Lost and Found

Sorry, Judy, but the beautiful Japanese shears you gave me, that I adored, that went missing, that I feared had ended up in the compost pile...did end up in the compost pile. R.I.P.

 

On a happier note, I've located both the Felco pruners (in the bottom of a pile of boxwood clippings headed for the shredder) and the plain old scissors (lying on the ground). But I really miss those shears...

Compost heaven

I've been composting for years, with good success but such a mess! I had one of those brown plastic bins, which was fine but not big enough. It was similar to this one, but not as fancy.


I bought these plastic things that hook together in a circle, allegedly, but always bowed in leaving only a tiny opening for all the stuff.
 

I also used big plastic bags to hold shredded leaves.





 

In the end, good compost, but the composting area looked like Tobacco Road.

No longer! I've found someone who is building me a real compost bin that will neat, tidy and big enough (I hope) to hold everything. It's from a Lowe's plan, features lids (to come), removable front slats for easy turning (not that I ever turn my compost, but maybe now I'll be inspired), wire sides, and is firmly positioned on top of concrete blocks. Here it is almost completed, and I got the okay to start loading it up.

My only fear is that it's not quite big enough (6' x 3'), but it should take care of most of the mess.

 

In the course of moving stuff around and digging out a level space, Gary unearthed a big mound of compost, which I am now delightedly sifting and spreading throughout the garden.

Only a fellow gardener will appreciate how wonderful this is. Plus, the nice man will replace the decaying plywood panels on my Garden Way cart, and he'll build me a potting bench to take the place of the ancient picnic table. (I'm thinking of this plan.) The compost area will be quite spiffy by the time he's done.

Eating the Elephant

During these days off devoted to the garden, I am vowing to chip away (literally) at the brush pile and turn it into delicious compost. Here's a look at the progress

 

after day one

 

and after day two.





The chipper is heavy and noisy, and visions of Fargo dance in my head, but it starts reliably and gobbles up just about anything as long as it's got lots of dry leaves to swallow. If I can get the pile down to a manageable size before it gets too hot, it's time to think about a real compost system instead of these ridiculous plastic things that are not even as slick as this.