Well yesterday was so busy I never got a chance to post. I did have a half hour in the middle of the day, but I couldn't get to my computer. I'm getting the windows replaced in my family room and they had taken the place over.
My windows are casement windows 2'x4'. Two of them together would make a wonderful cold frame. I don't have the time right now to make one, but I kept two of the storm windows from them. They are fairly light since they have no wood on them, just a thin frame of aluminum. Maybe I'll do a quick and easy cold frame of four hay bales. Eight of the windows (both panes, not just the internal storms) will go to the Squirrel Brand Community Garden, at least I'm hoping. The windows were supposed to be done three months ago. I'm hoping the community garden hasn't given up on me. But I sent them an email saying they are out.
One of the things that kept me busy was my compost piles. I keep two sets of compost piles. One is directly in my garden. It is a covered plastic composter that I bought ages ago. I use it for my kitchen scraps. I don't want to attract the nasty animals (like raccoons) so I cover it. I keep a pile of leaves next to it and when I throw in the scraps I cover them with leaves. This keeps the flies down.
My son was home over the summer and he likes his grapes frozen. Where he got this from I'm not quite sure since I don't like frozen grapes. I bought him a Costco bag of grapes and he froze them all. However he didn't finish them before he left, so I tossed them in the compost. I also cleaned out my freezer. There wasn't much left over from last year that needed tossing, but any horribly freezer burned veggies also got tossed in the compost pile. The compost pile was not happy with me. It turned sour and started smelling. Not a good thing. I guess the compost pile doesn't like their grapes frozen either.
My other compost piles are under my oak forest in the back yard. They are contained by simple 3' wire mesh made into a circle. They consist of leaves, grass clippings and any plants pulled from my garden. The leaves and grass clippings are great to make a hot pile, but are not a very diverse compost pile. Compost made from more diverse piles are better for the garden. They contain a wider range of micronutrients. So I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and combine two piles. The newest one from my backyard and the one from the garden. That took a long time since I had to haul so much half finished compost across the yard. I'm glad it is done. Now I have an empty compost bin in my garden and won't upset my neighbor down wind from me.
Hmm I have a lot of other garden related things to tell about, but I'll put that in the next post. I have three days of rain coming up, so I'll have plenty of time.
I have the same black composter you do so it was good to read about how you compost. I find that it's hard to turn because it's so deep - do you find that? Good idea to keep a pile of leaves nearby, too.
ReplyDeleteCool apple peeler!
Most of the time I don't turn it. If I do, I take the composter off the pile and refill it. It really isn't made to turn. They expect you to remove the finished compost from the bottom and just add new stuff from the top. This works well if you are willing to wait for the compost.
ReplyDeleteah, that makes sense. Leave it to me not to read the manual ;-) I'll try being more patient.
ReplyDelete