back to Emery's and buy the 5 foot one and just raise it a foot off the beds and run a piece of twine under it. Not sure.
Oh, and let me add another twist to the whole, can I plant tulips around my trees. ROFL I forgot to mention that under the mulch and yummy compost is a layer of landscape fabric to keep the weeds and grass from growing up through it. I'm kind of doubting the tulips will make it through, or would they? Maybe I'll add some to my new rock garden when it's time to plant them.
Well, to all the mother's out there, Happy Mother's Day! You deserve to rest (and much, much more!) and maybe get out in your garden for fun while your family makes breakfast.
Friday, May 9, 2008
May 9, 2008
Today is square one. That's what it feels like anyway. Hehe all my discoveries today came in ones...
First off, it was 60 degrees and sunny, so when I got home I was greeted by... no one. But when I put down my brief case my youngest came to the screen door and said daddy, outside. Hehe my family couldn't even wait for me to get home. The kids were out playing and my wife traded places so she could get stuff done inside.
My first stop was to check on my potato bins. The Yukon Golds have every seed potato accounted for. They may be smalls sprouts but they're sprouts. The Buttes on the other hand, are nearly ready for more dirt they've grown so much. However, what's missing in this picture?
If you said the top right corner is awfully lacking in green, you'd be dead on. You see, some of the seed potatoes I got were on the small side. But they all had at least two eyes so I didn't think anything of it. But the seed potato in the ground has not sprouted. And unless someone's got a bright idea, it never will. Drat, I sish I could break up that middle one and transplant it to the corner. What a waste of space. So out of all my seed potatoes, "one" didn't sprout.
Next on my mini garden tour was my corn, which isn't doing so well. It seems just because they sprout in coffee filters doesn't mean they'll poke right out of the dirt a week after you plant them. /sigh I hope they do. Grrr. Anyway, the radishes are doing well. but when I was watering I had to do a double take. FINALLY "one" of my cuke seeds sprouted!!! Unfortunately I have no idea which it was, likely one of the pickeling varieties that Toasty gave me, but I didn't lable each square with the variety, I only labled the row cukes. Dumb.
Next up was to water my peas, which are doing quite well as you saw yesterday. But low and behold, "one" of my three squares worth of bush beans has sprouted! Can you see a pattern here? That's why I'm back to square "one" hehe.
I'll leave you with a cute conversation my wife and I had today. If it was a hint she did poorly conveying it, but she had to mention how she loves looking at the tulips in peoples yards. Ours are scattered randomly by squirrils so we've got just a few. Certainly not enough to please her. So she asks me if it's ok if we plant tulip bulbs around some of our trees. I'm not entirely sure if tulips rob nutrients from trees or not. Research is in order on that one. Gotta make her happy. Tis my job!
Enjoy your garden!
First off, it was 60 degrees and sunny, so when I got home I was greeted by... no one. But when I put down my brief case my youngest came to the screen door and said daddy, outside. Hehe my family couldn't even wait for me to get home. The kids were out playing and my wife traded places so she could get stuff done inside.
My first stop was to check on my potato bins. The Yukon Golds have every seed potato accounted for. They may be smalls sprouts but they're sprouts. The Buttes on the other hand, are nearly ready for more dirt they've grown so much. However, what's missing in this picture?
If you said the top right corner is awfully lacking in green, you'd be dead on. You see, some of the seed potatoes I got were on the small side. But they all had at least two eyes so I didn't think anything of it. But the seed potato in the ground has not sprouted. And unless someone's got a bright idea, it never will. Drat, I sish I could break up that middle one and transplant it to the corner. What a waste of space. So out of all my seed potatoes, "one" didn't sprout.
Next on my mini garden tour was my corn, which isn't doing so well. It seems just because they sprout in coffee filters doesn't mean they'll poke right out of the dirt a week after you plant them. /sigh I hope they do. Grrr. Anyway, the radishes are doing well. but when I was watering I had to do a double take. FINALLY "one" of my cuke seeds sprouted!!! Unfortunately I have no idea which it was, likely one of the pickeling varieties that Toasty gave me, but I didn't lable each square with the variety, I only labled the row cukes. Dumb.
Next up was to water my peas, which are doing quite well as you saw yesterday. But low and behold, "one" of my three squares worth of bush beans has sprouted! Can you see a pattern here? That's why I'm back to square "one" hehe.
I'll leave you with a cute conversation my wife and I had today. If it was a hint she did poorly conveying it, but she had to mention how she loves looking at the tulips in peoples yards. Ours are scattered randomly by squirrils so we've got just a few. Certainly not enough to please her. So she asks me if it's ok if we plant tulip bulbs around some of our trees. I'm not entirely sure if tulips rob nutrients from trees or not. Research is in order on that one. Gotta make her happy. Tis my job!
Enjoy your garden!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
May 8, 2008
Well, today I figured out a bit better how to use the "new-to-me" camera. Now I can share current pics of my garden.
Here's my spinach, look how big it's grown! Even the new leaves are getting big. I have no idea when and how to harvest, but I'm guessing it's soon. In the background is my succession lettuce and the first lettuce planted behind that. Here's a close-up of my lettuce...
In the middle is the Italiensheir (I have no idea how to spell it and don't care, it tastes awesome!) Again I have no idea when and what to pick, but I had a salad at work today and am drooling for a home made one. In the background is a foot tall cauliflower with leaves the size of ping pong paddles.
Someone suggested I remove the cover from my cool weather bed. But it's doing so well with the cover on! Seriously, none of my other plants are doing anywhere near as well. That said. I've already opened it up to allow more heat to escape to harden them off. I plan on removing the cover this weekend or next, putting it away for the season.
Ok, now here are my peas. The shelling are growing the best...
If I am going to get a single trellis made from nylon netting across all my beds, I'd better do it quick because these babies are about to find the trellis I've got.
I think for now I'll leave you with a blooming apple tree! Enjoy your garden...
After dark I went back out and took my compost's temperature. Still 150 but so so small. So I emptied my compost bucket from the house, which is mostly "brown" tissues, paper towels and paper, but also had baked potato skins left over from dinner the other night and some apple left overs. After I dumped the junk on the pile I covered it with the grass on the sides making another high mound. I may need to wet it down a bit because it hasn't rained in over a week. Let's hope my hose will reach.
Here's my spinach, look how big it's grown! Even the new leaves are getting big. I have no idea when and how to harvest, but I'm guessing it's soon. In the background is my succession lettuce and the first lettuce planted behind that. Here's a close-up of my lettuce...
In the middle is the Italiensheir (I have no idea how to spell it and don't care, it tastes awesome!) Again I have no idea when and what to pick, but I had a salad at work today and am drooling for a home made one. In the background is a foot tall cauliflower with leaves the size of ping pong paddles.
Someone suggested I remove the cover from my cool weather bed. But it's doing so well with the cover on! Seriously, none of my other plants are doing anywhere near as well. That said. I've already opened it up to allow more heat to escape to harden them off. I plan on removing the cover this weekend or next, putting it away for the season.
Ok, now here are my peas. The shelling are growing the best...
If I am going to get a single trellis made from nylon netting across all my beds, I'd better do it quick because these babies are about to find the trellis I've got.
I think for now I'll leave you with a blooming apple tree! Enjoy your garden...
After dark I went back out and took my compost's temperature. Still 150 but so so small. So I emptied my compost bucket from the house, which is mostly "brown" tissues, paper towels and paper, but also had baked potato skins left over from dinner the other night and some apple left overs. After I dumped the junk on the pile I covered it with the grass on the sides making another high mound. I may need to wet it down a bit because it hasn't rained in over a week. Let's hope my hose will reach.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
May 7, 2008
Another race when I finally got home. This evening was getting our hair cut back in my old stomping grounds and dinner with the folks. It was 8:15 by the time I got home so I raced to take pictures with my dad's digital camera. Thank goodness it's got a flash because it was dusk, but I HAD to get some pictures taken.
Here's a slightly dark picture of my compost bin. I threw it together the other day and it turned out decent. My dad is going to help me build a lathe trellis door that opens and locks. Notice just how little grass is left in the bin. WOW!
After I took this I emptied the two bags at the bottom right onto the pile (note I replaced the photos with better shots, so trust me there were two bags there yesterday, ROFL). The blue contains tons of hair. The silver is coffee grounds from Starbucks. I layered them on top and then threw some grass on top. Hehe it makes me want to mow to get more grass clippings for the pile. But I don't NEED to mow. Hehe I could always offer to mow my neighbor's yard, which is knee high. Er... maybe not.
We're all having fun trying to find stuff to compost. The 163 things site is only the start. If soggy cereal works, then how about the crackers and other snacks that my kids spill on the floor. They're no longer edible, but why can't we compost them?!? And my cats are loving the attention they're getting. Psst, they don't know I just want their FUR! hehe. And just today, I was waiting for my wife to pick me up, standing in front of Starbucks. They had the free bin right by the door (no, seriously, I bought a frap, I just can't take their free grounds without patronizing them). With the hair, I was explaining to the friend of the family that cuts our hair about my compost bin and she gave me the hair. That I will do. But it doesn't make sense to go buy stuff to compost, or travel all over to get stuff with the cost of gas these days.
As an aside, oil hit a new record today (it's old hat to break a record it seems since they do it daily) at $121 a barrel. In the Wall Street Journal, there was an analysis that said two things. First that oil is projected to hit $150 within 6 months, which apparently would translate into $4.50 a gallon for gas! Holly crap! I don't know what more I can do to use less gas. I take the bus to work. I am growing my own veggies. I've pre-bought as many of the oil-based products I can, expecting costs to go up. It's not like I can just walk into work and get a raise to compensate... I know it has nothing to do with gardening, so I digress.
Lastly, I'll leave you with a current pic of my Butte bin. I think all the seed potatoes are finally sprouting and boy are the big ones growing!
Enjoy your garden!
Here's a slightly dark picture of my compost bin. I threw it together the other day and it turned out decent. My dad is going to help me build a lathe trellis door that opens and locks. Notice just how little grass is left in the bin. WOW!
After I took this I emptied the two bags at the bottom right onto the pile (note I replaced the photos with better shots, so trust me there were two bags there yesterday, ROFL). The blue contains tons of hair. The silver is coffee grounds from Starbucks. I layered them on top and then threw some grass on top. Hehe it makes me want to mow to get more grass clippings for the pile. But I don't NEED to mow. Hehe I could always offer to mow my neighbor's yard, which is knee high. Er... maybe not.
We're all having fun trying to find stuff to compost. The 163 things site is only the start. If soggy cereal works, then how about the crackers and other snacks that my kids spill on the floor. They're no longer edible, but why can't we compost them?!? And my cats are loving the attention they're getting. Psst, they don't know I just want their FUR! hehe. And just today, I was waiting for my wife to pick me up, standing in front of Starbucks. They had the free bin right by the door (no, seriously, I bought a frap, I just can't take their free grounds without patronizing them). With the hair, I was explaining to the friend of the family that cuts our hair about my compost bin and she gave me the hair. That I will do. But it doesn't make sense to go buy stuff to compost, or travel all over to get stuff with the cost of gas these days.
As an aside, oil hit a new record today (it's old hat to break a record it seems since they do it daily) at $121 a barrel. In the Wall Street Journal, there was an analysis that said two things. First that oil is projected to hit $150 within 6 months, which apparently would translate into $4.50 a gallon for gas! Holly crap! I don't know what more I can do to use less gas. I take the bus to work. I am growing my own veggies. I've pre-bought as many of the oil-based products I can, expecting costs to go up. It's not like I can just walk into work and get a raise to compensate... I know it has nothing to do with gardening, so I digress.
Lastly, I'll leave you with a current pic of my Butte bin. I think all the seed potatoes are finally sprouting and boy are the big ones growing!
Enjoy your garden!
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