The Joys of Composting

Any decent garden deserves it's own compost heap, right? so that was our project this weekend. It was too wet to till/weed the rows...most were full of water, anyway...so Jeff & I decided where to put the compost heap and how to enclose it. Of course, the $400 rotating compost barrel would be nice...oh, that price tag!...and Jeff has a couple of ideas on how to jerry-rig one if he can find the right barrel, but in the meantime, a video on the 'net on building a compost bin using wooden pallets caught our interest. We both watched it and agreed it would be quick and easy and not too expensive. In fact, there would be little expense if we could get some pallets from Jeff's friend, Frank. A trip out to Frank's place on Sunday got us all the pallets we needed ...as long as they were the ones painted blue that Frank wanted to get rid of. (That was OK coz the video recommeded sealing the pallets to prevent rot and if they were already painted....) Jeff managed to get 3 of them into the back of my Forrester and tied another 2 on top. The load was nearly too much for the ol'Subaru but the suspension held and we drove back home on the back roads doing a whopping 20mph with the 4-way flashers going! The video had shown the pallets being wired together but we didn't want to stop at Walmart for wire on the way home, so Jeff cut some poplar saplings and used them as stakes to put the walls together. (Got rid of that stand of poplars and added more green to the compost pile, too.) He tied the corners with twine and will replace that with wire when we get some. The bin has 1 long side made of 2 pallets fastened together...sturdy with the long stakes, and the short sides will be added tonight. The front will eventually be made out of some removeable planks. Saturday Jeff racked leaves from the deck and under the ramp while I trimmed the lilacs so we had a nice pile of green and brown stuff to start the compost pile. Sunday Jeff discovered worms in it as he put together the wall...a very good sign. Mom's not too thrilled about the coffee can (w/cover!) by the kitchen sink to collect coffee grounds and vegatabile peelings but if we empty it often it shouldn't be a problem. (You should hear her on the coffee can of worms in the refrid waiting disposal into the finished compost bin!)

I've been working on knitting swap items...got 2 summer-time swaps and 1 quickie swap almost due. I got a little carried away with the quickie swap and will be exchanging 4 bookmarks with other knitters. (It works out nicely, I couldn't decide which bookmark to make so now I can make/send 4 different ones!) My things in the shop in Cooperstown have started to sell, too, so inbetween knitting for my swaps and working in the garden with Jeff, I have to produce for there, too! Oh, can't forget to do another pair of socks for Jeff, too!