Video Retry

Alright, let's try this video thing again. This was what I had planned to post up last night but couldn't. It's been put together from a couple of clips so excuse the flow of it. It's been a long time since my video editing classes.

I have to say I was surprised at a couple of the reactions to the garden pictures from last night though. I guess I don't think of it as all that small anymore. I mean it is small, relatively, but since I've begun to see how much is possible on a small plot, I realize how much potential I have available. I also wanted to clarify, and the video will as well, that a good part of the garden beds that were in the bottom picture weren't even there this summer. They are completely new. So that 500#'s of food came from even less space than I showed you. It is possible!

Hope you enjoyed the clip. As a matter of fact, I'd love to hear your feedback on the videos that I've been putting up. Do they help? Are they worth the effort? Do you absolutely love them and want to give me my own TV show???? (Hey, it could happen?!?)
Take care all.
P~

FYI :: If you haven't had a chance to get over to the Simple Green Frugal website yet, today's a good time to check in. I just posted an article on frugal decorating.

The Chooks...

I love that name for them; Chooks. I learned that phrase from reading a bunch of Aussie blogs and I think it's just a fun name for them. And here, as promised are "The Chooks":

They saw the camera coming and huddled together. They do this everytime we put a hand into the brooder. I try to make sure that I move slowly to not frighten them, but it doesn't always work. The boys have been handling them at least once a day, so they are slowly becoming hand trained. Any one out there have there birds trained to not hate being touched. Any suggestions?

Here's one of the Ideal 236's. They are by far the fastest maturing birds of the group that we ordered. I haven't been over to my neighbors house since he got his birds, so I wonder how the Reds are doing. Of all the birds, these Leghorns are the flightiest though. They get very skiddish and bee bop around the coop everytime I have to reach in for anything. They'll get there though, I have not doubt.

Sorry that this pictures a little fuzzy, it's one of our black Minorcas. I was surprised today to mind out that the black Minorcas are considered one of the Endagered Classic breeds. So, I guess I am doing my small part to help preserve the rarer breeds after all. These Minorcas are shaping up to be the lovers of the bunch though. They always come over to check me out when I reach in. If I have a bit of feed in my hand they will jump right up there and perch on me and eat it. Polar opposite of the leghorns.

I hate to say it, but we lost a bird early this week. "Buffy" the Buff Minorca was pasting up (another chicken term, basically it's the chicken version of being really plugged up if you get my drift.) and although I was on top of it, cleaning her and making sure she got some water, she just wouldn't eat or drink on her own and left us on tuesday morning.

I thought a little Chicken cam video might be fun. Hmm.. Chicken cam? I may have too try this one again some time.

P~

Compost Day

Thought I'd spend a little time on compost today, there were a couple of things that I'd cover. For one, I learned recently of a program that Starbucks Coffee has in place. It's called Grounds for your Garden and it's something they put in place to help take care of the some of there coffee grounds waste. All you need to do is go into you're local Starbucks store and ask for their old grounds for your garden and you will get one of their old bean bags filled with used grounds.

Now, what do you do with them? I'm putting mine into my compost pile, of course. With the nitrogen to carbon ration that they have, mixed with a healthy bit of carbon rich browns, in this case straw, I should be able to kick up the heat in my pile and help it to break down faster and more completely.

If any of you are new to composting, or are thinking about getting a pile started, which I heartily encourage, then one thing I have learned is that getting the pile "cooking" is one of the most important things you can do. Getting the heat turned up inside your pile cooks the seeds, sterilizing them. It also helps the organic material inside the pile break down more completely and more quickly. Getting this heat turned up comes from having a good balance of greens and browns, nitrogen rich plant material and carbon rich dr material such as dry leaves, straw, or dried grass clippings. So far I have found straw to be the most consisent material that is easily gotten in my area. When you have this mix in the right proportions you'll need to turn the pile regularly to make sure the organisms in the pile can breath and make sure it stays moist. Not wet, but moist.

Once you have all this in line, you'll be sure to have your pile cooking like a pro. In the little video I made, you can pretty easily see that there's steam coming up out of the pile, this is a sure sign you're on the right track. I hope to cook this pile pretty well through the rest of the fall and into the winter and then finish it off in time for spring planting. If you haven't cleaned out the garden yet, or can still get a last mowing of the lawn, I encourage you to get those greens and some good dry browns together and get cookin'!

P~

Compost Day

You may remember a while back when I built myself a DIY homemade Compost Tumbler from an old pickle barrel and some salvaged wood. Today I pulled and screened the finished product of that endeavor. The rich brown humus that is the finished product couldn't make me happier. I was told that if you can't recognize what was put into the compost then it is done. Well, this pile has garden cuttings, grass clippings (some of those from the last addition are still recognizable but barely.), egg shells, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, sawdust, paper towels and shredded documents from work. I'm sure there's a lot of other things that I can't remember, but it is a very well rounded mixture I assure you. I was not really too happy with the physical performance of the composter itself however. The plastic barrel that I used as the main portion of it, was warped pretty seriously because of the double to triple digit heat that we've had this summer, plus the couple hundred degree internal temperature caused by good composting action. I have a method that I am going to try to solve the problem with it, but in the mean time, I was able to procure a new, metal food grade barrel for a measly 3.00 dollars. It was originally a bulk wheat barrel for the Church storehouse and I got it from their thrift store. I haven't modified it too extensively yet. I only punched a bunch of holes in the top and bottom. The lid is removable so I can take it off to add content, or water the mix. Rather than put this barrel in place of the other one, since it has no side opening yet. I decided to leave it on the ground, and roll it across the grass to tumble it. This method I am happy to say, took considerably less time to come up with, and works great. I thought I'd try something new, and post a short clip of it here.

Hope that works for you. It's my first time useing YouTube. So I'll mark two days ago, August 6th as the day I loaded the composter with the goods, and we'll see how long this batch takes to "cook". The last time I did it, it tooks something like 2 1/2 months, I kept adding as I went though. This time, I filled it with kitchen scraps, grass and sawdust and I'm leaving it at that to see how long it takes. Having two tumblers now, I can get one going good, while I start collecting in the other.
I'll keep you posted.
P~