lovely November

Every year I have big plans for how I'll put my little garden to bed, and what I need to seed in for winter crops, and every year the weather surprises me: it stays warm late, or it rains for a month, and my plans don't quite work out. This year I still have peppers up, and I did manage to seed in some bok choi on time, so I think I won't miss having fresh collards in January. (who am I fooling -- yes, I will.)

Spicy Thai pepper, plant bought at Clackamas Community College's Hort Dept. Mother's Day sale

Bok Choi, this winter's fresh vegetable of choice. (he, he -  plus a small fennel volunteer.)

I honored Veterans Day by raking the leaves from the tree that grows on the property that I get to own. Take that, King George!

The right to have a back yard and grow my own veggies and flowers is one of those rights that is basic: so simple and so very necessary for an American degree of familial independence. Well, and for having a pile of leaves you can jump in.

Size of the compost pile on 11/11/10

The leaves do their part, of course. These were incorporated into a compost pile with all the branches and lawn clippings I had been storing up this summer, and 20 pounds of ammonium sulfate to supplement the nitrogen content. As a hobbyist, if my body can hold up to raking my entire back yard and re-building the compost pile, that's a victory. Having sunlight and patience to do that while mowing the lawn with the gas mower (to pick up the clippings) so there's enough fresh N in the compost pile - - - that's professional degree dedication right there. So I'll buy my locally produced bag of 21-0-0 and see if it works. I'm hoping it'll cook down to about half its size by January so I can turn it again on MLK day.

So, how do I contain my compost? There are 5 pallets in there, wired together to form an E (if you were looking from the top.) Each side of the E can hold more than 3'x3'x3', which I've read is the minimum size for a compost pile to build decent heat. I built up each side by alternating a layer of leaves with a layer of my reserve stuff (much of which was already dark and slimy),  and sprinkling a scant shovel full of 21-0-0 between each layer. While I didn't measure the depth of the layers, the leaf layers were always one 30 gal. garbage bin each, and the reserve materials would cover the entire square evenly, such that I couldn't see any leaves from my eye level. Then, once both sides were built up to the top of the bin (thankfully I had no more reserve left), each side got a double scoop of 21-0-0 and I covered everything over with more leaves. The idea is, this will keep things cooking and at the current water level for several weeks. If I were a pro, I'd get a big thermometer and take the temperature of the core in another couple days, and decide whether to cover the whole thing with a black tarp.

But you know, compost happens.