What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

Where do you all place your compost bins/piles?

I barely started composting last year and did it in 5 gal buckets (only did 2) and that worked out, but this year I want to make a larger pile but can’t decide where to place it permanently. Going to try to do the three slot compost pile with pallets.

I have a lot of land, but I also can’t place it too far away or I will definitely neglect it.

I have a 3-bin setup. It's located at the back of our garden. During the growing season Spring-Fall it's easy to manage the pile since we are in the garden often anyway. We just bring a container of scraps from the kitchen with us when we go to the garden. I have the job of turning the piles which is the hardest part of composting and a 3 bin system can be an hour of pitchforking to turn everything. If possible, build a 4-bin system. It's easier to fully turn every pile by keeping the 4th bin empty and then moving the other 3 bins over one at a time: 3rd to 4th, 2nd to 3rd, 1st to 2nd and leave the 1st empty; then reverse the process the next time you turn the piles. I personally do not have the space for 4 bins so I have to pull a pile out of a bin and then move it back into the bin - one pitchfork at a time, one bin at a time... And I turn the bins once a week when the weather is warmer. Long story short, the 4-bin setup would cut the time in half.

 

[hysop]

I have a 3-bin setup. It's located at the back of our garden. During the growing season Spring-Fall it's easy to manage the pile since we are in the garden often anyway. We just bring a container of scraps from the kitchen with us when we go to the garden. I have the job of turning the piles which is the hardest part of composting and a 3 bin system can be an hour of pitchforking to turn everything. If possible, build a 4-bin system. It's easier to fully turn every pile by keeping the 4th bin empty and then moving the other 3 bins over one at a time: 3rd to 4th, 2nd to 3rd, 1st to 2nd and leave the 1st empty; then reverse the process the next time you turn the piles. I personally do not have the space for 4 bins so I have to pull a pile out of a bin and then move it back into the bin - one pitchfork at a time, one bin at a time... And I turn the bins once a week when the weather is warmer. Long story short, the 4-bin setup would cut the time in half.

Will be trying out the four bin set up then. Thanks! That will be one of our projects these next two weeks. I already have two full 5 gal buckets and I really need to toss them into a large pile so it’s easier to turn instead of keeping them in the buckets.

 

[WthrLady]

The irony... Not a maid, but doing his laundry and cooking his dinner.

NOPE. Not his laundry on a regular basis. When he was still on campus this past week - waiting to move out, he sent home his linens and stored clothing. He was just going to put it away. I smelled campus on it all, and he wasn't home yet to do it. So I washed it. He's been doing his own laundry since he was 15....ALL of it. He's also in charge of scrubbing his bathroom and dusting and cleaning his room at all times.

As for his cooking. I do all the cooking anyway, he's just invited to join us. If he's not here or sleeps through a meal, he misses mom's cooking and is totally on his own, to include putting it together and cleaning up everything.

 

[WthrLady]

Would like to add, he's a good cook, still learning but good. He's making us ham and bean soup for dinner tomorrow night and has the beans soaking now.

He makes the most amazing brownies...drool.

He's a good egg. He needed the dryer and just folded all my stuff in there. Awwwww. He's also currently printing me a new dough scraper....darned if I know where mine walked off to. Anyone know? Tomorrow is bread day!

 

[WthrLady]

I have a 3-bin setup. It's located at the back of our garden. During the growing season Spring-Fall it's easy to manage the pile since we are in the garden often anyway. We just bring a container of scraps from the kitchen with us when we go to the garden. I have the job of turning the piles which is the hardest part of composting and a 3 bin system can be an hour of pitchforking to turn everything. If possible, build a 4-bin system. It's easier to fully turn every pile by keeping the 4th bin empty and then moving the other 3 bins over one at a time: 3rd to 4th, 2nd to 3rd, 1st to 2nd and leave the 1st empty; then reverse the process the next time you turn the piles. I personally do not have the space for 4 bins so I have to pull a pile out of a bin and then move it back into the bin - one pitchfork at a time, one bin at a time... And I turn the bins once a week when the weather is warmer. Long story short, the 4-bin setup would cut the time in half.

Glad I made mine larger than my loader bucket and that I have a loader. Four giant scoops and I'm done turning or moving piles. My bins don't get hot enough to put garden waste in it. I don't want to transfer fungi and disease from one year to the next if it is present. My compost it all alpaca manure, a little bit of clippings, some sticks and hay. Food scraps go to the hens. Egg shells go in the freezer to make tomato food. Coffee and tea grounds go into a bin for the garden too, as well as banana peels.

 

[BReeder!]

He's also currently printing me a new dough scraper

3-D printer or typo? 3-D printer would be really cool...

 

[WthrLady]

3-D printer or typo? 3-D printer would be really cool...

He has a professional 3D printer. He makes all kinds of stuff for me and for work and for personal use. He keeps it here and runs it remotely from the city when he lives there. I'll go upstairs from my studio at night and the bed on it is empty. I'll go down in the morning and they'll be a thing-a-ma-bob like a giant baby Yoda staring at me from the printer bed. It's like magic! LOL

 

[WthrLady]

He makes new parts that don't exist, but probably should, or replacement parts for things that break, and goofy stuff for mom. LOL.

He made his cousin a 3D high definition eagle head with a hole straight through the top and down through the neck as a neckerchief slide for his Eagle Scout ceremony. It was a huge hit.

 

[pennyJo1960]

How very cool would that be @WthrLady 3D printer
looked at a few on Amazon not cheap

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Yanked some pricker bushes out of the garden today. I'll do some more tomorrow, I think... the next thing on my list is the rosebush. Several years ago, we had a big bush of wild roses in the garden, growing near a window. The thing got pretty darn big, and we decided to move it -- or burn it, it's been years, so I can't remember very well. Anyway, it was disposed of... and it has now returned to take its vengeance. The thing just won't die, and it's spreading. It's covered in thorns, far more than even the immortal pricker bushes, and it pops up all over the place! To fully eradicate it, I think that I'll need to dig around and remove all the roots... fun.
Anyway, the battle continues tomorrow.
It will be long, tiring, and likely painful, but I will do my utmost best to not cuss at any time... no matter how deep the thorns prick.