Composting...A Beginners Journey...

I am confounded by composting! I have a strong desire to create amazing compost. Pure black gold for my square foot garden. Something rich and nutrient dense and earthy and dark. So far...I have not been able to accomplish this!
In all honesty, I have only made half-hearted attempts in the past. I thought it would be quick and easy, with little time and effort. I reaped what I sowed...nuthin'...
This time I am SERIOUS...I want compost! Next year I want to fill my lovely new garden boxes with the "fruits of my labors". My own delicious compost.
I started doing my composting research and was immediately overwhelmed with information. There are so many ideas and methods and components to choose from. Hot composting and cold composting and fancy Japanese composting. Worm composting...no thanks...no offense worm composters... What to add to your pile, what NOT to add to your pile. How much moisture is enough but not too much? How often should you turn it? How much sun or shade does it require? In the end...there are as many opinions as items you can compost!
I've decided to use the "jump in with both feet and cross your fingers" method. Hubs made a place in the yard between two used pallets. I don't really know if it's in the best location or not...too much sun, too little sun? I read all about the carbon component and the nitrogen component. I'm not really into the science of stuff like I should be. I am happy just referring to it as the "brown" stuff (carbon) or the "green" stuff (nitrogen). I've read soooo many different theories. 90/10 brown to green, 60/40 brown to green and 50/50 brown to green...I'm going with the "throw stuff on the pile and do that crossing my fingers thing".
I started by going through my yard and raking up all the crunchy brown fall leaves and long brown pine needles that dropped last fall. I ended up with two large garbage cans full. I was pretty excited to dump that in between the pallets.
Then I started doing more research...
We've been pretty darn proud of ourselves for reducing our waste around our home. Mainly, because of the chickens! Most all of our veggie and fruit scraps go to the chickens. No more disposal waste at our house. Then...our town decided to join the 21st century a couple years ago and added the option of a recycle waste can. We were possibly the last city existing to add the recycle receptacle. Because of these changes we only need to take our garbage cans to the curb every two weeks.
I've got it down to a pretty sweet system...until...the advent of our compost pile! Of course I knew there were many things we could compost...but...it has completely changed our system of disposal once again!
I don't want to deprive the chickens of their daily kitchen treats...but, now they are going to have to share some of those with the compost pile. (Sorry, girls...)
I didn't realize we could "compost" the toilet paper rolls, or the junk mail paper ads. I didn't know I could use old office paper that was shredded and used paper towels...Wow...our recycle can waste is now going to be much smaller!
I knew about the coffee grounds and used filters but forgot about the used tea bags! And, I knew about the eggs shells, but now I can compost them instead of throwing them in the trash can!
I am in the process of a whole new disposal system! Right now there is just a bowl on the counter that the egg shells and kitchen scraps are being tossed into. There is a brown paper sack on the kitchen floor next to the blue recycle can and the official garbage bin. It is gathering the used paper towels and toilet paper rolls and usable junk mail! I'm sure I can come up with a "nicer" system. It's evolving...

This link was one I found very helpful and easy to understand...

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/howtocompost/a/50-Things-You-Can-Compost.htm

I'm motivated to make this work. I'm hoping that nature and carbon and nitrogen do their thing with a little nurturing from me.

There are a lot of really yummy ingredients hidden under that latest scoop of dried pine needles. Seriously...a couple big ole mushy squashes leftover from last fall, some delectable chicken poop infused hay, crunchy broken up egg shells, a sprinkling of toilet paper roll and some shredded used paper towels....mmmm...

I'll keep you posted...I'm a bit worried I will be a remedial compost maker...but, you can bet I will be out there tomorrow with pitch fork in hand, giving it my all!

I couldn't agree more!

Square Foot Gardening Method...Chapter 3

I'm still "high" on all things square foot garden! I had a completely different topic for my next blog post and instead I just have to share more square foot gardening fun...

It's NO secret how I feel about this gardening method and how much I LOVE it! Here is a big reason... The radishes, lettuce and garlic are already growing...Yes, I know they are teeny...but, we just planted them a couple weeks ago! Amazing...What a fun surprise to be greeted by these delicate little green miracles. It never gets old! (kind of like gathering the chicken eggs each night)...
This made us excited to do another section of our new square foot garden. The work in progress garden! We have many fun plans for this area but it will take some time. We have a few things to still work out. A new sprinkler system for this part of the yard is one of them. Right now we have those big ole Rainbirds that are great for covering lots of area with lots of high pressure water. We aren't exactly sure what we are going to do at this point. So far, our mild wet weather is taking care of the watering for us.
I was getting antsy to plant some peas! It was threatening to rain a couple days ago and I thought it was perfect timing to get those peas in! Of course the pea patch hadn't been constructed yet and I didn't have any peas leftover from last year. When I ran all this by Hubs he gave me a "pained" expression but totally got on board!

He knocked out this garden box in record time! I ran to the nursery to purchase some local, GMO free, organic and heirloom variety peas! A chilly breeze was picking up and the gray clouds were looming while we were finishing up the planting box.

Isn't it pretty??? And, tidy and amazing??? I got the peas planted with stiff, frozen fingers just as the storm was hovering over us! Now, you may not believe this but we got all of this finished in about 2 hours! Wait...have I mentioned how much I love this method of gardening?!? Shortly after the rain began to fall. I sat in the house and smiled and pictured those little peas getting their first thirsty drink in that dark fertile soil.
The next day the sun came out. I went out to admire our handiwork...um...

NEVER trust a chicken! Can you see where they poked their feathery little heads through the fence? Where they plucked out some peas in our first row of plantings? Sheesh...we figured they might snag a few tasty pea tendrils as they started to attach themselves up the fence...but, I really didn't think they'd come along and steal my new plantings....Oh well...live and learn! You never know what to expect in a garden or what predators lurk in the shadows...I just never expected it to be our own well fed fat chickens!

Square Foot Gardening...Chapter 2

It's no secret that I'm having a love affair with square foot gardening! It has been going on now for about 5 years. The passion hasn't been extinguished and the romance and awe are still very much alive. I have been dreaming of a new square foot garden for several months now. I doodle pictures of the perfect layout and study the seed catalogs for new varieties of veggies. Hubs and I share ideas about locations and materials and sizes and shapes. We both like the tidiness and structure of the square foot method. The boxes and the grids and the dimensions are pleasing to look at and offer a high yield in a small confined space.
Have you seen the movie "It's Complicated"? I watched it a few years ago and found it mildly amusing until the scenes where Meryl Streep went into her outrageous movie set garden! I sat straight up and rewound a few times so I could take it all in! Oh my...such lushness and beauty...I became obsessed with that garden. I wanted to be Meryl Streep in that garden with my wooden trug, gently picking tomatoes and snipping fresh herbs.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2009/12/the-dirt-on-the-its-complicated-vegetable-garden.html

I wanted to know more about that garden and couldn't get it out of my mind. Once again, my friend Google helped me out. I found picture after picture of that amazing garden. I was slightly disappointed when I realized it was really a "movie set". It was styled after a French potager garden and it was plumped and sprayed and wired to look amazing. Regardless...I STILL love to look at those pictures. Maybe it isn't an attainable garden, maybe it is only a movie set, but looking at those pictures still gives me goosebumps!
I live in a climate with a much shorter and more challenging growing season. We are always waiting and watching for the last frost dates and the final snow flurries. Sometimes that isn't until May. The rule around here is you don't plant flowers or tomatoes or summer crops until after Mother's Day. It's hard not to break that rule. That is...until it proves to be true most every year and you lose your delicate, tender little sprouts to a hard frost.
Last Fall, me and Hubs got the ole wheels turning. We needed a new square foot garden. A big, snazzy garden that we could customize to our needs and wants. We have built several now and we haven't been disappointed yet! Our first square foot garden was a joint effort with our grown kids. We constructed it in a large yard area of the home our boy was living in. It completely exceeded our expectations. (more on that lovely garden in a future blog post)...But now...we wanted one of our very own. One that we can play in everyday of the growing season. A spot we can groom and plant and snip at our leisure. An area we can sit and enjoy and watch the tiny sprouts stretch up towards the sun...bliss.
Since the chickens moved in a few years ago we have been limited on where we could build this perfect garden. Yes, they "rule the roost" around here, no, they won't stay "all cooped up". They staked out their territory early on after their arrival and really, they took over the whole backyard. They co-habitat nicely with their "herding" furry friends. Between those two species roaming the backyard at their leisure a square foot garden would be impossible.
No worries...we will go with the trend "grow food, not grass" and remove a bit of grass so our garden can move in. On the south side of our house. On the other side of the fence confining the roaming, gallivanting chickens and dogs.
We decided to try something a bit different and construct this square foot garden out of wood and steel!

The weather has been surprising this winter and much to our delight February has been mild and dry. This allowed us to get an early start on the new garden! We are at least a month ahead of schedule! Hubs picked up the steel and we unloaded it in the new space. As you can see the chickens want to know what we are up to!

I LOVE the look of the rust on the steel. Kind of organic and industrial at the same time! Can you see where Hubs pre-drilled a hole for screwing it into the wood cross bars? It worked out really well!

The first box went together really slick. The yard slopes gently on this side of our house. To compensate for that the steel is 2" wider on the down slope side. Hubs then recessed it into the slope so it looks flush to the ground. Normally a square foot garden is built with 6" boards. The 8" side will be a good area to plant our carrots. (Although they do fine in 6"!)
This is really a work in progress and will take a few months to completely finish! We originally thought we would take out all the grass and make paths with crushed rocks. Now we aren't so sure! The grass looks quite nice at this point and will be easy to mow between the current boxes. (Of course Hubs made sure there was room for mower clearance!)

After laying the weed barrier cloth we got busy and put in the organic compost/growing medium recommended by the square foot garden method. In our first square foot garden we mixed our own growing medium with the recipe they provided. It was fun and successful but "oh so much work"! For a garden this size it would be a HUGE task. We opted for pre-mixed growing medium this time around. We have used it as well and are very happy with the results.

Can I just say...WOW! I LOVE these...I'm so excited...All this box needs now is the square foot grid.

You can see the grid in the above picture...

Hubs working on the 2nd box. Also recessed into the slope. They look amazing! No rush on this one. It's still winter in these parts! I can't believe our good weather fortune! Getting them in this early is such a fun bonus.

We hope to add a few more smaller boxes and some aesthetically pleasing elements before the job is complete! We also want to plant some "bee" friendly flowers and plants to welcome our soon to be new arrivals. This is going to be an exciting year!
I couldn't help myself! I decided to hurry and plant a few cold weather crops. They should be hearty enough to make it through the rest of our winter. A couple lettuce varieties, spinach, radishes, a few carrots and some garlic! I'm giddy and happy and can't wait to see how this new square foot garden turns out! I have a hunch I will be spending a lot of time in this garden! Yay...