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| Let's see the goods!
I have 5 piles in various stages of composting. I plan on starting at least one more pile and maybe three more. 
I'm going to use the blue barrel in the spring to make compost/seaweed tea. 
Since I don't have the money to build or fill in this 10yr old foundation I've decided to turn it into a vegetable garden. 
My piles are mostly made with mulched leaves, seaweed/eelgrass, horse manure with shavings, coffee grounds, kitchen scraps and fish guts. Plus a pan of wood ash in each one. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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 Can you see the steam? That particular pile, in the process of being turned, is from a few years ago. It has all the things you mention, but with a whopping helping of pumpkin parts. |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Sun, Nov 7, 10 at 13:39
| 11-1-2010 Majority of the garden wastes cooking like crazy ;-)
11-6-2010 Addition of Boatload of leaves,each area got mixed with equal amounts of materials..
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Here is a link that might be useful: Why Sift Compost ????
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| Well, to get back to the reality of a modest home-owner's compost pile (modest pile, not necessarily a modest home-owner):
The main pile is free standing and well along the way - I use the black bin to pretreat paper mixes and for winter kitchen scrap dumping. When it gets full I add it to one end of the windrow-style pile. The oaks and a few wild cherries have obligingly helped me out by adding leaves. Claire |
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| Oh, and I'll mix those leaves into the pile as is, when it stops raining and the wind dies down. I'll spread the compost half-finished on the garden (non-vegetable) along with the leaves already fallen there. My garden is a hybrid of ornamental plantings and wildlife habitat so un-shredded leaves look quite natural, at least to my eyes. Claire |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Nov 9, 10 at 13:01
| WOW Claire ! ! That is a nice pile.....looks gorgeous ;-) BTW... I am just a modest homeowner too ;-)
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| OK, Jon, here is a part of my garden in July with nary a concrete block in sight. (I'm not sure I even own a concrete block....) I'll pass on the personal photo though.
Claire (who is always amazed at the differences in peoples' gardens) |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Nov 9, 10 at 18:03
| Hi Claire, Beautiful Flowers ! ! I had a flower in my garden too ;-)
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Here is a link that might be useful: Jon's Wonderful Garden 2010
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| Very impressive, Jon! Lots of well-grown, happy vegetables (and flowers). "Bountiful" is a word that comes to mind. You did good. Claire |
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| Jeez, and all I grew is one lousy tomato plant. Kinda embarrassing after seeing those two gardens! :-( Lloyd |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Nov 9, 10 at 20:42
| But it is a mighty fine Tomato plant ;-)
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| Next year I'm taking pictures of my Canadian Thistle patch! What the heck is that purple thing on the bottom left (not the grapes, I know what grapes are)? Shape looks like a pepper but are there purple peppers? I can't ask DW, she'll just roll her eyes at me and give me that "You're a dolt" look. Lloyd |
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| Ooh, such lovely tomatoes and vegetables and fruit! Guess who's coming to dinner!
Claire |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Tue, Nov 9, 10 at 21:53
| Your pictures make a person hungry, Jon. And Claire, I love your flowers. What is that animal? Not spikey enough for a porcupine?? Smooth enough for a muskrat? What the heck is he/she? |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Nov 9, 10 at 22:02
| Lloyd, You nailed it Brother ;-0 They come in all colors, white to black ! ! Claire,
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Here is a link that might be useful: NO MORE RODENTS ;-)
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| Lloyd, a friend of mine said that he just noticed after 30 years of marriage that the "dopey voice" that his wife uses when she expresses what the dog must be thinking is the same voice she uses when she tells her friends about some dumb thing her husband has said. |
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- Posted by tiffy_z5_6_can 5/6 (My Page) on Wed, Nov 10, 10 at 9:08
| Lots of simple and fancy stuff here so I'll add the messy version to compost piles. I'm having to rebuild after years of having pallets which kept things going in the compost area. Things are starting to fall apart...
Last year I was able to rebuild a section with rebar and 1/2" wire stuff.
Whenever a new pile goes up Raven will keep guard for a few days so the raccoons don't take the 'goodies'.
An overview. The whole section to the right is the one which needs replacing.
New pallets ready to do the new works. We've had over one month's worth of rain in the last 5 days which has put a real halt to leaf picking this season so far. I usually have over 100 bags in this area. :O(
Annpat, You are not getting this one!
I may not have anything fancy or heavy equipment, but the end result is beautiful!!
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| nutsaboutflowers: That's a groundhog AKA woodchuck, the scourge of many gardens. I throw out peanuts to lure the Blue Jays away from the small bird feeders, and one day that guy showed up. Loved the peanuts. I only saw it for a few days. tiffy: I love how compost indirectly fosters butterflies! Great shot - will summer ever come back? Rain and rain and rain here too. Claire |
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| I'm envious of all that LAND you all have. Here in my California tract home development I've only got the space for a couple of these:
But as you can tell from my garden photo, I tend to be a neat freak anyway. Proof that even the compulsively orderly can grow veggies:
And by the way, Claire, that's a beautiful garden you have! And Jon, I'm in serious need of a pink rake. While I admit it plays up the color of your eyes nicely, I think it's more my style! |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Wed, Nov 10, 10 at 22:05
| Yeah Right Loribee, Is that Wheelbarrow sitting on your neighbors property ??? I didn't think so ;-) Double dig that land and get to planting ;-0 If I give you my rake,how will my wife get to work ??? |
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| LOL Jon! Okay, so I do have a little more space behind the workshop, but right now that dead grass patch is my spot for cutting wood and mixing concrete. I would love, love, love to live somewhere property wasn't a premium and I could have a some nice big open piles of compost to contend with. But I just can't move away from my beloved SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS! (Sorry, just HAD to get that plug in there). As for the rake, I think as an anniversary present your wife deserves to be upgraded from that old model to a nice sleek European Swiffer Sweeper. |
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- Posted by dottyinduncan z8b coastal BC (My Page) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 11:29
| Jon, what do you do with such a bountiful harvest? Your wonderful veggies would feed hundreds... |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 11:59
| Dotty - I'm sure Jon will answer your question but...... Jon is a wonderful soul. As far as I remember, I think he gives much of his veggies to the local food bank. Can you believe all that work and then he gives it away? We need more people like him =:) |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 12:12
| Hi Dotty, It's true (not the wonderful soul part ;-), all of my Vegetables are donated to the Local FoodBank, lots and lots of hungry people out there ... a couple of weeks ago I finished my summer harvest (butternuts) and that brought my total pounds of donated food to 5103 lbs that was May to November, if anyone cares how that breaks down here is the dates and poundage stats from the FoodBank 12 LBS oF Early Onions (from Fall Garden) 3-23-2010 Totals to 6-30-2010 9 lbs of Broccoli 7-1-2010 Totals to 7-15-2010 109 lbs of Squash 9-7-2010
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- Posted by berryman135678 (My Page) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 12:17
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- Posted by dottyinduncan z8b coastal BC (My Page) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 16:28
| Jon that's a VERY impressing poundage! And, for the food bank to receive such grade A veggies fresh from the garden must be wonderful, especially in a year when so many are needy. Well done friend. |
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| That's a terrific thing to do, Jon! Does the Food Bank have storage facilities like refrigerated warehouses so they can keep the produce? Around here many of the smaller food banks/pantries won't take perishables because they can't store them until pickup. Claire |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Thu, Nov 11, 10 at 17:48
| Yes, But they don't stay long, I take them to the Central FoodBank and they have volunteer drivers who pick-up and distribute daily through-out the valley to Food Kitchens ,Pantries, Gospel Rescue Mission,etc etc...
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| You're a good man Jon Hughes and I bow in the general direction of southern Oregon. Lloyd |
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| Wow Jon--- Great pics ---pls keep posting ---gives me hope for my own garden-- salivating over the different veggies you grow And the local food banks have a real treasure in you --- Keep up the good work - surely there are many stars in your crown -----JB |
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| My modestly small piles of shredded leaves ready to go next to my shed.
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| Well, I live in LA, so we don't have a whole lot of yard here with the autumn leaves and all. But, I do pretty well with what we got....and I've got a good helper too. Don
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| Looks Good, good job everyone. |
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Coffee waste, free, to compost & sheet compost.   |
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| Top photo: each pile of bags has 8 super sacks, my brother has a rake, I am cutting open another bag. Bottom photo: I am raking out ground & whole bean roasted coffee, also a little green beans. Anything that hits the floor is throned out. The rich black stuff is wet chaff that is about 3 weeks old & going though a heat. You may not see the steam on the bottom photo, but look at the steam behind my brother in the top photo. Both photo are of the same pile. My son take the photos. |
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