Compost

I’ve been planning to build a compost heap out of wooden pallets for the last year. I found this wonderful guide for doing it, and of course I love to do things cheaply. Here's another version that looks pretty high class.

The problem is that whenever I saw pallets by the side of the road, I had kids/carseats in the car. And on the few occasions I could go out without them, the pallets had already been snapped up. Same thing happened last night when the 8 that had been outside the appliance store at 5:00 were gone by 10:00 when Dan got home. But since I was out anyway, I swung by the Agway and found 3 there, that's good enough to get started.



Look, it already has yard waste in it. And the neighbors' horses keep dropping presents by the side of the road, so I'll add that once I get the wheelbarrow out. It's secured in place with four wire coathangers. Ideally, it would have another pallet on the ground to improve airflow. Also, a fourth wall to finish the enclosure, but that would have a hinge for opening to turn the pile. For now, I've just set it up so that the open area faces away from the prevailing wind. Although I may turn it 90 degrees so that it faces the garden instead. It's near the garden, kitchen door, and water hose, but put in so that it won't shade the garden plot. Hopefully that's the ideal spot.

Next to it is the beginning of the garden layout. I've turned over two 4 sq foot areas and dug out a couple of rocks. I still have two weeks before I plan to plant any seeds, so there's time to rake and work it some more. We're still debating if we want to do raised beds. It would certainly look neater, and be easier to maintain as the years go by, but I don't feel like spending money on wood for it. I'll also have to look at fencing. I honestly have never seen a rabbit or a deer anywhere in our yard, there are easier pickings for them in the neighboring woods and fields. But I'll bet that as soon as the carrot tops pop up, they'll find us.

In other news, we had a massive windstorm waaaaaaay back. A few days after Christmas. Because there was snow on the roof, we just got the insurance adjusters out here a few weeks ago, but the check for a new roof came yesterday. Yahoo!!! One estimate is in the works, a 2nd is hopefully coming soon too.