OK, so it’s the last 10 days in pictures, technically. I’m behind in life. But look, I did finally get rid of my pumpkins before Christmas Day! I had been putting it off because I didn’t want to put them in the compost with all their seeds intact and that meant slimy labor. Then I gave up and said fuck it, I’ll just toss them out.
So I grab my garden wagon to start tossing. When I pick this one up, it’s hollowed out! A kind squirrel took care of all the seeds for me! I had noticed a few tiny spots that I thought were mold. Turns out they were holes where our little friend was scraping the surface. How funny! Why would he eat it from the bottom like this? I had a few in the patch where they just ate the outer bits. So this big guy and three small hollowed out ones were saved for the compost. Thank you, animal friends.
Also, this week. I opened a new pan. After over twelve years of storing it. That’s right. I was gifted two of these for my wedding. Was I going to send one back? Fuck no. I knew this day would come. When I would want a NEW pan. And it is GLORIOUS. Aint nothing gonna stick to this. It’s so clean and grey and pretty. I love pan.
It was a super slow week at work with the holiday coming up. Engineers just take December off. So those of us left in office are kinda stuck. One lunch break, I labeled my art supplies! It sounds silly but it is not. My art supplies are organized in my dining room buffet. Things are all stored together in these reused monthly subscription boxes. Like these boxes were too good to trash, so I kept them. Then I started storing art supplies in them. Then they all ended up in the buffet but I always forget which is which.
Well, I did some resin art which means I needed a new box: “Resin.” So I shifted a few boxes around for size efficiency. While I was at it, I used LABELS. I wrote down what was in them. Look how organized I am! Louie totally helped.
Finally, today, I turned my compost. I’m so glad I went with the three bin system. I bought a corkscrew aerator and it works fine — but you can’t really stir with it. And the outer bits get dry and need to be cycled into the center. It’s so much quicker and easier to flip everything into the neighbor bin with a hay fork. Glad I did my research! The last bin currently holds dry leaves since I don’t need three yet.
Theoretically, I would have emptied out all of my pots into that bin for dirt storage already. I’m behind, OK?
I think when I stated my compost I used far too many “browns.” We’ve also had so little rain that it hasn’t stayed wet. And, hay sucks. It was pretty much hydrophobic for weeks. I’m not putting anymore hay in there. It’s the only thing not breaking down. I put a whole bag of cardboard in here and there isn’t a trace of it. Still every bit of hay in there.
At this point, I just used my aerator to mix things around. Then, dig out a hole in the middle. Then I dump my new compost in and cover it up. But I’ve flipped it a few times. This time there was a huge earthworm in there so that’s a great sign.
Oh and that’s Ted. He guards the compost bins.
