Welcome Suenell !
Sof-she's a cutie!
Compost tool: Rotasieve
Hi everyone, I just joined Dave's about two weeks and have been fairly active in a couple if the other forums. This is my first visit to this. I have been working hard to reclaim and redo a garden I put in about12 years ago with help of a professional. Well, I was new to gardening in my area and didn't know any better. I now know that she didn't either. Sooo...I am starting over again. I have a bunch of plants read to put in but have not because I want to do it right this time. The area is tilled and I am desperately searching for someone to deliver some compost. I may have a lead now.
But my main question/comment are about the dogs :) and composting. I have a huge, huge pile of leaves but they are not shredded so I have no idea how long it will take before they are ready. And I am in need of suggestion for building a compost pile. Those little tumblers just won't begin to hold what I have. I will add kitchen scraps, etc after I build it. I say the pixs but am not sure how it was constructed. BTW, I am female, single, and 62 so I have some limitation but am willing to try anything. Lots of had tools - no real power tools. So I do have a couple of those pre-wired white picket fences I never put up. Would they work for making a compost pile?
Dogs - I never had one that weighed less than 60 pounds. My daughter is a vet and does with the local pound. She would often call and tell me about a special one that was about to be put to sleep, knowing I couldn't stand it. Then two years ago I lost two of my best friends - a collie and a golden retriever. The collie because of age and kidney disease and my beloved golden to age and cancer. She called to tell me she had a little spaniel of some kind. NO WAY! I didn't want that small of dog. She weighed 12 pounds but should have weighed twenty. The next week she came to visit and just HAD to bring the dog because there was no one at her clinic to take care of her. (Yeah, right!) Well, I guess you know my daughter went back short one passenger and I wouldn't part with "my Molly" for anything in the world! So, I guess you just never know.
Welcome MollieB55!
These aren't very pretty (behind the garage and facing a privacy fence) but they couldn't have been easier. I would like to make them bigger though.
My sister gave me her Irish Setter when the dog was five. My dog had died and her family was too busy for the dog. I had her until she died when she was twelve. You just don't always pick dogs. Sometimes they pick you.
Oops, wrong picture. When I went out to take this picture I caught this one on the butterfly bush in front of the privacy fence.
Welcome MollyB55. Glad to have you at Daves. We are a special group here in this forum and you might find us different. We love pileing many items into our compost and have fun discovering all the results. Kristi's is simple and easy. Any way you can let air in and stack is the best way to go. I like to have at least 3 areas. 1 new material, 2 open and 3 old stuff working and soon to be ready. this is my lay out.
Woo hoo! DH just brought home a nice big bale of alfalfa for mulching and composting. I just LOVE that man.
I don't mean to cool your enthusiasm but hay is a poor mulching media. It has lots of weed seeds and needs to compost before they are safe to use in the garden. Straw is better but not much nitrogen. Be sure to compost.
Boy, the pix of the butterfly bush is beautiful! Mine got split in half by an ice storm last winter but it is stuggling back. And thanks for the pixs of the composting piles. I think I could handle something like those. I have an abundance of leaves. Is it really important to shred them first? I don't have a mulching mower. Have tried for several weeks to BUY compost to put in alreay purchased plants and no one sells it. I already lost one garden because I didn't know how terrible this soil was. At any rate, I am going to be sure I have my own supply of compost for next year. In the meantime, I need to get it started and figure out what to do with the new plants. Got smart too late. Well, smarter at any rate. Thanks for any help and adivce. I like those piles. Those stupid tumblers are two small for what I am dealing with and too expensive.
Heck, where I live it is a badge of honor to see how many old trucks, cars, etc. you can dump in your back yard. A compost pile will increase property values a ton!
edited because I left out a ton of words. fingers don't work as fast as the brain - not that says much for either!
This message was edited Jul 14, 2006 4:08 PM
Soferdig
I meant to ask about the great pix you have posted of the little white dog. She is darling but I really, really want to know what those gorgeous blue flowers she is sitting in are.
I refuse to ask about the dog because my daughter is a vet and I am always getting calls that go like this, "Mom, I neutered and checked this dog. It is wonderful. If someone does not adopt her/him, the pound is putting it to sleep tomorrow." If I say I can't take another I get a visit from said daughter who just happens to bring the dog with her. Of course, it never leaves my property!
Mollie I can only say the price you pay here giving those unwanted friends a home will pay off big time in the next life. They will all be with you to give you eternal unconditional love. Even more than they did here. Thank you for your suckerdome. LOL
It is simply "soapwort" a wonderful ground cover that prevents weeds and gives this beautiful flower from mid June to mid July. Then a rich green carpet to blanket large areas. I am building soil underneath and plan on changing this bed in 3 or so years. Never let the garden not change.
Thanks for the advice Soferdig. Is this a brown or a green?
Mollie, I usually use my blower/vac to shred the leaves. Rake them up and vac them up and dump them in. I'm thinking about getting a chipper/shredder this fall, though. The blower/vac is okay for shredding leaves but not much else.
Definatly green lots of nitrogen use is as you would grass clippings. Layer it over a carbon source. IE leaves, Plant trimmings, even sawdust.
No sawdust here, but I can mix it with cuttings and save some for the fall leaves. Thanks.
Oh, and I forgot. I'm going to try alfalafa tea on the roses and other things. I've been reading threads about that.
I have never been able to get a good (hot) pile going. This may be my first chance. Think I'll make a couple of bigger bins and try to layer everything properly.
Used the tea today and am brewing more. We'll see what happens. Only put it around roses so far.
Ah, but we also have a bale of straw. I googled a bit to see how many parts straw to how many parts alfalfa hay. I was never good at dealing with ratios in math class--more of an algebra type, I guess. It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out 1 part straw to 2 parts alfalfa hay. And me with a Master's Degree! Sort of like asking average citizens to be able to do their taxes without an accountant.
But I like the challenge of the calculations, in spite of my whining. Should I just simplify the whole thing and get a thermometer? Sof--help me.
No only Kenton uses a thermometer. Use what you have of nitrogen Alfalfa) and what you have of carbon (straw). And wait if you get more of what you needed add it and wait. Just wait all will be well. When I compost 2 pts nitrogen to 1 part carbon it only takes about 6 weeks here in the summer to get black dirt. Worms and all. I am up in Alaska now so I will be a little late for you easterners.
Got a Biostack compost bin for my anniversary! :) Have it loaded with moistened layers of straw, alfalfa hay, coffee grounds and filters, and yard cuttings. Have some shredded paper to add and occasional kitchen scraps. Not sure if it's wet enough, but I'll find out when I turn it right? Don't have a chipper/shredder (don't really want one, unless there's some hand-crank type grinder out there somewhere), so I'm cutting up the yard cuttings by hand--very time consuming. We're thinking of grabbing up a used paper cutter to make this go faster. The wire bins in the back now pretty much consist of sod that's breaking down.
Welcome MollieB55,we here are all in the learning stage,of composting,I myself,have tried several things to "beat the batch"that just finished,with the new batch.I had the southern pine beetle pay me a visit ,about five years ago,and left me with pilliated woodpecker poles all over my left front yard.It would be very hard to clean up the near rotted logs,not to mention expensive.I have decided to build stacked walls out of them,and put every unwanted piece of humas within that wall,and wait.I think I'll cover the bottom with papers first,any Ideas?
I do have compost piles,that are more conventional, see.
Mike
I've completed the first step to making one of those contraptions that the guy uses to screen his compost. Check it out.
Okay, okay, but girls weren't allowed to take wood shop when I was in school! LOL
OOKAY!!,I'll give you a thumbs up for the effort,after all I never through anything away,becaust it always has a use someday.My question is , is the frame flexable??You would not want it binding,when you slide it through the track.Just a thaught. Mike
Mike,
Nope, not flexible. It's made with 2 x 4s and 1/2" hardware cloth. The part it slides on will be coated with candle wax. Have to finish the back tomorrow . . . then on to the other part.
I'll try to do it better next time. I used a hand saw and just couldn't get it straight. Wish I had my uncle's band saw. He'd do it right.
I am moved by your courage,and one learns by doing.Keep up the good work. Mike
Kristi Looking Good! I took shop and mine looks the same. Now you will have that sieved look in all of your soil now. Good effort and follow thru.
Thanks for telling me that. I don't feel so goofy now. :)
kristi
i will order one from you!
Molli
why not order one of the round tumblers? I got one that you crank with you hand on e the side, it has a screen mesh for filtering and is oh so easy, no bending etc. i didnt get the huge one, mine is about a 40 gallon size. all scraps from kitchen go in. there is a recipe for compost in 2 weeks included. then with your masses of stuff, have a typical pile as your backup. hire a neighbor kid that has a bagging mower, spread those leaves out and have him shred them up and place them in some type of wire mesh circle.
next summer i want to try this, i saw it in the latest organic gardening magazine....the guy had a 5' diameter circle made of wire screen used for concrete. the bottom 18" had also had chicken screen to keep small things in. he filled it with leaves, some soil and whatever else. next he planted good sized tomatoe plants about every 3 foot or so around the outside. he secured the plants to the mesh as they grew. this gave him incredible plants, a great way to stake them, he hid his compost pile, and the roots stayed cool and moist. you should see the picture, it is very impressive.
Good idea on the composter for the tomatoes. I designed one like that that used the big cable spool from our power company. I did it similarily Strong outer large fencing and small like Kristi used inside. Then I just put a door that closed on a piece of the wire. This allowed me to dump in the compost and then I just rolled it around and got my fine screenings. But I now like the uncut stuff for my garden. Lasts longer.
You've learned from your experience. Now I'm learning from yours and mine.
I probably won't be screening forever, now that I'm dealing with a hot pile.
Speaking of which, I just took a peek inside the new Biostack and the pile has reduced by about 6" in just a week. WOO HOO! Time to turn it? As soon as the outside temp allows, I'm there!
I never turn mine in the sun. I always wait until I have had 2 beers and the shade is on the pile. I don't want to disturb the worms.
Soferdig,
"Mollie I can only say the price you pay here giving those unwanted friends a home will pay off big time in the next life. They will all be with you to give you eternal unconditional love. Even more than they did here. Thank you for your suckerdome. LOL"
I feel I should tread lightly here, but I am confused and curious about the meaning behind that communication. Perhaps if MollieB55 had responded I could have gotten more hints about the exchange. What meaning did you intend by, "Thank you for your suckerdome. LOL"???
MM
She was a person whose daughter brought home many strays and unwanted animals. I was encourageing her with her softness for animals. I wanted her to continue to as she put it "Be suckered" by her daughter.
Soferdig,
Thanks for the clarification.
MM
Sorry I have been so long getting back. I was ill and then out of town. I am trying to catch up with my email - starting with this forum! I am so glad that I did. Thanks to all for the many suggestions. My brain is whirling with ideas of how to get my pile of leaves and kitchen scraps turned into compost. Among the many suggestions and a couple of pictures and reviewing what I have lying around the yard that I WAS going to throw out or burn, I have a couple of ideas that I am going to try and see which works best.
Crazyjansing, I love the idea of the compost pile and planting tomatoes around it. That is a definite must try. I have been toying with the idea of buying one of the tumblers but did not know if they were worth the cost. I have a large plastic barrel that I have been wondering if I could make use of it somehow. It has no top but is very sturdy - 50 gallons.
I also need to start one of those really big, long-term pen ones.
I just went back and looked at some of the pictures of compost piles. Boy! Some of them look better than mine deck and my short bit of wood fencing!
MaineMan and Soferdig - I wondered too when I first read the comment about the "suckerdome." Then I reread the forum again and realized what you did and then realized that my daughter often affectionately calls me her best "sucker." Then I got it and had to laugh at how accurately you had nailed me!
It is good to be back.
Sorry about the confusion with our pet words in veterinary medicine. Welcome back.
Mollie,
You said you have a giant pile of leaves -- do you have a big pile every year? Or do you just happen to have a big pile to get rid of? I have had tumblers and bins, but I have a pile of leaves every fall the size of a VW bus, ferget them! They are too small and not worth the effort.
I mow the leaves and empty the bag into a cart or wheelbarrow and dump onto the ground in a pile (have the same place for the pile every year). For fall leaves in areas where there is no lawn, I get the blower out and blow them onto a tarp and drag it over to the compost pile. Or blow them in the general area of the compost pile.
If I want to add kitchen scraps, I dig a hole in the leaves and dump the container.
My compost pile is in a corner of the yard pretty close to the patio, but there is a curved path going back there and it is screened by 3 Manhatten euonymous bushes and a white dogwood. In fall, it is HUGE - by spring it's a lot smaller, and by now it's a very small pile. Maybe 4 full Garden Way carts of leaf mold? Maybe more...I'm not sure where the soil is anymore -- it's all sort of leaf mold in the whole area.
The leaves are composted into leaf mold (with some extras) in July-Aug the following year, leaving 2 months to empty it onto or in my garden for the process to start all over again. In fact, I started the harvest a couple days ago. I don't screen or till or do anything that might hurt the worms. I have been doing this, with minor variations for 28 years. My compost tumbler has been in the same spot for about 20 or maybe 25 years. ..unused for a least a decade, probably longer. The three bins myhusbandmade 4' x 4' x 4' finally rotted and became compost themselves. They were awfully confining and restricted my physical movement too much.
Suzy
Suzy, I am intensely jealous of your pile of leaves!!!!
We are among the ranks of drive-by rakers who snatch piles of leaves in the middle of the night to feed our composters.
This message was edited Aug 17, 2006 3:41 PM
Yeah, I'm pretty lucky, but I have been known to snag bags of grass clippings on drive-bys myself. Very heavy, but sometimes necessary. It's interesting to me that they never stink here.
Sometimes the oak leaves compress and sort of repel water keeping them dry in the middle of the pile despite oodles ofrain and snow. This year I'm going to get a garbage bag full of coffee grounds and later it every week between leaf collections.
Suzy
Illoquin, I have a really huge pile every year - much more than any of the bins I have seen advertised would hold. Your idea sounds great! And I have numerous places I could put them. I was just feeling frustrated this year because I have finally got it figured out that my garden has such a hard time because it desperately needs compost and no one in my area will deliver it unless they are actually landscaping your yard. I have plants that I need to get in and was looking for a quick solution until my own newly starting compost pile would be ready. I can get mulch delivered by the truckload but not compost. I can't even get topsoil. From what I have heard from others around here, that may be a blessing.
I definitely like your solution and it will be great and ready for next spring. Thanks!
Soferdig, No need to apologize! I knew from your previous postings that no insult was intended. I was just tired and in a hurry to catch up with all I have missed lately. Once again I am on too late at night and should know better! And how did you like Alaska? Well, I remember you were going bonkers toward the end because of the rain! I was up there 2 years ago during the first week in July. I was so lucky! Out of 7 days we had only one day of drizzle. It was a cruise out of Seattle and we only went as far as Juneau but I loved the stops in Ketchikan and Sagway. I took in a lot of the local atmosphere and stayed away from the tourist traps. And we had a phenomenal visit to the Hubbard Glacier! It was a lifetime dream come true.
Alaska has been wonderful this trip. A few days of clouds but mostly sunny. Kodiak often is. We went fishing and with 4 of us in the boat we caught over 700# of fish in 8 hrs. One was a 234# Halibut the rest Salmon and LingCod. We had a Humpback Whale Breech 50' off the bow of our boat. His entire body left the water good picture but mine was only the splash. Slow camera. It was the only breaching he did through the entire swim that we saw him. Like "Here you guys enjoy this". Last night after work my buddy and I went out to a near by river and caught and released over 40 fish each in less than 2 hours. We kept the big ones for hauling home. 4 nice Silvers.