Harvest Day!

I entertained my daughters by going out to the garden to pick stuff. We got a few nice carrots, sugar snaps and a whole mess’a collard greens!  It’s so nice to garden in winter – almost no pests.

Johanna Update – 6 weeks in

I haven’t updated the progress on the hot composting lately – so here goes.

We’ve had the Johanna for just over 6 weeks.  Everything from egg crate to raw chicken fat goes in there.  The vast majority is coffee grounds, fruit/vegetable scraps and uneaten milk/cereal.  I’ve made many mistakes (even though I read the directions three times and have composted before) .  Too much water, not enough “brown” matter etc. 

My observations so far…

• the compost is hot – I haven’t purchased a thermometer yet, but it is steamy and warm when you put your hand close;
• I let it get too wet a few weeks ago, and it made things slimy and fungus and mold really kicked in – not good, but it continues to be hot in there;
• The smell is musty, but so far, not bad – except for in the beginning.  I turned it today, and notice a faint sulfurous smell, so I know I have too much anaerobic activity happening.  I aerated and will monitor it to see if the odor improves as it dries out – otherwise, I have to get something drier inside like sawdust;
• We have little flies on the inside but not the outside;
• A rodent tried once to get in, but didn’t really make any progress, and we’ve had no evidence it’s been back since.

All in all, the Johanna appears to be performing as promised, even though I haven’t been the best compost practitioner. 

Can I recommend the Johanna?  Yes, I can – but only if you have  enough browns to keep your kitchen waste covered.  Otherwise, you’ll have to be creative there.

Have weird spots on your squash? Wilting potatoes?

Cornell’s vegetable disease/plant pathology website, cleverly named Vegetable MD Online, can be a good resource before you cart your plant to your nearest nursery.  I know it will save me some hassle this spring.  Last summer, my squash was ravaged and I never figured out the problem.

Besides kitchen waste, here are some other things you can compost:

Seaweed, pond scum - uh, okay.

Water from fish tanks (use wisely – don’t get it too wet)

Dryer lint

Hair – spread it out to avoid clumps

Fireplace ashes (careful that the wood is natural)

I found a great site that lists all kinds of items (on my links)

Green Johanna’s Stir Stick…not so sure

I read up on the stir stick.  Apparently, it is recommended to just stir the top 4-6″.  I am really not sure this makes a lot of sense right now.  The compost is only about 6-8″ deep, so, that is kind of meaningless.  Also, I find myself struggling to get any purchase with the materials and mostly swish around the biggest items and generally not accomplishing much. 

This morning, I got out the pitchfork because I noticed that the compost was already beginning to get compacted.  The pitchfork undid all that in a few minutes, and is a great tool or getting new items mixed and for breaking up clumps and preventing compaction.  It’s more than just a halloween accessory!

I’m not sure if I like the stir stick, and that only stirring the top most layers gets the job done, but then again, when it is more full, that may make more sense.  For now, I think I’ll occasionally aerate and turn with my pitchfork.

What kind of nerd loves compost?

Okay, I’m that kind of nerd.  Compost isn’t inherently cool, in fact, it’s kind of gross, sometimes.  My friend Robin has a funny, funny post about the inherent gross-ness of compost and other “green” lifestyle choices. Read it here.  But I think there is something very gratifying about turning trash into treasure.

Gardening, plants, landscaping - it’s kind of a family thing.  It started with my grandfather, Carl Epling.  He was a botanist and an avid propagator of rare cultivars.  Carl passed to my dad, who passed it to my sisters.  I credit my oldest sister with getting me interested in plants. 

My sister was and still is, the farthest thing from nerdy.  As a teenager, she was incredibly popular and cool, and she’s still cool, but it was legendary back then.  I’m about 8 years younger than she, so I was always enthralled by all this glamour in my own family.  She loved plants, and even took horticulture in high school, so I figured that it was cool to have a green thumb.  I followed in her footsteps and took the same class, from the same teacher 8 years later.  I took botany in college, and always tried to keep at least 1 houseplant alive through the years that I was without a yard.

I find it truly funny that I had to move to a congested, land-deprived city like San Francisco with two small children and a part-time career to finally have the time and space for gardening.  We started with a blackberry/ivy jungle and me needing a creative outlet.  Now there are 3 raised beds, some trenches that are dug into the slope (not sure what the heck I was thinking) and some furtive attempts at landscaping.  Most of all, I have a calming, engaging outlet to relieve the stress from my job, an excuse to be in the back yard with my girls, and sugar snap peas to much on.

Gardening is like an infectious disease.  It starts as a little idea that you can grow your own herbs or something, and before you know it, you have 3 raised beds and then the composter, and on and on.  The best part about it is that you can literally see the fruits of your labor – and eat them too.

Arctic Storm besets San Francisco!

So, in the front yard, we had blue sky. My husband went out the back door, and was rained on.

Wa wa water barrel!

For all its drawbacks (ridiculous living expenses, fog, silly people) living in San Francisco affords us some “green” advantages.  For one, the mayor (handsome but annoying Gavin Newsom) introduced a rainwater collection program So, under this program, I was able to get a 60 gallon rain barrel for $69.95 (rather than the usual $129 or something).  Of course, you can make your own, but given my lack of time and skills, this didn’t ever seem like a real possiblility.

Two things we learned here:  you probably need to get a special connector piece from the hardware store to divert your downspout far enough for it to get in the barrel.   Second, once you are ready to use water from the barrel, you fill a watering can from the bottom (you can attach a hose at the bottom). 

Our rain barrel is nice, and it’s just outside our patio door.  The ugly part is our downspout – which is 2 different colors, but I’m tellin’ ya, we are able to do stuff for ourselves, but we can’t seem to make it pretty!

This weekend, we expect rain, so I am excited to see the amount of water that ends up in the barrel.  I found a great webpage that helps you calculate the amount of water you can get from your roof.  I don’t really know my roof square footage, so I guessed 1000 sf.  They estimate 22,000 gallons!  Of course, I think it’s A LOT less in San Francisco than NC, where this site is based.  But even 1/10th  of that is all we need.