The deer and the bears and the crows and ravens eat out of our compost pile. You'd think we'd try to do something about that. We did. For years we tried various containers and covers and bins and the like. A lot of containers and covers and bins got trashed. Bears are strong. We tried putting the compost up against the house. We ended up with bears up against the house. Enough. We said uncle. Now we just build an open pile in the far corner of the property. It's a long trek, especially in winter, but at least we don't have large ursine creatures hanging out on our deck in the evenings.
All this means that we don't produce a whole lot of compost. This spring I got only enough for two and a half of our raised beds. Sophie's bed and Fiona's bed got a full helping of compost. Noah's (made next) got the leftovers. Mine, the final bed, got none at all. I planted anyway.
Guess which one is Sophie's tomato plant, and which one is mine? What an amazing illustration of the value of natural soil enrichment! I am stoked about compost! Go chickens, go, poop for all you're worth!
Wow! A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Sophie must be beside herself :-)
ReplyDeleteI was just reading about chicken poo and organic gardening and thinking I need to find a place to buy some for next years garden; also thinking of trying to compost again. Did it beofre, but a very rudimentary form of it LOL
Wow! An "amazing illustration" indeed.
ReplyDeleteGreat to know that Spring is really beginning to bite in your part of the worldand all the optimism,and hard work, that goes with it. I am in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, sitting infront of the fire, my knitting of winter hats sitting beside me. I discovered your blog a few weeks ago now and I must say my checking in with our "Canadian friends" has become a little compulsive. I am mum of Sky (10/05) and Ruby(8/03) and hope to pretty much do what we are doing now (following interests, engaging curiosity)past the 5th birthday. Your blog rosonates very strongly for me and has given me confidence in my vision. thanks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the compost. It makes up about 60% of our two veggie patches. A happy side effect is the extras we find growing in our garden. We have a crop of what we believe are cantaloupes growing sporadically through our garden. Last year tomatoes were among our mystery crop. Be careful with root vegetables like carrots, though. We've found that if they are planted in a heavy mix of compost, they get really leafy but produce only tiny carrots.
ReplyDeleteNo worries there, Penelope, we'll never have that much compost! If we're lucky we've got about 20% in each of the two 'good' beds. There is so much more garden that needs compost, and so little compost being made around here.
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