I like my two Earth Machine composters in that they’re contained and so inaccessible to animals, which makes me unafraid to throw in meat, cheese, bones, etc. They’re also, of course, portable, and not too bad to look at. But for those reasons they’re also a pain to turn, and just the two of them …
Author Archives: kaat
Goings On In The Garden
DH and I have been hard at work on our compost bin, based in part on the one from Drumlin Farm, which you see below: More on that soon, once it’s finished (tomorrow?). In the garden I sowed fava (broad) beans, more peas, lettuce, beets, radishes and a quick growing onion. I transplanted out the …
Gardening Buddy and Gifted Plants
Via Amie’s school I met a nice woman who lives a ten minute walk from here, and who loves to garden. We met for the first time today and discovered how different we are. She has a green thumb, comes from a family of gardeners and does almost everything by experience and common sense. I …
The Tomato Seedlings, They…
Survived! The thermometer has been reading a minimum of 49-50 F. Not bad for 35F nights. They’ll be hardened off, though, don’t you think? I scored two loads of cardboard for more sheet mulching, one load from a friend who was happy to free up some real estate in her basement, and one, the larger …
Yes, Of the Same, Again
The garden, that is. DH and I worked on the backyard the entire day: grading it with sifted soil, evening it out, then adding 1 to 2 inches of our composted cow manure. We still have about 1/3 to do, and I’ll try to finish that by my lonesome tomorrow, because DH needs to go …
More Garden Works
This weekend we tackled the backyard. We’re installing a small lawn around the new patio and path. There will also be a border for culinary herbs with a herb spiral at the center, lined up with the stone circle, where the wild lilies are now coming up. The permacultural ideal is to close all the …
Wild Turkeys and Seedlings
This morning started with shooing a couple of wild turkeys away from the veg garden and the hoophouse (which stood wide-open). Luckily it was just the two of them, not a whole flock. I brought the seedlings up from the basement and watered and fed them seaweed emulsion to get those root systems nice and …
Sheet Mulching the Herb Bed
The large 4 x 24 foot bed up front will be for the medicinal perennial herbs. (The culinary and the annual ones will go in the herb bed in the back, near the kitchen door.) This bed was started last Spring. First we did some deep tilling (with rototiller), then we installed the boards and …
Garden Work
Lots of work in the garden today, in 90F sun! I’ll report on it tomorrow. But I wasn’t the only one in the garden today: Morning Glory, Pink Rose Mallow, Sweet Pea and Zinnias for around her play house.
New Pots
Yesterday at the beginning of a new pottery session I got back the ten pieces I made during the last session. The glazing turned out totally different from what I thought it would be. Fortunately this ruined only one pot, as the glazing of its lid turns out not to match it. My first handbuilt …