Living Well: May 2007 Archives
We make our own compost. It is not hard to do. You can do it in an outdoor plastic trash can with a lid. We just do it on a larger scale.
Warm, clean and free.
Our compost is a mixture of the remnants of about 15 giant round bales of hay that were left scattered in our field and around the fence line by the previous owners, animal poop, yard clippings, orchard clippings, weeds, and the kitchen garbage of vegetable matter only.
Pile it up, mix it up, wet it down. Keep it turned, keep it damp. The bacteria present will begin to get very active. On a cold morning you can see steam rising. When you turn it you can feel the heat. It can get hot to the touch. Natures way of cooking makes a very clean, dark brown dirt.
The cabbage have tripled their leaves in a week.
Yesterday I spread 15 scoops from our front end loader in the garden and around the grapes and fruit trees.
The peas have doubled their size in a week.
All of the plants love the nice rich tea that runs off when it rains. Compost tea is full of all the nutrients your garden plants need to grow and produce. I know it sounds gross to think of things rotting and decaying but when the cycle is complete compost is clean, doesn't stink at all. It smells fresh and clean.
The corn hasn't sprouted yet.
We are very careful not to put any meat scraps, oils, etc into the compost pile. We do not want to attract wild animals or rodents. Neither do you. If you make your compost use only vegetation and plant waste.
The potatoes are peaking out from the soil. They are purple skinned.
When I was spreading the compost I found some things we did not put in there. I have no idea where they came from.
It is sort of gross but interesting, too.
First, I shoveled up a scull. I have no idea what it came from. It looks to have the beginnings of horn bumps on the top of the scull.
Second, I came across a jaw bone with teeth. It is not the same or part of the scull that I found. This was found in a different section of the compost pile.
Third, I found a fully intact sea shell. Both halves still closed and the membrane sealed together. Do you think a bird could have dropped it?
It takes me longer to do tasks now than it used to. When Colby is home in the mornings she watches Steven and the tasks roll right along. When she leaves for work and its just me and Steven things slow down and sometimes come to a grinding halt.
Some days he is content to wander and play in the grass. Some days he climbs on the tractor and 'drives'. There are times he plays in the dirt. Then there are the days when he will not stay close to me. Days when he runs off the minute I turn to do something. Days when he is bound to fall head first into the koi pond. Those are the days I give up and we go inside. The past few days have been pretty productive. Today is already looking like it won't be so productive. Steven has been up since 4am whining and tossing and fretting. He only gets still and cat naps when I am holding him.
It is 7:15am. I am already exhausted and pushed to my limit. I have so much that needs to be done today.
Anyone want to come play with him while I get my chores done?
P.S. - I know I have a ton of email and comments to answer but I haven't had time. But I will. Maybe this afternoon or tonight.
With warmer weather and lots of rain things are very busy on this little farm. It takes me an entire day to cut the grass, mow with the push mower places the rider can't reach, then trim with the weed eater and put out round-up as needed along the paved drive and tight places where weeds grow. Not to mention picking up limbs that drop from the trees. The pruning and cutting back as needed is another entire days work. Once the big stuff is done in early spring it doesn't need to be done again until nearer to fall. Thank goodness! Steven put up this rustic looking arbor for the grape vine to grow on. The vine was a tangle of knots and a lump of mess left by the previous owners. I have managed to prune, cut and mow as well as try to train the vine into some bit of order. Compared to the heaping mess blobbed on the ground this is a hundred times better. It took several hours to get the vines untangled and tied in place.
We'll have to use bird netting this summer if we want any grapes. Steve and I also made these arbors of pvc and chicken wire for the peas in my garden to grow on. The total cost for them both was about $20. They should give plenty of room for the peas to grow on and make picking lots easier as the peas will hang down through the wire. Thanks gravity!
The peas have sprouted. The very long awaited for fig trees are beginning to show signs of green budding. I am so excited over these trees! We have planted three of them -a very cold hardy variety.
Fresh figs are incredible! The blueberry bushes are looking wonderful, too. We planted four of these.
I made blueberry yogurt muffins this weekend. Check the recipe journal. The fig trees and the blueberry bushes were purchased from Lowes. I know many people who do not like buying plants from Lowes. I am willing to give it a try because of the cost difference. The fig trees from a nursery would cost me nearly $100 each up here. I found these at Lowes for $10 each. I think that says it all. The blueberries are very healthy looking and the price was far better than any place we had found also. Lowes will replace these plants or will refund our money if they fail to thrive within a year. Most places I know will not make good on their plants for a year. Right now I am just anticipating fresh figs and blueberries. What a luxury it will be! The damson trees I got from the National Arbor Day Foundation last year are look amazing this spring. They are now about 3 feet tall and growing beautifully.
Damson jam is a luxury. The dutch early cabbages are doing great.
18 cabbages. So far the tomatoes are growing vigorously. Some even have blooms on them.
14 tomatoes. Not near as many as normal. This area near the koi pond is a troublesome lot. It always overgrows quickly with vines and clover. J. and Gracie pulled out the clover. I put down black ground cover. I then put in a bed of hosta that I bought from a PTA sale. Ten bags of mulch later and this place might finally be under control. The area is very shadey and the hosta should really thrive.
I love the look of lush hosta. I love seeing small plants go in knowing the following year when they come back they will be amazingly big and incredibly beautiful. So now you know what I have been doing the last few days. We have also been working on the chicken barn. Those photos are a post all on their own. I'll get to it very soon. Have I shown you my little monkey lately?
He self feeds. I keep the peel pulled down. He loves bananas.
Does he look 15 months old? He eats an entire banana every morning for his breakfast. I wonder how long before he decides he is finished with them as his fruit of choice. I am buying fresh bananas twice a week otherwise they ripen on the counter too quickly. He seems so grown up lately. Feeding himself and drinking from juice boxes. He prefers to do things on his own. He also climbs far too much. It is wrecking my sanity.
