Old Fence And Compost

A piece of old 2x4 wire fence, sticks and stones were the beginning of my compost heap. I read that the compost works better if air can circulate from the bottom so hopefully the sticks and stones will make an air space and help this mess break down quickly to black gold.

To have the compost work quickly I am supposed to add green stuff, grass clippings, etc., but I don't have any green stuff around here. So, I added some alfalfa pellets to the straw and leaf layers. I watered each of the layers well.

Morgan is really worrying me because I catch her eating small bits of the chickens stuff that falls when I am filling the pile. Morgan... there is dirt in that stuff! It would be nice if she would eat stuff that was food and not dirt!

It was really hard for me to lift the material over the top so I cut the fence in half and made two short instead of one tall pile. I need to get a tarp of come kind to cover the piles. They are supposed to work faster covered.

I remember visiting a farm where they laid the stuff they wanted to compost out in rows and covered the long mounds with black plastic. The next year they would have their rows all ready to plant.

One compost pile finished! Pretty good for me for a days work. The chicken pen looks like major demolition happened. Poor chickens. They will be glad to have their pen back with some level ground.

No Broody Chickens! Locking the broody hens in the pen did the trick. I forgot and locked the Australorp in the pen overnight and that must have been what switched her hormones off because it was not warm that night and she could roost outside but not nest. The Buff and the Australorp both gave up the broody business and went back to being chickens! I'm glad because I couldn't lock them out now with the gate to the pen open so I can remove the chicken poo to the compost pile.

Talking about compost... is this neat or what! My greenhouse is really pretty small (about 8x10) compared to this spacious greenhouse. My brother built my greenhouse and it is just the right size for me because I am not a gardener. A bigger greenhouse would be wasted on me. To tell the truth I am rather at a loss when it comes to the whole gardening thing. I plan to plant a cover crop of some kind on the beds and wait until next year to plant. A year should give me time enough to plan out what and how to plant the beds.

PS... This YouTube video is just for fun. Momma bear gets baby bear out of a tree!

Peek at the Past

I still haven't finished this.
(May 15, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles