Composting deluxe

Before I begin writing about my continuing composting activities, I must relate that today and tomorrow are very sad days for my wife's family.  We begin the funeral process of saying goodbye to her beloved grandmother who passed away on Saturday after living for 90 wonderful years.  I have known this fine lady for almost 20 years now and I can honestly say - I have never met a sweeter, kinder, more loving and accepting person in my life.  She truly epitomize the very essence of being a lady living under grace.  I will deeply miss having her in my life.

I decided to look into the progress of my composters as I had some kitchen scraps to add to my current working pile.  I have three units which I have lined up behind my garage as seen here.

 I have one composter with finished product which I will add to my beds once I finish the reconfiguration of my beds which I an currently working on.  It's the furthest composter in the above picture.  Here is a picture of how much is available.

 












Additionally, I have one pile that is probably 80% through the process as seen below. It's the nearest composter in the first picture.

And, I have one that I just recently have been adding product to so I can get the last possible compost for the year as seen by these two pictures.  It is in the middle as I am going to take steps to attempt winter composting and I figured it may insulate it from the winds.  

 

As can be seen, the decomposition process is underway already as attested to by the gray pores developing on the compost.  They showed up at about day 4.  Those are fungi and actinomycetes which are generally prevalent at the beginning the breakdown process.  They prepare the waste for further breakdown by other actors in the pile.  I wanted to show you how it looks when the fungi appear.  So after I took these pictures, I added leaves, watered it down a little and turned the product in order to get the proper breakdown process underway.  

I will continue to add product and water to the middle pile through the winter - snow permitting.  I will also continue to add moisture to the other pile to assist with the ongoing breakdown of that pile. By the beginning of next Spring, I should have two composters filled with ready to use product.  

Composting is an ongoing year long process.  It pays dividends to do this if you want to control what your produce is taking up.  

One misconception is that compost is only for vegetable gardens.  It is actually a great amendment to a variety of items.  I use it as a planting medium for flowers and grass seed.  You can use it as a foliar spray on any plant by making compost tea.  It can also be used as a fertilizer for your lawn by spreading the compost over the lawn.  Additionally, it can also be used as a side dressing for any plant.  And on an environmental note, if you compost, the waste you recycle through composting is kept out of the landfills.

Composting saves you money.  It has been a long time since I bought commercially produced compost or fertilizer for any part of my landscape.  And, I know that the compost I produce is as fresh as it can be.
You may be thinking that you don't have the space to compost in your yard.  While I have 3 what I consider larger composters, there are alternatives for small space composting.  There are numerous small composters offered online that fit into every urban landscape quite well.  And, you have to keep in mind, that with a small landscape/garden, you have less demand for compost.      

So, there you have it.  If you have any questions regarding composting or any other gardening subject, you can add a comment or you can email me through this site.  Happy Gardening everyone!  

And the hits keep coming!

Just spent the evening partaking of a very good meal tonight.  My lovely wife made stuff peppers that were fresh from the garden.  She also made me a mix of the mortgage lifter tomato and one of the 9 cucumbers I have picked in the last two days.  They were very good with a dressing of balsamic vinegarette dressing.  Oh, how lovely they tasted while we sat and began to relax for the evening. Well, some of us did.
I went out and watered down the cucumbers so I could pick them tomorrow morning before heading to work and I also picked two Better Boy tomatoes and another scad of cherry tomatoes.  They have been very prolific this year.  I also watered down my watermelon plant.  I will have to get a picture of it so you can see it too.   Along with those, I watered the canteloupes which I have about 6 in various stages of growth.
After that was completed, I ran a bunch of tomatoes over to my in-laws as they really do like them. See, I believe you should share with others as the bounty comes in.  I haven't met too many people who have ever turned down any of the vegetables I have offered.  And this year has been a great year and I expect it will continue right into the fall.  That is, if I stay vigilant about tending to the garden. The hardest thing, as I wrote previously, is to maintain the drive to bring the garden to fruition.
On a side note, I threw some mammoth sunflower seeds into a spot where my wife could see them from the house as she has asked me to grow them.  After about a month or so, they are now over 8 feet tall and, from what I can tell, are getting ready to set flower.  I guess they meant it when they named these Mammoths!  I will get pictures of them when they come into bloom.  It was a nice side activity which was a diversion from the veggie garden routine.
Well, that's all for now.  Been a busy day and there is more to do before I put a wrap on the day.  I hope your garden is giving you great harvests too!  Till next time, happy gardening everyone!