Composter

Your very FIRST pile is 3 feet high??? This from the guy who wanted to start in a humble little garbage can??? LOL... Michael you jumped in BIG TIME!!!

I was thinking that -- but I tumble, I don't pile, so I didn't really know ---

x, C

Yea, I got a little carried away -- collecting kitchen scraps and coffee grind for over a week. After I built it, I figured I better start filling it. So I raked up the fallen leaves, cleaned out of few of the gardens and shredded about a weeks worth of newspaper. My back is killing me -- this better work.

RubyW, I buy my alfalfa pellets at the local feed store.....I want to say 50lb bags...very inexpensive, I think....Deb

Corrupted???

How about empowered!!!

Sheesh. You try to bring them along, you try to encourage.... tsk.

>grin<

.

(SEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ??? I told you that you couldnt keep her quiet long!!) Nice to see you talking again PC... *sly smile*

Yep -- PC, you're enabling us.

-- Carrie

LOL, Pat - I would hate to disappoint you!

There ya go, Carrie. Ya'll just want the *dirt*.

Thanks Depsi for hint on where to buy the alfalfa pellets. What all do you use them for? if you don't mind me asking.

Yes, I would say that michaeljo accomplished in one afternoon what would amount to a months work for me. ha-ha Not quite, but close. Hopefully I will be able to report a good amount of progress on cleaning up my yard later today. Well. cleaning and also planting bulbs too.

For those who are in to dirty talk, I will tell you what all I sent to compost pile today. I wish that I hadn't held on to the spoiled cole slaw as long as I did. Whenever I opened the top of the container that I keep under the kitchen sink, I would get an awful smell. In the future I will try to remember that cabbage should only stay under sink for no longer than one day. Smell is just way too bad.

I spent a little while shredding paper and got about a trashbag full. Forgot to send that out today. I just want to have some in there by tomorrow when it is supposed to rain here. The rain is good to begin breaking things down.

I hope that every one will have a great week coming up.

Ruby

Michaeljo, I am impressed. Looks great. Just keep piling in, and then remember to turn the pile (that just means move it from one bin to the next, putting the top stuff on the bottom so the whole thing gets inverted). I leave mine until late february - and do it on a day when it is too wet to wheelbarrow, but to glorious to stay indoors! makes a huge difference in the quality of the compost, speeds the decaying by reheating the pile, and makes sure that everything breaks down. May I make a suggestion that you might want to make a cardboard lid to sit down on the top of the heap just to keep as much heat in as possible.

Brillant work, you must be pleased (and achy).

RubyW, I just use them in my compost...Deb

Okay, thanks Depsi.

Yeah Laurie, the turning of the compost will help it break up sooner. I hardly ever remember to turn ours. I cannot do it due to balance problems, and it is not high on Hubby's list of things to do.

It looks like my day of cleaning yarden is off. I just called my friend who was going to help me and cancelled. I am feeling more poorly as the day wears on. I have been having stomache cramps and I can hardly keep my eyes open. A soon as my son heads out to work, I AM GOING To lay back down and see if I can sleep.

i hope that everyone will have a great day.

Ruby

WHEW! Pagancat is back. I knew she wasn't really quiet forever, but I started feeling guilty.
Ruby, hope you're feeling better. Get that sleep you didn't get at 2 am, by your other post...But better at Dave's than closing down the biker bar....ha
Tell you what else stinks. Rotten potato. Sometimes get one hiding in my box from the garden. I had no idea they would be that foul. Be sureto let potatos dry after you wash them from the garden.

I am pleased and very achy today. I have covered my precious pile with cardboard and an old cotton floor mat. I'll check in a few days to make sure it's still moist.

Laurie1 - we don't have glorious days in late February here in zone 6. Just lots of snow and very cold -- if I'm not shoveling snow, I'm sitting by the fireplace with a hot beverage dreaming of the warmer days of spring.

Now, michaeljo, I'm not that far from you. Seems like there's always a break in Feb to keep you from going totally nuts. Esp when you have compost to check. That time of year, 50 and sun f feels really good.! And you have to look for daffodil foliage.. I can hardly wait!

Perhaps your right sallyg (again!). I just remember the last few years we had some snow in Feb. Our temps (near Philadelphia) are usually in the low to mid 40's (high) and the lows are in the mid 20s.

Hmmm ... I don't have any daffodils (or any bulbs) in my garden yet. Still planning and designing my garden make over. Flowers in Feb would be a glorious site.

If you want flowers in Feb you might get Crocus Tomassinianus here- or see what else they say for very early bloom. Or start a thread somewhere for 'your earliest bloomers?" like in Mid Atlantic Forum.
http://www.bloomingbulb.com/cartProductDetail.asp?ProductKey=429&bulbs=Species%20Crocus&flower=Whitewell%20Purple%20(Tomasinianus)&parent=2589
there are some great sale prices at this site -Bloomng Bulbs? somebody alerted me to this last week and I'm really tempted.

WHAT!!!! No bulbs Michael? Is it too late to remedy that with at least a bag full? I mean, you will REGRET it next spring if you don't plant a few now ... even if it means you have to move them later when the "great plan and new design" goes into effect!

Sorry, Michaeljo - didn't notice the address - You are a bit landlocked for getting a break in the weather. All the more reason to keep a lid on the top. My guess is turning it in March/early april is just as good, get it moving with the rest of the garden wake-up. Just be sure and do some winter gardening stretches so you're ready for the first warm(er) days.

Sally, thank you for the website link....I just ordered 5 Sorbet Peonies from Scott and with free shipping + a 10% discount for agreeing to use their website in the future to order the bill came to $27.63....2-3 eyes...The feedback on the Garden WatchDog has been very favorable....thanks again.....Deb

And just came across this through another discussion over on PNW about worm tea - thought it might be relevant here - something for Michaeljo to do in those long cold snowy winter days -

http://www.ecostudies.org/compost_tea_recipes.html

Thanks Sally, I'll checkout the site and ask my fellow mid-atlantic DG'ers.

psych - I promise to get some. I like tulips, squill and crocus. Just need to find a way to keep the rabbits and deer away.

Laurie - Winter gardening stretches ... sounds like a good idea for a new exercise video.

More and more I realize how lucky I am. No deer, no rabbits, no voles ... if I can just keep from making a gardening mistake, I'm pretty much assured beautiful blooms!

No deer, rabbits or voles?? You ARE lucky!!

Michael, my sister had a real problem with rabbits this past year. She bought a product called liquid fence. she says it works well and you don't have to respray after every single rain either. I am going to get some before spring because I have problems with the rabbits eating tulips just as they are ready to open. I bought and put in ALOT of tulips this fall and am not going to let them be bunny food.

Man!!! That would tick me off... just as my beautiful pink tulips were getting ready to do their thing, have them become bunny salad??? Oooooooooo... no no no... I would certainly become an Elmer Fudd then!

Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit....

Liquid fence, I'll try it.

No fair psych!

michaeljo, Your new compost bin looks great and it is fast filling up with microbe food for the worms to feast on. Isn't it fun turning trash into cherishe compost!

psychw2, how did you manage to get into gardening without rabbits, voles or deer to contend with? I was almost jealous there for a nano second...then I remembered that I have critters but I don't have toworry about snow or even heavy frosts too often.

I think I am going to have to get a big sheet of cardboard though so I can use it to cover the pile in heavy rains it should keep the pile damp without it becoming soggy underneath and then once the cardboard is falling apart I can just mix it into the pile. Great idea, thanks!

I bought alfalfa pellets at a pet store (I think they're rabbit chow) - but so far it's just been house mouse chow. I was PLANNING to make compost tea? Alfalfa tea?

Any idea about rain and the compostumbler, folks? What do I do with all our inside compostables during the winter - we don't go out back much in the winter.

x, Carrie

I put a five gallon bucket with lid (pool chemical bucket) on the deck in cold weather. I can dump the daily kitchen stuff in there and go to the composter weekly or so. If you may have animals getting into it, these pool chem lids can turn to lock on. I just lay it loose.

There's an idea --- but we don't even do much more than sneak in and out as fast as we can what with the snow and all. How about a double layer of trash can with lid in the garage and then trudge out weekly?

x, C

Or bucket in garage? . I'm guessing your garage gets really cold at night. It'd be like keeping it in the fridge, until it goes in the compost.

I'll be sitting by my steamy compost pile keeping warm, while making worm tea on those cold winter nights.

Eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww... worm tea??? Do NOT invite me over for a drink!!! hehehe

LOL what a cozy little scene that would be.

Actually, the garage is not allowed to freeze - that's where the washer is. It's maybe 45 degrees - cold enough to be unpleasant, but not to freeze, we hope. I was worried more about the clean clothes and the moldy apple cores together.

x, C

I would think that to prevent the smell of rotting food, you would want to store it somewhere at least as cold as your refridgerator. Unless you like that smell?? LOL

No, that smell reminds me of the laundry when it was 105 degrees in the summer and the washer broke!

xx, Carrie

UGh!! Not a plesant thought. You may want to keep you compost goodies in a slightly colder area. Do you have a somewhat large tupperware type container that can just sit in your fridge to hold the stuff until you take it out? I know what you mean about not going out there often. I am the same way. I was thinking also of how I was going to take care of my pile over the winter.

We have a fridge that used to be big, but two kids later, it feels really small.