I love Narnia!! I'm gonna live there someday...

dang EG you passed that up? all you needed was a (as tabor says) my snow shovel and a bag!! **giggle** i mean, you do have a truck right!!?? LOL OHHHH WAIT! hmmm.... i wouldn't wanna look like a crazy ol goat either **wink** **grinn**
Hee Hee
ya, i think i'll do that just to make his heart beat more!! LOL i do love that man!! ~Medo

Yes....I passed it up. I didn't have any bags with me, dangit! Oh well, at least i'm getting lots of UCG at work.

EG

Geez guys, I leave you alone for a few days and you've become composting experts!

Just last weekend I ran my mower over the leaf-scattered ground around a tree. Not only did it mulch for me, but the rake stayed in the shed! And I just dumped the shredded leaves and little bit of grass clippings on top of my compost pile.

I'll do it again in a few weeks when all the leaves are off the trees.

Oh, and I really hope to get loads of maple leaves. Chop those suckers up and they'll compost well...

P.S. What is wrong with this site. It won't let me post from my phone at all anymore. Stupid site!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

yes, sometimes it is a real pain in the butt!! (the site)
now if our mower was working we'd be doing the same thing!! WOO HOO!!! LOL
ya know EG that's the same thing i'd say too!! i've started keeping a few bags with me, only its not for the same thing, LOL mine are for seeds, and they are little baggies!! LOL
Hee Hee i know, i'm in dork mood right now!! (ummm...i live here most of the time!! LOL)
ok EG i'm thinking on the blog thing, i actually have been considering it, i have this one, but its "our home & garden" i don't know if i want to stick with that name or if i want to go with something different. i have to figure how to put pics in. its very hard to figure that out. ~ Medo

Ok....i'll probably mow some leaves this coming weekend....sheesh! I won't be listening to Jackyl, though. I get pretty wild with the lawnmower and weedeater when I listen to them while working...hee hee. Yeah....I need my fruit trees. :)

Medo - Um...really? Hee Hee. You're gonna do it? Aw man....so, are you asking for EG's help with a name? lol. I'm sure I can come up with a few.

EG

yes, yes, and stay away from Jackyl!! well at least it won't be at your mom's!! LOL
i figure if Carolyn is gonna trick me into blogging with her, i might as well blog my self!! LOL ~Medo

Aw man......i'm thinking now...hee hee.

How about "Dangit, where's my garden?" or
"Medo's (((bleep!))) Garden" or
"Ummm......Wha?" or
"Hey! I didn't plant that!" or
"Ok! Who planted the weed?" or
"Medo's unfinished GH....Hey, It works! Ya!"

I'm thinking......i'm thinking.....heh.

EG

Thanks EG. It's a friendly crowd 'round here. I don't even "truly" have a SFG, but I read that you guys allow that too : ) Good info is good info, no matter how you define your garden!

We had to go to town Saturday, so we took the truck, and came home with it full of bagged leaves - again... We don't have much organic material around, so I go to the city to get it!

Well, this is my back yard. I have a lot of work to do... The picture is a little funny because it was taken from the upstairs window, and I should have taken out the screen... Then, I decided tonight to see if the panorama maker would work on the pics, and it did, but it's a little fisheyed... {{gwi:1286251}}From 08 Aug 08

As you can see, I'm not kidding about the lack of organics... Well, the front yard is much better, but there's not much material to spare up there either.

Many changes in store for this yard. This year the veggie garden got the main attention.

Hey what are you talking about no sfg?? i see sf just no full garden yet!! LOL i do see a tree, LOL he just wants some buddies!! **onrey grinn**
EG now them are halarious!! i actually like them!! LOL **big smile** ~Medo

greenbean - yeah, we've got alot of nice people in here -unlike some of the other forums! No matter what kind of garden you have, you're always welcome here. I tell ya what....if I had that back yard, there would be all kinds of sfg boxes with trellises! I bet it gets lots of sun....there's plenty of room for a good sized composting setup, also!

Medo - i'll come up with a few more later...ha!

EG

greenbean08, do those fences lead to stables by any chance? If they do, you got it made in the shade.

EG, for those people that do not like to work with fresh horsy poo, Ahumm, Ahumm, a possible source of greens this time of year may be the flowers at a local cemetery.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Flowers from the cemetary? Dang, John.....that's pretty jacked up right there.....kinda morbid, and stuff...and, i'm getting plenty of nitrogen right now...just not HM. Mine will be ready just in time for spring planting.....

EG

Hey EG, you can have both of mine (flowers), and if I am in the pile, just throw me in the compost bin. At least I would be good for something.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

I don't know, John....with all them BM, that might be pretty combustible. Talk about heating a compost pile up...... :)

EG

hmmmm......hot air, poo, flowers, flames, WOW!! just need wind!! LOL **wink** just kidding about the hot air!! LOL ohhh crud, i'm using tabors pc, i am not gonna redo this and log in. LOL

Medo - are you using the kids' username again?

EG

awww man, can ya tell?? LOL i'm about to get mine, fixed, it has adaware or spyware in my pc, so its slowing it down HUGE TIME!!! its just making me really really mad!!! so i'm doing all this scanning and it only found 1 threatning and 1 highly something, and it said it fixed it. so i'm restarting it, "we'll see"!!! my puter is soooooo female!! i'm talking to mersie and "trying to find out if by possible i can use my back up disk as the thing for after the reformatting. i just do not know where in the world my cd's are that i copied off. ~Medo

There is actually a garden to the right of the house. It's just hidden in the picture because it's behind the retaining wall. I figured the veggies stood a better chance of making it out with the wild rabbits than in that back fence with the dogs - I have one who's a pretty serious self-serve veggie eater.

It's sort of a sfg, it's raised beds and i did mark it off into sf with string, it's just not strictly a sfg, (and I've never read the book). It's still under construction out there, but I'll take a pic someday... this is what I had this summer... it was my "test" garden. We're expanding for next year... {{gwi:1286253}}From 08 Aug 08

No, the fences don't lead to horses, but there are plenty around - I've even found one with a tractor to load my trailer so I don't have to shovel "it" so many times : )

EG, I know what you mean about some other forums... I've had a foolish moment here or there and posted on one of them. Was promptly sniped at. Don't really care too much, since I knew what I was entering into over there...
I also like the Rocky Mtn Gardening forum. They are nice there too. It's amazing the attitude differences from forum to forum...

Thanks for the warm welcome!

your very welcome for the warm welcome!! some of those forums are just for those people who think they are better than us. i went into the one for proffessional gardeners. i happened to get into the wrong "arena" and WOW!! they were just snotty, but i asked my question and they were nice, i learned not to post to someone elses post, because they know all. mostly i think some of them like to hear themselves speak. **onery snort** ~Medo

I like our forum, too. On the hydroponics forum, one guy said "All things are possible for God, but since I'm not God..." blah, blah, blah... Well, the next poster yelled at him for trying to talk about God in the forums. I was like, what the heck? If it bugs you, skip it touchy. Well, the original guys was so graceful, lol, and kind (not like me at all), he just apologized and said he'd watch it.
On where to get greens? Starbucks grounds. They bag em for you, so it's a nice free option. This is the PNW, so most folks drink coffee and I have been dropping by daily to pick up the old grounds. It rocks! It's also a lovely excuse to grab a mocha...
The house a bit down is for sale and they are cleaning the yard out today. They are going to bring me the leaves once they have them bagged! Woot!!

i tell them people when i was in another forum, if you don't want to talk about GOD them don't look at it, we're just not allowed to talk about religion. and as far as i know GOD is not religion. most people don't get all attituded out with me though, even on them notes, i am mostly a peace maker. UMMMMMM........"MOSTLY" LOL what is PNW? i am always gonna ask, and forget. LOL WOW free leaves BROUGHT to you?? how cool is that?? you are so lucky!! **big smile**
hmmm......gracefull and kind???what in the world is that?? i just wonder about that!! LOL its funny, but i'm so used to being around my mom's hubs and alot of other people in topeka that when i get back that i can be so guarded, and when i get to the niceness of the people here, i feel so bad for being the guarded me. then i can relax again. LOL its weird. and of course i have to guard myself with hubs also, he's just as bad as them. that bad language is a killer!! its the f word.
on the other hand man, i have been producing stuff for the compost like you would not believe. i think by spring i should have some awesome stuff in them boxes if we don't have a total freezing winter. LOL how far down do the worms go to be safe? the freeze line thing? which is that 12" here you said?
~Medo

Sorry medo, PNW=Pacific Northwest.

Ok, since there are lots of questions about the time that it takes various sizes and kinds of leaves to decompose - I'm gonna conduct an experiement for the sanity of all people who put dead leaves in their pile, not knowing which is better...

Since I have three bins, and also lots of oak leaves, i'll setup three different scenarios - and keep up with the progress. How's that sound?

EG

I'm sure I knew this, but forgot, but Carolyn, where in the PNW do you live? I can't tell by tracking you down.

Oh, to add to the conversation. I was reading in Colman's Four Season Harvest that leaves aren't good for compost bins because they only decompose via molding or whatever, not rotting. Oh, and leaf mold is great for the garden but takes years to grow. Boy do I hope he's wrong. I've always seen leaves as just another brown. I'm using them, hope I'm not wrong. hehe.

what does he mean, takes years to grow?? that's confusing me. not hard to do, LOL
thanks Carolyn!! :')
that sounds like a winner to me EG!!
well if that's such a bad thing, then maybe the ashes of the leaves would be better for the garden? but then that'd be too small, is this colmans four seasons harvest a respectable person? or uhhh trustworthy? ya know the word i'm looking for, maybe noteworthy? can you take his word to the bank? thats what i want to say!! Hee Hee!!
isn't molding and rotting the same thing? doesn't it end up the same way? ~Medo who is confused now!!! Thanks Sinfonian!! Geeze!! **big grinn**

Medo, I remember reading about a couple, I think it was in Walla Walla, WA, who put nothing into their garden but leaves. No other additions whatsoever. And they used tons of leaves, chopped up with the lawn mower and dug into the garden every fall. At least a foot deep layer of leaves. They had the most beautiful garden!

I always used chopped leaves and horse manure (mixed with straw) composted, or just leaves spread over the garden in the fall and topped with the horse poo, just enough to hold the leaves down so they didn't blow away, then dug that in in the spring. Then when I didn't have access to horse poo, I used a bit of nitrogen in the form of lawn fertilizer to speed up the decomposition.

Now....we are talking sandy soil here, but I feel the addition of the leaves would be just as good to loosen clay soil. I don't pay all that much attention to those "pros" over in compost. I find whatever I dump in my soil (organic I'm meaning, not chemicals) it seems to improve the structure and my veggies grow just fine. I'm not trying to grow the biggest tomatoes or onions in the world, I'm not out to break any records for yield, I'm just feeding myself and Mr. H (and sometimes the neighbors and my kids). I want my gardening experience to be productive but enjoyable. If I have to spend too much time with the "how to" and "what fors" of doing what others think is the right way, no thanks. Do what feels best for you and your way of gardening. If it doesn't work, try something else next year. Be open to suggestions from others, but don't take their words so seriously that it spoils the fun of gardening.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

I second Granny's statement! That's why I mowed up my leaves this morning and tossed them on top of my pile... with a couple of bags of cofee grounds mixed in to get some action going.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if my compost doesn't rock next year!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

LOL, I'm with you Sinf, if my compost doesn't rock, I'll probably cry alot. I'm not far from Detroit Lake in OR Sinf.
Uuummm...today I went out to turn the ENORMOUS pile of leaves and I got a little ways in and it was steaming!! Yea, I guess it's working. So, the next question is, are you SURE I should be turning it? If it's cooking, doesn't it seem like I'll release all the heat and interrupt the composting process? If it seems like I'm only asking that because I'm too lazy to keep turnign the awful pile, lol, could be...

i do understand that question!! and inquiring minds want to know! **giggle**
i found another reason why i like sfg!! when i went to "dig" (notice that KEY word) up a plant for a trade, it was in the ground i hadn't done for sfg. then i went and got some in the sfg. and guess what?? i just pulled it right on out. now how about that??!! i just love that!! MAN!! no more digging in that horrible acidic or bad clay soil. some of it i'm sure is poison. i need to get it tested to find out. cuz my hands burn and itch after digging and such afterwords, the bad part is, i'm a bare handed gardener!! i "have" to feel what i'm doing.
so i absolutely love that part of this!! WOOO HOOO!!
so this is what i have,
Winter Sowing- gives ya something to do over the winter AND the roots are absolutely HUGE compared to the store bought and green house roots!!

SFG- "soil" is absolutely awesome! no digging required, no pulling of weeds constantly, ya don't have to water "NEAR" as much as you do a regular garden.
your yard/garden looks so much better and kept!!

That being said, i have something to do all year long!! ohhh and the seed trading!! WOO HOO!! so that my friends is the thought and only one i've had for the day!! Hee Hee
~Medo

greenbean - I took this photo for you today. It's of the pallet bin front.

EG

Here is a link that might be useful:

Carolyn, my composting technique is to let it cook if it's still cooking. But once it falls out of the 130 range, I flip it (normally takes a week).

Of course I'm cold composting right now as I'm too busy when the weather's nice to flip it, and I'm not going to do it in the pouring rain.

EG,
While that's a lovely photo of your bin, and I do appreciate the gesture, are you sure you took that for me?

Oh crap...you must have not been the one that was gonna make a pallet bin, and was asking how I did my front pieces. Sorry...Now I don't remember who it was! Yea me!

EG

crazy man!! i think it was the one that lives in the city and goes to school and is young, something like that. i cant remember her name though. EG, LOL now that's funny!!
the compost has been moved up to the side, and "flipped" or rolled more. i can't wait till more of these are full!! LOL and just get so much of this rich black gold!! LOL that will be nice. i need to make enough for 4 more huge beds. not to mention the one for the asparagus bed. man, if that danged lawnmower worked, it'd be perfect!! **grinn** then it'd mulch it too!! and i could just dump it and be done with it!! LOL i told hubs i think i'm gonna buy a brand new riding lawn mower with a bagger, of course his neg response was "why, so he can just tear it up like he has the other 2" so yes i wanted to just smack him or say something mean, but i said, well i think he will grow up by then and he'll treat this one nicer. heck this will be one whole indian check, i don't even spend that much on a vehicle. i can't remember any time i have spent any amount on me, its always on either the kids or the hubs. my goal is to one day spend money on me, you do know of course that i am dreaming!! **big grinn** that would be so uncharacteristic of me!! LOL whoops!! that is such a big word!! LOl **smiling** LOL
i've been saving up all the shredded paper i can, now here's my "thing" what shall i do, either compost it, in the barrels, OR shall i put it in the boxes and then put the leaves then the horse manuer? then wet it down. then put some worms in there and let it decompose? after throwing some plastic on the top and having something hold it down,. now what would you do? ~Medo

Medo - add the shredded paper sparingly....otherwise, it will clump like you wouldn't believe! (especially if putting it in the barrel)

EG

ya, we found that out, so what we do is turn it more and add food to it and the boy pee's in it. Hee Hee!! it does good. (NOW!!) LOL
i'm going to figure how to add a something to it to make it kinda like a few blades in there like that one lady did on her's. of course once we have it up in the air like i want it. tabor thinks i'm nuts.. but i think it will be much easier to turn once we put some huge knobs on it just for funny looking things. i'm also gonna make that a latch door like hers. LOL mine is cut like a door, then where the back is, its not cut, so that part is a pain, so we are going to cut it then put the flappy things back there and the latch up front. seems she has some really great ideas,,,,,hmmmm wonder why that is?? **big grinn**
ok EG, now if putting it in the sfg beds, what part of the layering would i put it? i'm going to have 1) leaves 2) shredded paper 3) manuer then the worms. **big grinn** and of course plastic over the top. i wish i had something so i could dump these things in together and it'd mix them, and then lay them in the beds. LOL and then it'd decompose. LOL hubs told me to get my own shredder, so what else could i shred? that would go great in there? ~Medo

Medo - Somehow, I just knew you'd mention the pee thing again....Oh brother...You've even got me doing it on my pile now, dangit! Hee Hee....I just wish I was 8 years old again though....there was alot more distance on it back then! Ha! Ok, if I were layering it, I think i'd put manure, leaves, manure, paper, manure, and finally worms. That's just me, though....You could shred that GH since you're not ever going to finish it....Ok, sorry....that just came out, kinda like the "nice hand, Mr. H!" thing with granny. Heh.

EG

LOL ya, i know!! i told hubs today, since wer'e not on the same page anymore, i said, ya know, ya got them guns in the pawn, and your gonna want them out right? in dec. right? he said ya, or sometime, it would be nice. i said, i'll make you a deal. i'll get them out in dec. IF you get my green house up befor that money comes in. because i know he never keeps promises. he said hmmm.... sounds good or something like that. he and i know that i am the only one that can afford to get it out!! hee hee
EG the problem is that you aint drinking enough!! and your not tinking young enough!! LOL then, and only then can ya get that great shot!! hee Hee!! i wonder how many of them secret people out here that come in and peek actually use the urine in their compost?? **curious look**
tabor found a beagle dog, so now he wants to keep it, and name it shoeshine. OMGoodness!! LOL
my mom and them just bought a yorkie it has life insurance, a chip and a bunch of other crap, Hello, its a dog??!!! but it cost them a fortune, and if for some reason it don't make it a year, they will replace it for free or give them their money back, i bet they won't even find these people. but that's just me. i'm just one of those people who like the kinda animals that ya can wrestle with and it won't die,, ya know! LOL but my mom say's this thing is so smart!! we meet him tomarow. ummmmm.... (you'll get a kick outta this) my new brother!! LOL **ROFL** **huge LAUGH**
awww heck, they're truckers, so ya can't blame them for having some fun i guess!! LOL but my brother?? **quizical look** LOL ~Medo

Medo - it's the age thing that's the problem, lord knows I drink sweet tea and coffee like crazy! Your brother? I've got a brother that i'll trade for that dog. Heh.
Ok....now for compost stuff! Ahem....I put alot of greens in one of the bins today, and will turn the piles this weekend. Yay!

EG

no thanks!! i think he will be more problems than he's worth! even if he's potty trained!! LOL **big grinn** even if he's cute to look at!! hee Hee!! LOL my chest has been hurting today/night. twinging off and on. i think its that dang doc worrying me!! LOL greens ah?? hmmmm, i added or should i say tabor added some more food to our compost, heck, i should say its his now!! LOL **grinn**
ok, i came up with my final name, and ya knwo what?? it fits!! **ROFL**
soosooo i think you are the one who will make it to 150 in this forum!! WOO HOO!! LOL by george i don't think anyone else has, have they??
my son is watching poker tonight, or should i say this morning, man, his dad would be pi**ed if he knew we were up this morning!! this late/early!!! LOL Later!! ~Medo

how does everyone get their web page to show up on the bottom of the post? i put it in the personal url and it still don't show up. but here it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: Barehanded Totally Nutso Gardener!! **Big Grin** :'}

Medo - I tried to sign your guestbook, but a person must have an account to do so. You can probably go into your administration settings and change it, so anyone can sign it. This would be good for people wanting to leave comments also...Comments make a blogger quite happy.. :)

EG

ok let me see :')

try it now

ok, that problem is fixed too!! LOL now you should be able to sign into the guestbook as well, heck i seen it up there, but i've never thought much about it!! LOL **big smile** so what did you think?? i mean really?? is it ok? or bla ok?
i really hope ya'll have a great Thanksgiving!!!
just think of all the compost you'll be adding to it!! all that food that people make that is their "best" recipes "blah"!!! and you wince thru it all and think ohhh man, can i really take another bite of this?? where's that danged dog when you need him?? LOL **big grinn** we almost had one of them, then a man picked him up and took him to the pen, i tell ya, MEN!!! LOL **wink, wink** hubs passed at the range with flying colors, he was off only by 2 points!! now i have to go out and practice!! geeze!! and that was with the 45. ummmm that would be the one i like, but i'm pretty good at the 40. so hopefully i'll beat him at the 45. LOL then i'll fake it in the end so he can be happy,, if i don't do that good, that's all good too!! LOL
he'll still be happy and he can teach me better! Ha!! LOL
`~Medo

Medo - Ya know, I was sitting here thinking about Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and wondered if there would be anything of value to add to the compost pile from it.....That's pretty messed up! Ha! Tomorrow, when my youngest/older sister asks me if I want some green beans, i'm gonna say "No, what I want is some "greens" for my compost bin...Now!" Hee Hee. J/K

Ok, i'll go back to your blog and sign your guestbook like....fifty eleven times...lol. I think you're doing great with it. :)

EG

thanks!! WHEW!! i was really worried about it, ya know!! LOL
i'll add pics from the garden's and stuff later. when i get MY pc back, tabors' kinda SUCKS for that, i don't know my way around it. LOL ~Medo

Well, one more post, and this thread will be maxed out. Who wants the honors?

Anyway, I turned over all of my piles today, and things are looking pretty good. I even transferred some from the barrel to the bins, because the barrel was too full - and wouldn't mix up very well as I rolled it around on the ground. I'm seriously thinking about using the pallet bins for composting next year, and only keep the finished compost in the barrel. It's just too difficult to keep the stuff in the barrel consistent......

EG

i will if no one has before me :')
well, tabor has put an add in the weekly wipe (that would be what we call the weekly little bitty store adds) for 2 female rabbits and a male rabbit. so he can mate them if he wants but mostly so i can have the manuer and they can have the "pets". now you tell me how smart of thinking that was?? LOL
mom wants manuer so i'll tell her that to get her to say yes for the rabbits!!! LOL i can just see him thinking that in his head. BUT........what i don't see him thinking in his head is that those babies they make are nice food!! Hee Heee **big grinn**
so how was your thanksgiving?? i hope well!! ours went great!! we brought home the turkey!! we are going to be having some turkey noodle soup, the noodles will be those ramean noodles the frozen kind, and that will be put over mashed potatoes!!! LOL
YUMMY!!!!
then mom let me bring home some of the ham they made,, can you guess what i'll be making with that?? yep!! ham and beans!! i think a pot of beans everyday for a while will be great, with corn bread and maybe some fried potatoe's. YUMMY!! or i'll leave the potatoe's for another night!! LOL
but i really want to have beans for a while, we'll be going thru a really cold spell!! LOL
i did notice that the stuff don't mix very well in the barrel, i'm thinking of a way to change that, don't exactly know just yet!! LOL i don't have the sodering iron or anything, YET!!! LOL **grinn** ~Medo