How I Hot Compost

I wrote this brief "how-to" for the March edition of the Southeast Master Gardener newsletter:

How I Hot Compost

• I acknowledge that a compost pile is alive. It needs nutrients, fiber, air, water, and protection.

• I put a mix of traditional greens and browns in my pile. I divert stuff from the landfill or find stuff in the wild. Manure adds microbes.

• I add lots of material at once. I get scraps from neighbors; the more the merrier.

• I give my pile air. I layer bulky things in the mix to add pore space. Sometimes I also turn it.

• I monitor moisture. I add water as the heat evaporates some; I add dry material if the pile is soggy.

• I have a big, covered pile. I use four pallets for the sides and plywood, metal roofing, or tarps for the top. This protects the pile from the rain and makes it self-insulating from the cold.

• I have a biofilter. I put several inches of dry material on top of the pile to filter our smells and keep critters at bay.

• I have a composting thermometer. It lets me know what is going on so I know what to do. If it's not heating up, I need to check the above list. If it's too hot I split the pile in two.

Composting can be as easy or hard as you make it. Don't worry about what you NEED to do--just experiment! You can read about lots of things NOT to do or ALWAYS to do, but it comes down to this: No one is the boss of composting! Every situation is different: different climate, different resources, different schedules, different set-ups.....Be creative, get to work, and see what you can turn into soil!

Spring is here?

I figured if I said it like a question I wouldn't jinx the weather.

At the beginning of the week the soil was workable in 4 of my beds. I couldn't just let that go by, so I planted some seeds! Maybe its crazy, but even if nothing sprouts I'm only out a few dollars. I tried kale, chard, carrots, turnips, onions, and chives. They're all under hoops and I put row cover directly over the soil. I also moved a pot of kale starts and a pot of onion sets to the barn window to see what happens.

I watched this great video last night where Eliot Coleman, who farms in Maine, describes his rationale and set-up for winter gardening--it's super long but very inspiring. The best take-home for me was the importance of layering. He said standing outside in winter, he was in Maine. As soon as he walked into his unheated greenhouse he was in New Jersey. When he put his hand under a row cover in his greenhouse, his hand was in Georgia. That is the power of layers! I'm definitely going to experiment with this a bunch this spring and fall. The video makes me pine for level ground to achieve a larger scale, but every time I go up to my moundy, rooty garden I just smile because I love my little forest nook. Farming is just different here.

When it comes to getting things done, weather I know how to do them or not, I'm always game. I don't wait around to have things done for me because one, I'm impatient, and two, I'm sure I can do it! The one thing I draw the line at is chainsaws. I tried one once and that was enough. I'll use a skill saw teetering on a rooftop, but I won't ever use a chainsaw again. Luckily, my husband loves his chainsaw and any excuse to use it. Last summer he bear-hugged his way up a huge hemlock to get to the lowest branch at 30 feet up. He then pulled his chainsaw up on a rope and proceeded to limb the thing on his tippy toes. He may have pirouetted upon dismount. While Atlin's participation in the garden is only on the eating end of things, I can always count on him to bring in the light. He cut three huge hemlocks last fall and last night he busted out the chainsaw to cut three more. Waiting to see a 75 foot tree fall is exciting, and actually seeing it fall brings out hoots and hollers you can't suppress. After Atlin cuts the trees down, limbs them, and cuts them into rounds, he's gone. I have to drag each limb and roll each round over the mounds and down the hill to our house. There were over a hundred rounds last fall and I'm sure there are just as many now. Wha-hoo for gardening in Juneau! I guess it'd be too easy if all you had to do was plant seeds and eat food.

This photo certainly doesn't make my garden look very appealing, but trust me that it IS beautiful. I'm not sure why everything looks so brown in the photo, but in real life the ground is covered with green moss. Anyway, what I love about this photo is that huge patch of white sky, which was not there a year ago.

That's about it around here for now. The co-op compost is still at 140 degrees and Rainbow's compost is at 120 after only two weeks. All the bunnies have survived their first month. I ordered chicks to replenish the herd. I got  some tired-and-true Aurcanas, Rhode Island Reds, Golden-laced Wyandottes, and I'm testing out Brahmas, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and Comets.We'll see!