All that rots

My other construction project over the Christmas break was to build a compost bin. I chose the style from Easy Composters You Can Build by Nick Noyes. Rather than paraphrase, I'll shamelessly copy the first two paragraphs:

New Zealand Compost Box
The New Zealand Compost Box was designed by Sir Albert Howard, a far-sighted British horticulturist who develope composting systems during the WWII era. A very precise man, Howard's methods and composting process were quite specific, as were his instructinos for making the following bin.

This box requires two ten-foot lengths of 2" x 2" wood and twelve eight-foot lengths of 1" x 6" wood. Cut the 2x2s into six 39" pieces, and cut the 1x6 wood into twenty-four 48" pieces. Assemble the piece as illustrated, taking care to leave a hel-inch space between each of the side boards to allow for aeration. Use galvanized screws (preferably) or nails to jlin the pieces. Teh uprights should be pushed into the ground approximately 3" (loosen the soil if necessary). The front boards (which will likely need to be trimmed a bit for an exact fit) slice in and out to make filling and emptying the box easier.

I chose to add a stablizing crossbar along the front. It will go in the backyard, near the garden just as soon as I can get someone to help me haul it back there. With all that lumber, it's pretty heavy. This is a good thing as I'm counting on it lasting several years.

Winter soil adjustments

I put out three new beds last week, up by the main garden. One is 18 x 3 and the other two are both 8 x 4, although oriented East/West rather than North/South like the old bed. I've got the turf dug and turned over but still need to mix the new soil and add it in. Fortunately, the weather has been nice and I may get out there in the next week or so to finish up. This is the last of the new bed expansion for the year. All in all, I increased the gardening space from 32 square feet of raised beds in 2006 to 182 square feet for the coming years. That should provide enough space for a variety of crops, rotations, and soil pH.

Speaking of pH, I recently got back the results of my soil test. About three weeks ago, I got a soil test kit from my local county extension office. The kit was free but the testing was about $10 apiece. I tested two of the new beds and along the back fence where I hope to plant blueberries in the spring. The bed that will hold my asparagus came back at 7.0, which is too high. The bed by the deck was even higher, 7.5. I applied between half a pound and a pound of aluminum sulfate to each bed under the straw mulch and lightly raked it in. I also sprinkled a pound in the new bed for strawberries over the upside down turf. I'll add some more to the soil mix when I get it in that bed. I also need to determine the spots for my blueberry bushes so I can dig now and amend the soil with sulfur for spring planting. The fenceline came back at pH of 7.1.

Rudolph on break

After a busy night of work for Santa, Rudolph must have been given some time off.

As we sat down to a Christmas lunch, my wife looked out the window and noticed six deer running down the fenceline into the park. All were does or young "spike" bucks as far as I could tell. They disappeared quickly but it was a nice moment for our family, especially for our three year old who immediately made the Rudolph connection. Merry Christmas!

Pinochle on your snout

"The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out..."

My new batch of two pounds of Esenia fetida (red wiggler compost worms) arrived today and I added them to the new bin system, an early Christmas present. I'll let them get settled in for a few days and then start adding kitchen scraps for them to convert to castings for organic mulch.