Transitioning to a New Compost Pile...

It is officially that time of year again, when I start a new compost pile and start preparing the old one to be spread on the raised garden beds. This summer has been considerably colder and wetter than most, and my compost is not as far along as it normally is.

The old compost pile...

I am no longer adding anything to this pile, and I will be turning it every few days, in an attempt to get it to break down as much as I can in the next 2 months, before it starts freezing outside. As I dig through it, I am finding a ton of very large earthworms, which is a happy sight! Most of them will be spending the winter happy and warm inside a worm farm. Between the worms and the more frequent attention, this pile will look very different, very soon.

Because I can't add anything else to the old compost pile, it is necessary, of course, to start a new one! Fortunately for me, my friend just cleaned out her chicken coop a week or so ago, so I had a couple of bags of old straw and chicken manure just waiting to be used!

The new compost pile...

I moved the fence to the new compost area, behind my vegetable garden. The straw and manure are simply heaped into a pile, and I've been dumping my kitchen waste on there for a few days now. I'll probably turn it in a week or so, and then once or twice before it frosts.

Here's a link to one of my most popular posts...  Why you should start a compost pile... right now! ... in case you want more information on starting your own!

As I was turning the old pile this morning, I heard a rustling in the fireweed along the side of the vegetable garden fence...

Can you see the little guy hidden up against the fence?

I have been seeing this little rabbit around the compost pile the last week or so. He is fairly tiny, and I don't see much evidence that he has been there, other than actually seeing him. He seems to be after the compost rather than the vegetable garden, and the raised beds are tall enough that he wouldn't get into them easily, so for now, I'm just watching him. All wildlife is welcome here, and I'm honored that he is comfortable enough to let me see him. I even made sure that a bit of fruit made it outside of the fence, so he can find himself an easy snack!

Are you composting this year, or planning to start a pile soon?

I love coffee...

Coffee may just be one of the most marvelous drinks on the planet. It warms you up, wakes you up, AND feeds your garden! If you are anything like me, you need a cup of coffee or two to get you moving in the morning. My question is... what do you do with all your spent coffee grounds and filters? Here's a short list of possibilities...

Compost -
Coffee grounds do marvelous things in the compost pile. They are considered a green, not a brown. Coffee grounds actually have about the same nitrogen content as fresh cut grass! Just mix the whole thing, filter and all, right into your pile.

Worm Candy -
Worms love this stuff, but you have to be careful when adding it to your worm bin. Coffee grounds are acidic and abrasive, and if you give too much to your worms, they will be unhappy. Also, watch the moisture content of your worm bin when adding coffee grounds, as they tend to retain a lot of water.

Slug Repellent (and Snails and Ants also!) -
Because the grounds are abrasive, slugs and snails don't like to cross them, so circle your plants with some, like you would do with eggshells. Ants don't like the acidity, and will tend to steer clear as well.

Garden Fertilizer -
You can bury the grounds, top dress with them, or scratch them directly into the soil around your growing plants, especially those (like Rhododendrons and Azaleas) which like their soil on the acidic side. You can also soak your spent grounds overnight and use the brew as a simple liquid fertilizer.

Mulch -
Coffee grounds make a great mulch! They look great (and smell good too!) and they work as a slow-release fertilizer at the same time!

Plant Rx -
Coffee grounds are known to suppress late blight in tomatoes. Top dress or mist the plants with water that has soaked the grounds overnight.


Most of us have an abundance of coffee grounds right in our kitchen, but if you don't, you can most likely get them from your office coffee pot, or maybe your next-door neighbor! Starbucks also offers spent coffee grounds for free. All you have to do is ask!

What's your favorite way to recycle your coffee grounds?

Why you should start a compost pile... right now!

We were discussing compost at my garden club meeting today, and it got me thinking about how many folks seem to be "afraid" to start composting.  There are so many different formulas out there, and so many people preaching this way or that way being the only way to make it happen.  Let me just say this right up front... there is no right or wrong way to make compost!  Put a bunch of plant matter in a pile and ignore it, and eventually you will have amazing compost!  You don't have to have exact ratios of green to brown, you don't have to turn it every day, and you don't have to add any starters or additives to make it happen!

What is compost?  All it is is broken down (rotted) plant material.  In nature, when plants die off, there is nobody there to remove all the dead material, clean up the space, and till the soil.  The plants die, the dead material falls onto the ground, it rots, and the rain pushes the rotted bits into the soil where they protect and fertilize the plant.  Mother Nature provides the earthworms to break down the bits into smaller bits, and the occasional animal to hoof through it and mix it up.  That's all it takes!

So, where do you start?  If you have some spare chicken wire or old pallets lying around, build yourself a small enclosure.  If you don't have an enclosure, don't worry!  Just make your pile wherever you want it (out of the direct sunlight is best, but NOT necessary,) and add your scraps as you get them.  I add all my kitchen scraps (no meat, just plant material,) all the vegetation that comes out of the garden, and any leaves that are floating around the yard.  Each time I start a new pile, I add a garbage bag of straw and chicken manure I get from a friend when she cleans out the chicken coop.

I like to start a new pile every fall.  I pile up the chicken manure, add anything else compostable that I have laying around, water it down really good, and ignore it!  This gives it the winter to start breaking down.  I don't turn it for the first time until the following spring.  When spring comes, I mix it all up and start adding my kitchen scraps.  I add to this pile all summer, bit by bit, and turn it whenever I feel like it.  By late July, my compost is ready to screen. 

I save the screened compost for adding to new plants the following spring, and the bigger chunks get spread on top of the garden beds.  There they sit for another winter, and in the spring I turn it all into the beds and start the whole process over again.  Don't worry if not everything breaks down right away.  Anything that is still recognizable ends up buried and it finishes composting right there in the garden.

This year I was fortunate enough to acquire some earthworms, meant for a worm bin.  I gave up on the bin fairly quickly, and just dumped all the worms into the compost pile.  When it came time to screen the compost, I pulled out literally hundreds of worms and gave them to my Mother, who keeps a worm farm.  The compost was beautiful!  The worms helped break down the pile much faster, and I will be adding them every spring from now on.  But if you don't have access to earthworms, don't worry!  If your pile is on the ground, the worms will find it, and work their magic on it without your help.  Adding worms yourself just makes the process happen a little faster!

Yes, you can turn the pile every day, monitor the temperature, carefully measure the ingredients, and otherwise fret over this garden gold, but honestly, why would you?  Pile it up, add to it, give it time, and Earth's natural processes will take care of the rest!

Getting ready for this years garden...

So much is happening around here, I am finding it hard to sit down long enough to post about this years garden happenings!  The snow is all gone, and my raised garden beds are thawed out and warming nicely!  I have prepped all the garden beds, and so far have planted lettuce, turnips, spinach and snap peas.  I have also planted potatoes for the first time ever!  I am trying the black garbage bag method, as this is the cheapest, easiest route for me this year.  Also, I have officially started a worm farm!  Vermicompost will be nourishing my tomatoes this year, and I am very excited about it!  I don't have any pictures yet, but I will work on that for all of you yearning for a little garden porn!  What are you all doing in the garden right now?