Hands in the Dirt

Ah, Spring is really here. After a long winter of dreaming about gardening, the busy season is finally here. No more time for dreaming, there's way too much to do.

Yesterday I finished sifting the compost. I got about two-thirds of a cubic yard of finished stuff which I need to spread on all the beds that will be getting the earliest plantings. Then there's a huge pile of unfinished compost which I hope will cook down to another two-thirds of a cubic yard and I'll be able to use that for the later plantings.

In the next couple of days I need to prepare these first beds. I've got to get my nude oats sown (well, other things too, but I had to say nude oats--it sounds so sexy). We'll be planting kale and some potatoes and other things, plus starting the peppers indoors. And since I'm expanding the garden (again) this year I have to de-sod and double-dig the new beds.

Lazy Woman's Guide to Composting

To compost:

Throw stuff in bin.

Keep throwing stuff in bin.

Dump used cooking water on top here and there, rinse compost bucket (aka sludge bucket) out and dump water on top here and there.

Allow strange and fantastic things to sprout out of the top. See how many strange and fantastic things show up. (That's a tomato plant sprouting out of the pile in the picture.)

Next spring sift the whole pile through 1/2-inch hardware cloth sifter, throw chunks back in bin, spread sifted compost on garden.

Tah-da. Composting made easy.