Really.......is that so.......Hmm..you sure it's not from sniffing the fumes from that fresh manure that you're so proud of? Sounds to me like it may be self inflicted, Compost Man....For the record, i'm sick again, dangit!

EG

I'm sniffling, but it's from sawdust up the nose. I am very allergic to pine, so sawing pine lumber can make me feel quite sick. Daughter called and the new baby already has a cold.

Granny

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

Maybe its GrannyÂs fault, down there clicking her heals in the AZ sunshine.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Oh granny, that is SO awful! I just hated it when the babies got sick. You have to use that suction thing (hubby calls it the "snot sucker"), eeeew! Tell her she's in our prayers.
EG: probably is your fault, just fyi. Would that be a computer virus?
Guess what? A church owns the house across the street and they're trying to sell it. The maintenance guy came out today to clear away the leaves (he usually mows them and tosses them in the bin, but the renters aren't there any more, so no bin). Well, I asked him if I could have the leaves when he mowed them and he said he was happy to give em to me. They were so deep that he couldn't mow them. I called hubby to tell him, he got on the phone with my two little guys and the two boys and I went over and helped him clear all those leaves. Well, the guy was so grateful, that he brought all those leaves to my place AND then he cleared the leaves in front of my place, too! Now, my leaf pile is about 12x5x5! Woohoo!
Sorry to be so chatty today.

Carolyn - you have that much shredded? Hmm....sounds like "leaf wars" is about to begin in this forum....I think I've got some work to do this weekend....hee hee. I'll take pictures...

It's so sad when little ones get sick...you just wish you could make it all better for them.

EG

*both hands up in the air* No, they aren't shredded, lol. He couldn't get his machine through them and I wasn't gutsy enough to ask him to try to mulch them in my backyard. He did tell me to add a bit of lime and horse manure, rofl.

John, it is NOT my fault. Who can catch a cold when it's 87F outside? It's so hot I'm thinking I should move my little container garden to the shade for the week. I'm sure sorry I have to suffer through this awful sunny weather. I'm sure you're all crying for me.

Carolyn, thanks for the prayers. It must be hard to be three weeks old and have a stuffy nose so you can't breath while trying to suck on the bottle. I told her she should have nursed....bet the baby wouldn't have that cold if she had. We always called those things snot suckers, too.

I made my own fence post caps today out of scrap lumber. Saved over $30 by not buying the packaged ones they had at Ace Hardware. Not as pretty, but they'll do just fine. Wish I had John and a router, but made do with just me and a chop saw! I also got the front walkway laid, and put a curb thingy along one side to prevent shifting, then ran out of concrete so will have to make another trip into town to get some for the other side of the walk. Worked my behind off so made Mr. H take me out to dinner. At least we have a good restaurant in this town!

Granny

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

Carolyn - Boo! Boo! You know those leaves have to be shredded first. Heh. Ok, I was just kidding...they'll do ok like they are. They don't have to be rushed..

Granny - did you say concrete? Who's water meter are ya filling up? Got a neighbor you don't like? I'm pouring some concrete this weekend, for a very special project....the final outdoor project for 2008, to be exact.
Oh you poor thing, with more sunshine than you want..Oh well, at least the weather is nice for driving 200 miles each day to get parts for your projects. :) Heh.

EG

EG Speaking of concrete, how long should I let it cure before I remove the forms? I do know to keep it sprayed with water occasionally and that it helps to toss some plastic over it, but not sure how long to let it set.

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

Oh, EG...no water meters here, we all have wells. Remember, I'm in the nowhere of Arizona.

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

Granny - i'd let that concrete sit for 48 hours before removing the forms.

Oh yeah....that's right, you're 100 miles from everywhere. :)

EG

OHHH MY GOODNESS!! Carol!! your so lucky!! shoulda sent him here!! LOL i have a huge yard he could get all the leaves!! LOL and put them in a pile!!LOL
OHH Granny send some of that warm weather here!! that would be so nice!! we need some!! its gonna be 44 tomarrow, ummm that is way to cold for me, my oil freezes at that!! LOL
Yep, we been staying nice and clean of all them colds, well except for talla, every few days she gets all pale then kinda diahreaish, she'll stay that way for a day, then back to normal, then in a few days same thing. hope ya'll get better!! and be careful this year!! use that antibacterial stuff, i have a little spray that i keep with me, and some i keep in my purse that is in the gel form, because you get so many germs from doors in places and the knobs from washing your hands and the carts. and the light switches. so i use the spray and the cloths for the handles and all the others. i don't want the flu germs here. ~Medo
~Medo

Thanks, EG. It will be at least that long before I get to town for more concrete mix anyway, and I want to reuse the form for the other side of the walkway. I just want to make sure the concrete is strong enough to withstand my pounding the pavers up tight against it a bit before I pour the other side.

By the way, if you only have a few forms to use for a project, an easy way to oil them up is to spray them with non-stick cooking spray, Like PAM. Neat, clean and effective. Granny's little tip for the day *grin*.

Granny

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

Cough....cough...Yeah, Granny - that's a good tip.

Anyone want some leaves? I'm so sick of raking them....and it's kinda difficult to do, with a very large german shepherd puppy "helping".

EG

Actually EG, err...the next closing problem here is that I can't turn the whole pile. I physically can't get to the bottom (I'm a weenie...). Since I can't really use the stuff until April, will that be enough time to work without turning? Whatdya think?

Carolyn - no worries, all you need to do is apply something that will make the leaves decompose. Just because you can't turn the entire pile over, that doesn't mean you can't get the pile ready before April. There's a product that you can buy, that is specifically for decomposing dead leaves. I'm trying to remember where I saw it...if I run across it again, i'll let ya know. Coffee grounds should help things significantly, but you need alot.

EG

yes, there is that stuff that EG can't think of, and there's the all natural, ummm.....yes, you know i was gonna say it. URINE, it helps it tremendously they say!! LOL
the kids have been and mine has been doing pretty good.
~Medo

I just knew that the urine lady would show up.....heh. I hope you're right, because I started doing mine earlier in the week. What I need to do, is get a bunch of my beer drinking friends over here, and just let them unleash on the piles. There's an idea...

EG

"What I need to do, is get a bunch of my beer drinking friends over here, and just let them unleash on the piles"

Will there be pictures?

Carolyn, can you just turn them over, a pitchfork full at a time, into another heap? Just flop them over and build a second pile. Then in a week or so flop them back to the original spot. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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

UMM...no. God, i'm so tired of raking/mowing leaves. They're everywhere....make 'em stop, Granny..

EG

My up-north neighbor just called and said our new fence has been installed (the shared fence that was also crushed when the maple tree fell), and they had a gate installed this time so we could visit easier. She also said they had bagged up six big bags of sycamore leaves and tossed them over the fence for me! She was also going to just dump some over the fence to protect the shallots, garlic and the new rosemary that I had planted just before heading south.

WOO-HOO!!! Granny has leaves!!!

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

Hey Granny - are the leaves shredded? heh. I added about 10 large wheelbarrows full of shredded leaves to my bins today. They'll be full in a couple of weeks. Here's the bounty so far.....

EG

Here is a link that might be useful:

EG - I am putting together bins just like yours, but I can't figure out how to "cover" the front and be able to move them so I can turn them throughout the winter...How did you do yours?

Errr...granny, I didn't even think of that, lol. Long day out here, lol.

I remove a couple of screws from the top board across the front, and then let the wire mesh(with board attached) roll down. It exposes the entire top half of the pile this way, and lets me access the pile for turning. I can also remove the two screws in the bottom board, and remove the entire thing if needed. I wanted to make this setup pretty low-tech. LOL. I can take pictures if you want....

EG

Lo Tech is VERY good for me and pics would be nice. I'm not seeing the screws or the boards that you mean...I know I'm probably making this a whole lot harder than I should, but I just want to contain the leaves and compost while I'm working with it...and I have a few neighborhood cats that roam...They seem to get in EVERYTHING.

imgodsgrl, when I had a bin like that, I made a front that was slatted, just like the sides and back. Instead of nailing it on, I hinged one side of the front to one side of the bin, then added a slide bolt latch to the other side so I could just swing it open for access.

An easier method might be to pound in a T-post on each side of the opening, just far enough away from the front edges that you could drop single boards in as needed. The single boards would stack one atop the other as high as you needed them and the posts would hold them all against the bin. Then you'd just slide the boards up and out to remove.

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

Dang, and I got suckered into reading this thread, well starting to. Now I'm going to get it. Grrrr. I blame you John!

Granny, those sound easy too...I am trying to do this for free, so I can look for some wood that I might be able to use on the front with the posts...I also really like the "door" idea, I wonder if I'm crafty enough...

I also noticed EG,that yours looks like it has a pallet under the bin too...I'm debating on that...if I put it right on the ground, I might get worms in there that I wouldn't be able to get with the pallet, but the ones that I've seen have pallets on the bottom. Can I ask why you put them on the bottom. Just curious...When I grow up I want to garden as well as you, sinfonian, granny, john, medo, and everyone else here...and I really value all of your opinions even on seemingly simple things.

I used pallets for my compost pile that had the hinged front...found them free. They used to make really good ones out of 1x4 lumber, but the ones I've seen lately are not very good. You can use a ring of fencing instead...chicken wire is pretty good, but add something to reinforce the sides a bit (like wooden stakes). Then you can just lift it off, set it aside and turn the pile back into it.
Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: a

imgodsgrl - no pallet under the bin, just dirt. I think you are talking about the boards along the bottom/front of my bins. Those are individual boards, and is what the bottom part of the wire mesh is fastened to. This is my first year with a sfg, and i'm doing ok, I reckon. My current garden pictures will be posted in the morning, on my blog. Please drop by sometime! There's alot of good information in this group, and everyone's helped me get where I am today....

EG

Here is a link that might be useful: EG's Garden Blog

granny, that has left such a image in my brain, (will there be pics) i'm still trying not to let in!! LOL
**onery grinn**
i am just gonna let my rugrats jump on a huge pile over and over, i figure, if i remember right. that it will break it down some!! LOL
i do want to go to lowes and get that leaf shredder, hubs thinks its a bad waste of money, i said i don't have tons of money to spend like mom and them, for the chipper even though it will do the leaves. :') i want to get one so bad with all the limbs that fall out here!! ~Medo

Not aloud, out to play today. So I will just sit here and watch ok? John
{{gwi:1288747}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

That is sure the cutest pup, John!

Sinfonian, yah, I got suckered into reading this thread as well.

EG, where are the plans for that homemade shredder you were gonna make up for me?

As for worms, is there really an issue with worms in your soil/compost. I thought worms were a good thing....???

Also, is the signature line a good idea or do you think the graphic is causing people on dial up issues?

Blessings,
Angela

It's a good thing that i'm a few rungs up on the corporate ladder where I work, because if I wasn't, I would have been in trouble for sure today.

I have a large office in a building full of offices for engineers, plant manager, manufacturing director, etc. and I also have these rockin! speakers connected to my computer.
Well, I went to Medo's blog this morning, and browsed around a little bit, and clicked on the link that said "fun stuff". I thought, "cool, there's a little pacman link..." So, I clicked on it. Well, ready or not - I was playing Pacman after that little click..hee hee. And it was LOUD! "Wonka Wonka Wonka blip!" Holy Moly...lol. I was freaking out, and the german engineer that sits across the hall just gave me a puzzled look....hee hee, Dangit! Oh well.....i'll know to turn my volume down next time. Medo got me that time. lol

EG

Angela - I totally missed your comment about the shredder...I'm sorry! I don't know if I could build a shredder as cheap as you can buy...i'll have to look at one in the store, and see what all it's made from.

Medo - It's still your fault.hee hee

EG

EG in an office in an office building... What a waste! Sorry, I'm glad you've got a cushy job. /sigh I lost my office for less responsibility... sort of a fair trade I guess.

ya, tabor goes to my website all the time to play pacman and sonic. i told him those are the only kinda video games i can play!my eye's get all weirded out on the newer kinds. LOL
and he also loves the music i put in there. LOL
hey, EG i got those baggies at walmart in the hobby/sewing section, they are 100 envi's for 97 cents. i love those thingi's. my mom went to micheals or hobby lobby and found some smaller ones for 99 cents. i was very shocked. another person found some smaller ones at joannes fabric, at some of their stores they do carry the small one's. just not mine. LOL ~Medo

ok, medo...thanks!

EG

Medo - I just wanted to let you know that I found the little bags at my local Walmart today....Thanks for the info!

EG

your welcome!! and you know what?? don't worry!! your wife wouldn't think you were too weird if in the end it ended up saving money and she liked what she smelled, which that can always be played with!! LOL (the homemade laundry soap) you shoulda seen my hubs face when i first said i was gona start making my own, it was a great big fat NO!!!! so me being the way i am. i said, ok, (at the time, i was not a fighter) and then i got the stuff and just made it. then he was really happy, especially when he didn't have to go to the store next week and buy laundry soap!! LOL
now my tabor gets into making his own creations of cleaning things, and it smells great for smelling like a man,, **grinn** but he makes stuff and i don't try to stop him, i tell him, no mixing ammonia and bleach, and tabor, when you mix b.soda, please, just mix it a little at a time and slowly with the vinegar, and he looks at me innocently as if he doesn;'t know what i'm talking about, and say's but why mom???? so i just roll my eye's and say, ya know, smack him on the back of the head lovingly!! so of course he just laughs at me. crazy kid!! ~Medo

Hey Medo....everytime I visit your blog, my computer totally freaks out! No, really! It locks up on me....I think it's because of the falling leaves animation thing....The reason why I say that, is because once they have finished loading up, it straightens itself out.....Can you temporarily de-activate that part, and let me see if it works better?

EG

EG, it works fine for me. It may be the bandwidth or traffic on your IP.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Hmm...so, I guess my computer is kinda missing some type of update or something.....i'll have to check into that.

Thanks, John

EG

if it don't work let me know. i'll take that out, ya know, i never have seen the falling leave's!! LOL
i'll have to go see it!! ~Medo

EG, you will find out if you need an upgrade when you start editing videos. ;o)

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal