Life is a Bowl of Cherries, and a Big Barrel of Compost

One Pound of Freshpicked Sweet Cherries

Some days are a wonderful, sunny bowl of cherries like the beautiful dark red Van variety of cherries shown in the photo above. There was exactly 1lb of them in the basket when I weighed them. This was, of course, after nibbling on a few as I harvested them from the tree. The Van cherry side of my double graft cherry tree has given me all of its cherries now. They ripened first. The other half of my cherry tree is loaded with almost ripe Bing cherries. Hopefully, they will ripen and I will pick them before the birds, squirrels and deer figure out how to get through the protective bird netting I have wrapped around the tree. Sometimes I wrap a fruit tree so well that I have trouble getting to the fruit when I want to harvest it! These cherries were picked yesterday. They are very tasty and sweet. They truly brightened my day.



Finished Compost in a 30 Gallon Trash Can Container

And then some days are more like a big barrel of compost!

Actually, this homemade compost is not as bad as it sounds. Compost is a very good thing. It smells like sweet clean earth and is full of life. It is soft to the touch and has many little buggies and earthworms living in it. I don't spend much time "turning" my compost piles. I usually just keep adding to them for a few months at a time, and then let them sit and decompose for a few more months. Then I sift the finished compost to remove the larger chunks of wood, fruit rinds, stems and pits that remain even after several months in a "working" pile. The compost that makes it through my homemade sifter (an old picture frame with 1 inch grid chicken wire stretched across it and stapled into place) goes from the wheelbarrow into the barrel container shown in the photo. I then spread it into the veggie garden as needed throughout the growing season. The compost piles and the finished compost are located right beside my main raised bed garden for my convenience. See my previous post about compost for more about my composting method of choice and a good book about composting.

Each day brings something new. I wonder what I will gather in my harvest basket tomorrow...

© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

Compost Happens

Isn't this supposed to grow in the dirt?

It finally stopped raining here for a few days which allowed me the chance to go outside and tend my garden compost pile. I have a few in various stages, but only one "active" one that I add to at least weekly. I try to limit my compost pile chore to once per week usually on the weekend. I save my kitchen scraps in a cheap plastic 1 gallon container with a lid all week and then put them in the compost pile and layer them with other things like dried brown leaves, twigs, weeds & grass. Sometimes I sprinkle some chicken manure and wood ashes into the mix.

Here's a photo of the various plastic containers filled with "compost in waiting".

Compost containers filled to the brim!

When I first started composting here in the mountains, I read everything I could on the subject in magazines and books. One of the best books I found was called Let it Rot, by Stu Campbell. I had read about many different styles of composting bins, barrels, stacks and piles. Some looked really fancy and neat. Some not so much. Some would take time, effort and expense to build. They were all designed to keep the pile contained while still giving it proper air circulation and hopefully keeping the curious and hungry wildlife from scattering and destroying your "pile in progress". And we do have plenty of wildlife! Around here we have hungry deer, hungry raccoons, hungry possums, hungry rabbits, hungry squirrels, hungry birds and various other little creatures and bugs. There is also the occasional bear that goes through the neighborhood, but luckily I haven't had any problems with them getting into my compost. Good thing too, because I have never seen a compost pile enclosure that would keep a bear out.

After all of that study, I decided to go with the cheapest and easiest method of composting that I have found. I just use the "pile" method. I make a pile near my garden (the garden that is destined to receive the finished compost) by layering "brown dry stuff" consisting of dead leaves, twigs and any dried up weeds or straw that are lying around, and "green stuff" which is kitchen vegetable scraps, green weeds, plants, leaves & grasses. I alternate thin layers until I have pile that is about 3 feet across and however high it becomes after I layer all the available compost ingredients on it. I then add to it week by week as I collect stuff. After making the initial pile or adding to it, I always wet it down thoroughly with the garden hose. This is more important in the dry summer months as the pile will dry out pretty quickly in the heat of summer. Too dry and the pile stops "working" and ants invade it. Too wet and the pile will just turn to moldy, smelly mush and slow down it's "working" process.

To keep the hungry and curious critters out of the pile, I simply cover the whole mound with a big square of 1 inch grid chicken wire and weight it down on the perimeter with anything that is heavy and available such as rocks, bricks, logs, lumber etc. The chicken wire cover allows for good air and water circulation while keeping the animals from scattering the pile and eating its ingredients. The birds still sit there and peck at the seeds or fruit, maybe eating some bugs or trying to eat any worms they can find.

Speaking of worms! It's a good idea, although not a necessity, to add a handfull of live earthworms to the middle of the pile near some of that good juicy kitchen scrap material. They will love the food scraps, eat it and make some of the best dark loamy compost you have ever seen. The worms will thrive in your pile if you make sure to keep it moist but not too wet. They will multiply and produce generation after generation of compost creators for you. Just take a handfull of worms from an existing pile to use when you start a new one. They are good in your garden soil too.

I rarely turn my compost. I usually just add to it each week, water it and then turn and sift out the big chunks just before I apply it to my garden in early spring or fall. Works great and is relatively low maintenance. Composting is good for your garden and for the earth. It also reduces the amount of garbage that you must take to the dump or otherwise dispose of. Saves money that way. Happy composting everybody!


Low maintenance compost pile



© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket