Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Everything i ever learned about compost was a lie!!
Okay, not entirely. But there are some household composting rules that have good history, but simply aren't true. How do i know this??
As of today i am a certified compost site operator. i went, i saw, i composted!!!!
i had the grand pleasure of spending a week with 25 other people from all over the world learning how to make some mighty fine soil amendments!! It was fabulous. There were of course people from the states, but also a fella from the Philippines, a fella from Chad (Africa) and bloke from the Galapagos. . . he was really from Germany, but works for the WWF on the islands. Lucky dog!
So what about some of these "myths" that should be reconsidered by every person in America:
1) Compost can't be made from human biosolids (poop).
Wrong! Actually some of the finest, and safest to use on your home garden, compost is made from human biosolids. If you see it in the store it is more than safe. This doesn't, of course, mean that you should (or even can legally) make it in your home composter. . . unless you have a composting toilet.
2) Compost stinks.
False. If managed correctly a compost pile won't smell at all!!
3) You can't compost meat.
Wrong again. In fact no too many years ago the Maine compost team composted a full sized pilot whale. Total time from whale to dirt with a few knuckle bones - 12 weeks.
In 8 weeks you can make chickens into dirt. In 12 a cow is nothing more than a skeleton, wait another year or so (or buy a grinder) and even the bones break down!!!
Pretty cool eh?!?! Why be afraid of the things your food eats. After all, it is what we will all become eventually anyway!!
Pictures to follow!!
As of today i am a certified compost site operator. i went, i saw, i composted!!!!
i had the grand pleasure of spending a week with 25 other people from all over the world learning how to make some mighty fine soil amendments!! It was fabulous. There were of course people from the states, but also a fella from the Philippines, a fella from Chad (Africa) and bloke from the Galapagos. . . he was really from Germany, but works for the WWF on the islands. Lucky dog!
So what about some of these "myths" that should be reconsidered by every person in America:
1) Compost can't be made from human biosolids (poop).
Wrong! Actually some of the finest, and safest to use on your home garden, compost is made from human biosolids. If you see it in the store it is more than safe. This doesn't, of course, mean that you should (or even can legally) make it in your home composter. . . unless you have a composting toilet.
2) Compost stinks.
False. If managed correctly a compost pile won't smell at all!!
3) You can't compost meat.
Wrong again. In fact no too many years ago the Maine compost team composted a full sized pilot whale. Total time from whale to dirt with a few knuckle bones - 12 weeks.
In 8 weeks you can make chickens into dirt. In 12 a cow is nothing more than a skeleton, wait another year or so (or buy a grinder) and even the bones break down!!!
Pretty cool eh?!?! Why be afraid of the things your food eats. After all, it is what we will all become eventually anyway!!
Pictures to follow!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Like sand through the hour glass. . .
Hmmm. . . this blog, like so many other things in my "old" life seems so foreign.
The branch is not pure white like the albinos that i am familiar with, but rather a golden color. i don't know what to make of it. Like so many other things on the pharm. . . its weird!
The demands of the family, Pearson's town, and that other place i work have been overwhelming. Alas, things on the pharm are moving forward (at a dizzying pace). This is not that latest that i have ever tried to get a garden in, but we are creeping up on it.
Addy, Owie, and i spent yesterday planting gourds, melons and the like. before the weeks out the corn, tomatoes, and peppers will be in (along with, Lord willing, everything else).
Addy, Owie, and i spent yesterday planting gourds, melons and the like. before the weeks out the corn, tomatoes, and peppers will be in (along with, Lord willing, everything else).
In the tree department, we had an issue with a band of rabid Pygmy beavers. Our front yard is largely denuded. . . except that the trees are still there. Just. . . well. . . sideways.
Speaking of trees - back in the old days, at a place called Pico Blanco, we used to wander the forest in search of albino redwood trees, which yes, there are!!! Well, there is another magic tree that is close to my heart. The Monterey Cyprus only grow naturally on the Monterey peninsula in California. Well, in a moment of nostalgia, after having lived here for far too long, i found some seeds online. So of course i bought them, planted them, and they grew.
A couple of weeks ago, just after having moved my prized tree outside for the summer i noticed something amiss. One of the branches was oddly colored. At first i thought that it was dead, but then it grew, and grew some more. i have never known a dead branch to grow before.
The branch is not pure white like the albinos that i am familiar with, but rather a golden color. i don't know what to make of it. Like so many other things on the pharm. . . its weird!
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