Quick veggie garden update

The scallions are growing well, and the peas are shooting up skyward. The dill, parsley, and spinach are growing slowly. The two cucumber plants, unfortunately, are drying up. I believe that the nights have gotten too cold for them - we were expecting the weather to stay warmer for a while yet.

The compost bin accumulated enough green stuff (food scraps and fresh young leaves) that I was able to add a second layer of brown stuff (crumbled, dry leaves). I didn't find the smell of the food scraps bothersome until my housemate started adding her coffee grounds. However the coffee is very good in compost, and the worms will love it, so I put up with it. I haven't gotten the worms yet because there is a worm shortage in our area - wasn't expecting that!

Compost bin ready!

My plan came together mostly without any hitches. Meet the fancy new compost bin:

I bought two storage bins and punched holes in them for air flow. The bottom bin has a clear plastic door on one side which allows you access the contents without unstacking the bins. That is perfect because the finished compost will be sifting into it from above!

I cut out the bottom of the top bin and replace it with a metal mesh. The hitch was that I had planned to secure it with a staple gun, but my gun was not cooperating, so I resorted to duct tape instead (as one often does).

I excitedly filled the bottom with a layer of "brown stuff" (crumbled dead leaves), and then started the first layer of "green stuff" (food waste and some fresh leaves).

I still need to acquire worms, since the store did not have them in stock. After that, it's just adding, mixing, and watering!

Memory jar

This would be filed under "make" rather than "grow":

1. Clean out jar.
2. Cover with scrapbooking paper and decorate.
3. Add slips of paper with descriptions of happy memories whenever the thought strikes you.

Composting

This morning I attended a composting presentation put on the East Bay Regional Parks District. I had signed up because I curious about composting, but not expecting to actually do it at my current residence. However, it turns out that it's much easier than I'd expected, and now I am inspired to go ahead with this project!

I will be composting on a small scale, since I'll be producing most of the food scraps for it on my own, and I'll just be using the finished product in my small garden. So instead of getting a big tub for it or building somethig, I will buy a large black plastic bin at a home improvement store, drill holes in it, and add worms.

Here are some of my notes from the presentation:

Layer your compost about 50/50 with green stuff (food scraps, grass, fresh leaves) and brown stuff (coffee grounds or tea, dead leaves and small twigs, dry grass, shredded newspaper or other papers). No meat products or dairy. Turn it regularly -- if you turn it more than once a week, you can get good compost within a month! Keep it fluffed up and loose, and moist (about the moistness of a wrung-out sponge).

It needs heat to kill off pathoges and keep it moist and active. A minimum size of 3' x 3' x 3' is suggested, although you can go smaller (as I will) by keeping the dark-colored bin in the sun and adding worms to help process the stuff.

Use a hardware screen as a sieve over a bin or bucket to get the finished product from among the still-decomposing stuff. I will endeavor to stack two bins together with a screen between them, so that I can just shake the worm bin and the finished compost will fall below.

When using your compost for your veggies (as I will!) or heavily flowering plants, mix 50/50 with high quality soil, or add a half inch layer on top of the existing soil (then add mulch on top, to keep the compost in place). When using compost for decorative plants, use a smaller ratio.

"Compost tea": water the worm bin and collect the run-off, dilute, and use as liquid fertilizer.


I am so jazzed about this! First step is to go to the store and buy two black plastic bins, hardware screen, worms, and a hand rake for turning the compost.

Garden pictures

The peas sprouted last Monday. They're already a few inches tall! I waited a bit too long to thin them out, even.

Look at all those roots!

I also thinned out the dill - my first opportunity to eat something from my own garden!

In the words of the Thug Kitchen, "Put that shit right on that motherlovin' sandwich."

You hear so many people say that it's more satisfying to eat something you grew yourself. They are absolutely right.

The forget-me-nots just broke soil today.

Up in the succulent garden on the deck, we have a few getting ready to flower. (Click on any picture to see it come up in a bigger format.)

This one has been growing the stalk for the flowers for months! They're finally, slowly, blooming.

A few others that are looking good:

That last spotty one looks exceptionally like an alien plant. It's some rare succulent that I've only seen in people's gardens twice. It's planted next to something that is not a succulent, but was also planted in someone's succulent garden, so I harvested it. It's growing a purple flower. I have no idea what it is.

Tiny sprouts in the tiny garden

Peas and scallions which just sprouted, and the healthy parsley and dill (which I need to thin out again).

One of my friends visited on Saturday and asked, "Aren't you planting pretty late?" Our Bay Area climate is so mild that many plants can be seeded and harvested much later in the year. Plus, the lady at the edible plant store is counting on our typical "Indian summer", in which September and October are still hot. But if the plants fail, oh well, I'll just try again in the spring. There are plenty of seeds left in the packets.

Just bloomed!

Some sort of succulent.