Top Ten Ways to Tell You are Obsessed with Compost

Loose Leaf Tea (Jasmine) Before Becoming Compost

IMG_2195, a photo by Pike-uliar Gardenings on Flickr.

10) You have 4 compost stations: current, finishing, fine browns, and rough browns. Yup...when I saw Britta's Grandma's composting set up, I thought, "that's a bit much." 4 years later, I am almost there.

9) You make eating decisions based on type of compost produced. Mmmm...that bananna/tea/coffee would taste delicious - and make great compost.

8) You make purchasing decisions based on resulting compost.

7) You require...I mean request that your wife bring home tea bags and apple cores from work.

6) You compost your own hair. Is that gross? I think not.

5) On weekends, when the crazy jogger buys a carton of eggs and eats them all raw right out of the shell and leaves them on the sidewalk, you just smile and think, "mmmm...compost."

4) When spending a weekend with friends at a beach house, you force them to compost.

3) You start switching from bag tea, to loose leaf tea because it tastes good, but really you are thinking, "mmmm...better compost."

2) You start singing songs in your head that start off, "every molecule is precious, every cell a star..." while scraping off the tiniest sliver of garlic skin and dropping it into the compost bin.

1) After being quite sick for a while, you run into a neighbour and he jokes, "wow, you looked pretty rough the other day. I thought we would just have to cover you with mulch and add you to the garden" and you say, "mmmmmm....good compost."

Official Compost Pail

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Good Enough to Drink

compost tea, a photo by okfuskee on Flickr.

Got this compost tea from the Soil Machine 2000. Sometimes it just shows up and sometimes I add water (moisture being an important element to composting) and then drain the excess.

Extra Compost

IMG_0134, a photo by okfuskee on Flickr.

The joy of unintended consequences: Pollan writes a a book about food production, Michelle Obama starts an anti-obesity push for school children, my school district starts a "fresh snacks" program to get kids HOOKED on healthy new foods - my class gets fruit or veggies every Friday...so far so good. But the stuff is sent to the school on Monday (or Tuesday) and doled out to a couple grades each day. My day is Friday - the end of the week. Turns out that if you want kids HOOKED on healthy foods, you probably should not send slightly damaged veggies, or maybe they shouldn't be sliced on Sunday and served on Friday. This week's peppers were slimy...not high on a ten year olds list of "ways to make veggies fun." Anyway - I got a nice pile of compost this time. Yum!

Solving the Great Coffee Ground Drought of 2011

Coffee Grounds
Originally uploaded by okfuskee

Everything I have heard or read suggests coffee grounds are a great thing for compost. Worms love it. It adds nitrate. Heats up the compost. Etc. I used to get coffee grounds from Common Grounds/Murky Coffee but they are gone now and the new place, North Side Social, doesn't seem to do it anymore. I asked another local place if they thought about putting grounds out for gardeners, they said no. I should pursue that a little more I suppose, but then I thought....what about work? I know a couple people who make a bit o coffee, so I asked them if they'd share and tadaa...my little blue pitcher now requires emptying twice a week. Not sure exactly how much I am getting - a pound or two a week it seems like. The compost is quite happily munching on grounds and paper filters now.

Compost...It's What's for Dinner

Deeeeee-licious!
Originally uploaded by okfuskee

Well technically, it's what wasn't quite dinner.

Here's the compost in the Soil Machine 2000 - I made up that 2000 thing to make it sound better. I have been adding ground up leaves and/or dirt with each load of kitchen scraps. It seems to be proceeding well, despite the fact that it is winter. I noticed some worms hopped a ride into the bin on the last shovelful. They will either freeze and add to the mix...or they will help the process. Win/Win...for me...not necessarily for the worms. For them it's a Win/Die.

Solving the Rat & Possum Problem

Got this here composter from Hayneedle. Recycled plastic, made in USA or Canada. Has handles for turning. Turning is not too hard...though I wonder about when it gets fuller. It holds 52 gallons I think - 7 cubic feet of compost. Assembled very easily.

One thing I like about it is the compost tea collection system. The stand or barrel holder (which has wheels to facilitate turning) also collects compost tea. There is a spigot on one end and theoretically, come summer time, I just turn that for a big hearty glass of compost tea. Yum! The thing makes claims to turn compost to soil in 2 weeks. I will believe that when I see it. I have been adding county leaf mulch and regular dirt as instructed - the included manual says 2/3 ought to be "browns." Mike McGrath (who seems to hate compost) says the ratio should be even higher.

It is low to the ground and so has a low profile and also seems very sturdy. I have seen some on higher rigged systems that seem too complicated.

Price was reasonable (120something including my coupon). Shipping was free I think. And if you bide your time, they go on sale or these coupon codes seem to pop up here and there...as if the interweb knows what you been searching. I will see how this works out and get another later if it goes well.

So far no rodents have interfered with it, though at the start, when it turned easily, I think a few squirrels took joy rides on it.

Hawk Eating Rat

hawk eating rat
Originally uploaded by okfuskee

Started seeing rats this Fall. Hired a hawk to hunt and eat them. results were mixed and slightly disturbing. At first I was worried about the hawk...if he knew his job, was he good and happy in his work. I contemplated interrupting him, but got my camera instead. The rat struggled a bit, gave the impression that he was a somewhat reluctant participant. The hawk gave him a couple head pops and a good shake and next thing I new...it was all over. See it all here in super grainy video.

Why did I have rats? Well, Living just off Columbia Pike in Southern Arlington (Yes, the better half!) presents some interesting benefits and challenges. And rats are apparently one of them. I was using one of Arlington county's $17 composters (well it was $10 when I bought it actually) and...it was just too tempting for the rats. Those things are open at the top and the the old version which I had had pretty big holes in it...and even if it didn't some of my rodent friends can chew the holes bigger anyway. This thing brought lots of visitors. Mr. Rat and Mr. Possum were my least favorite. At least there is one less rat now. Come to think of it, there is also one less possum....but that is a story for another day.