Middle daughter (Now grown up) had a pumpkin seed from school in first grade. Grew in the garden through the summer and than entered in a grange fair. I think she won a dollar but it became small jack-o-lantern for Halloween. Person doing the local news in Waterbury CT paper brought a photographer for a picture, we borrowed sister's jacket, she had been playing with mud in hers and picture showed her "carving" left handed, but no matter & Dad did the real carving later. Didn't think to suggest acorns.
I STARTED GARDENING...........
Awwww
What a sweet story!
I was the first male in the state of Pennsylvania with a Degree in Special Education. I started teaching third graders and migrated into Special Education as a part of my Masters Degree work. I think the field is called Education For Children With Special Needs today. Now you will wonder where my spellies come from. Most of them come from a stroke that stole my roll-a-dex and mental dictionary about ten years ago.
Soulja........This wet spring has slowed the drying process considerably. The one I finished was done early on this year's gourds because we thought it was imperative to get one out. We think that one was appreciated. I will contact you for instructions when they finally dry properly.
Wow - kudos to you, doc! I'm sure you have helped countless families much more than you ever realized.
Thanks for the replies and welcomes to DG and NE forum - I appreciate it! A great day to be outside gardening today!!
Yeah doc!
Yeah, doc! (well put Dave)
put 'em in sauna! ~ woo hoo!
ps. I started gardening early last year after a trip to England and especially Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon. The herb gardens there made me cry. I've never been to a town that smelled so delicious on every cobbled street. The mad wisteria, the early bulbs, the flowers and herbs... literally everywhere. you can't escape the beauty if you tried.
When I got back to Kentucky I bought 10 whiskey barrels (easy to find here) and planted different herbs in each one. what started as this:
ended up this by summer's end:
another view.
and here's today:
Soulja..............I nominate you to the clan of business motivators and sustainability cash register society jinglers. Keep it up and you may become recognized as a horticultural fairy princess. ]:o))
Horticultural Fair Princess, Blast Off Category.
Edited to add category. :)
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 1:00 PM
Wonderful, I love it when some one gets an idea or inspiration and runs with it. Great work!
Beautiful, soulja!
oh my goodness! Horticulture Fairy Princess! ~ Little ol me? that means a lot coming from the King of Garden Fertility Madness & Magic and all things Compost .... as well as the rest of you!!! thanks so much. I just love it like you all do too.
I feel like Sally Field!
(((while I've got ya King, I just got my winters savings of kitchen scraps and last falls leaves loaded into my two new compost tumblers (you can see them in the far corner of today's picture, they have a basin for collecting the tea.) Do I just dump pure Molasses right into there? and how much would you say good doctor?
Wow - I'm going to have to create a title for myself!
V - I thought you already had several?
Yes, but I meant ones that are DG-friendly!!
Molasses as a boster for compost piles and tumblers too. Eyeball dumpy measurements of two ounces to a gallon of warm water. Put a gallon in each tumbler. Compost piles need it as you add several layers and work the pile or just sit back and let it soak down through. Tumblers add it in and give them a turn or two one time per whatever you call a full load of half or more new additions. This will fire up both situations. No more need be added untill you rebuild the pile again or put half or more new materials in a tumbler. I speak of cattle grade Black Strap Molasses. It will smell good and increase the mycro herd buildup faster than without the booster food.
.... and that my friends, is the kind of "juicy" info you can't just buy any ol' where with a pocket full of siver & gold.
Thanks doc. ~ from Soulja's flowers & veggies.
and what a great thread. you rock Doc.
Beer helps too if you want to make that sacrifice.
Doc, (or anyone else) Do you think a compost tumbler is worth the money? And thanks for the molasses tip - I've never heard of it.
i thought about it and researched all of them for a long time. I'll have the big pile of grass clippings and leaves on the ground always, (for worms) but having two tumblers also going with the tea catchers and the potential for speeding the process along as well, just seemed too easy and smart to keep on denying myself. I got mine from Clean Air Gardening and they were the most reasonable ones and the only ones with the tea basin.
I think they are nice for tiddy surburban places where larger piles may not be permitted. I make and use several tons of compost that is ongoing twelve months a year. My thoughts otherwise is yes they are an expensive but a pretty good gardening toy.
My composting area has to be ready for trailer loads of just plain stuff. I never know when or how much. My last capture just last week was a huge garbage bag full of peanut shells and sixty gallons of llama beans (poop). I can get a trailer loaded free by many horsemen that actually advertise will load come by appointment. Last summer a storm ruined a huge amount of hay in a barn. Fifty cents a bale come and get it was the advertisement. We made several trips on that one. For awhile there I had hay walls two bales high. Some is still serving that purpose.
I just pile it up and innoculate with molasses and aerobic compost tea. I have to much to turn. Time is on my side. We just uncover a spot, move some compost out to the gardens and rebuild the pile with lots of what ever we come up with.
I have never had vermin or other small animal problems....however I do keep mouse traps on my side all summer. We use Have a Heart chippy traps and move fifty or so every summer. We have groundhog problems but that is a neighborhood problem not specific to compost piles.
I am so overwhelmed with all this fresh insight!
I know I will have to take some time and let all this sink in, and take notes. You guys are terrific!
You don't mind if I take notes, do you?
I've eyed those Compost Tumblers for years now, but man, are they pricey! I can get so many nice plants for that price.
I would rather turn the crank on an old fashion ice cream maker then a barrel composter. Patti
Sister Soulja,
Nice job! Great to see the transformation.
Doc,
You do some serious composting! I haven't tried molasses yet. I'll give it a shot.
Thanks! Wow - I can't imagine that much composting. How big is your garden, Doc? I have a fair amount of space - 2acres- so I can just make a big pile. But, with a big pile I can't really turn it and I worry about it being anaerobic. When I went into the most recent area it was FULL of worms; so I guess that is good, but it really isn't composted even after a year. It doesn't seem as if it gets hot enough. (Unlike the grass clippings I use for mulch, which steam!) I use the compost pile mostly for kitchen scraps - leaves I just rake into the woods and grass clippings. well my husband and I fight over them (lol)
This may be a strange inspiration, well not docgipe, he's too ligit to quit, but weird enough, Elliot Spitzer's lovely wife Silda gave a video tour of the Governor's Mansion on TV once and she was advocating the old, old place now going green. The kitchen was fabulous and the gardens were amazing with all home grown organic fodder etc.
Outside, the kitchen manager was dumping scraps in the tumbler and giving it a spin with almost the same effort as a child's Jack in the Box. (or an ice cream machine!) I have thought long & hard about such ease of turning because I have a bad back. Maybe from being too aggro in the garden... (or childhood gymnastics, anyway...) it is so easy to spin it.
And mine is just a round barrel, i chose green, and once it's ready (3-4 weeks they say) you just roll it off its base and to it's chosen spot in the garden, open the door, scrape it right in there. No wheelbarrow even. The whole thing comes assembled and weighs 20 pounds empty. Two tiny slats in the top catches just enough water to keep it cooking just right, not too soggy. Lots of airflow too.
pricey, yeah the big ones with two sections can cost $600. Mine were $120 each . Having two will be convenient as one will be filling while the other full one is cooking. Plus I do live in a city. It is tidy. And keeps the smell down, though I personally enjoy that smell. ((( ..... ? I'm glad I finally decided to go for it! (so adventurous; some people need to bungee jump, and others just need to "spring" for a compost bin!) HA!
thanks everyone. It's nice to meet you all. Y'all seem fun. {;-D
Soulja, Maybe I should rethink the cranking. It sounds like it works "like stink" (couldn't resist) and that I could crank away and get good results. Plus then I could go inside and crank out some ice cream with less guilt. I could be a win win situation. What brand did you buy? Patti
Yes, I'd like to see a link if possible.
here it is. It says $159 but if you buy two it's cheaper. Maybe mine were $140 each. sorry. Also I bet you can try Ebay. Mine are the ones on the right, the two barrels, green & black.
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/accessories.html
Thanks. Interesting idea with the tea.
my pleasure! I learned it all from the doc.
Here's a few little lovelies outside for the first time feeling their first soft spring rain drizzle.
Someone worried about larger piles rotting down slowly. Not to worry. When it is finished your larger so called cold system piles with have been through the earthworms in part and slowly rotted in part. Given time your compost will likely be as good as any system can produce.
Incidently.....a pickup truck load is about a ton of damp finished compost. A wheel barrel or twenty gallon can full can be a hundred pounds. How much to use. Rule of thumb.....one inch over the proposed root zone of any plant would be considered excellent. Half an inch is very good. Then when you run into a competitive grower expect to hear of larger applications being common.
It is not rocket science. Make light applications over all rather than creating a hot spot......honey hole...unless you are using competitive and excessive ammendments as coached by others practices.
We got our compostumbler off Craig'slist - the size that's supposed to be $600 was $100 - the "wife found a new hobby". I got it because, as Soul mentions, we live in the city and neither DH nor I are able to turn a pile at all, let alone easily or regularly. This seemed like a good way to save on paying the city taking away our trash, then paying for compost, without DH needing back surgery or me needing to wear a helmet and armor, ha ha ha. Beautiful job, Soulja! xx, Carrie
When wheelbarrels are too bulky, try a tarp for moving grassclippings around. Our compost pile is down a small hill into the woods. When DH was younger he used wheels. When the tires needed to be replaced he switched to a tarp & has used it ever since for moving the leaves around. Supposed to be warm tomorrow & showers over so it seems it will be a rake & pile branches day.
oh man I gotta get on Craig's. and thanks Carrie. and oh yeah, a good ol' tarp is a gardener's friend indeed. and thanks doc for the continued tutorials!
Thanks, Soulja, Doc, and others for the info. Soulja, I just put in my order for the same two compost tumblers. I'm so excited!! You are right about some people just enjoying the excitement of compost -- I can almost smell it in anticipation:)
Well good for you. I hope you don't hate me if you hate them.... I just got them both full and gave 'em a spin. Once it's full it is heavier (especially if it's been out in the open all winter and is sopped from this rainy rainy spring). But there are notches all the way around and I just grabbed it from a lower place on the barrel and lifted it around. It felt like clay. I'm sure it's too wet. My 13 year old daughter couldn't do it, but it wasn't too hard for me. I imagine if it were too hard for anyone, another way could be just slide it off it's base and roll it around the yard a few times and slide it back on. I'm sure all the juice is drizzling into the basin right now!
Martinis & cosmos for all my veggies & flowers!
And maybe just for Victor, a beer on top!
Cheers!