The weather has warmed up nicely, and Accuweather doesn't forecast us even dipping below 40° from here on out. Since my youngest son received a cabbage plant from his teacher, I HAD to give him a special place in my garden. That involved getting the garden ready, so this afternoon I got my garden beds ready for spring, adding compost, blood meal, and working it all into the soil.
Along with the cabbage start, I planted seeds for kale, carrots, spinach, and cucumbers. It looks like we're going to have a nice, long growing season this year.
Speaking of preparation, I finally got to use my compost! My pile of decaying organic matter had grown from a single garbage can to a much larger bin in the back of the yard. What was vegetables and grass and cardboard a year ago is now nutrient-laden food for my new veg! Each 5-gallon bucket was worth roughly a bag of compost, and organic compost can get pricey! Every bucket I carried to my garden was commercially worth $10 (estimated), and I used a total of 11 buckets. That's over $100 I can spend on other things my family needs, and I still don't have to worry that my garden is suffering. Instead, I saved a ton and gave my garden a wealth of nutrition, all for the cost of a little forethought at the beginning of this venture. And let me just say that I only used 1/3 of the compost I had in my bin, so I'm considering some expansion. This is a good feeling.
Speaking of preparation, I finally got to use my compost! My pile of decaying organic matter had grown from a single garbage can to a much larger bin in the back of the yard. What was vegetables and grass and cardboard a year ago is now nutrient-laden food for my new veg! Each 5-gallon bucket was worth roughly a bag of compost, and organic compost can get pricey! Every bucket I carried to my garden was commercially worth $10 (estimated), and I used a total of 11 buckets. That's over $100 I can spend on other things my family needs, and I still don't have to worry that my garden is suffering. Instead, I saved a ton and gave my garden a wealth of nutrition, all for the cost of a little forethought at the beginning of this venture. And let me just say that I only used 1/3 of the compost I had in my bin, so I'm considering some expansion. This is a good feeling.
You'll notice that my compost-mixed soil is more brown than the soil in earlier pictures from last year. That is because my compost never turned black. I'm not bothered by this, because I discovered that not all soil does turn black. The color of the soil depends greatly on the contents that go into it. Soil that makes heavy use of horse or cow manure is very black, however compost made from smaller animals combined with vegetables and pine bedding will remain a medium brown. The color isn't an issue, because I know exactly what is in my compost. I know all of the scraps I buried in there. I know just how MUCH rabbit poop went into the pile. That last item is the most important thing to me. I found the following chart at http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm.
Rabbit manure is 10 TIMES better than cow manure. In fact, rabbit manure is even better than worm castings (NPK= 1,0,0), and the high phosphorus count in bunny poo is important for flower and fruit formation.
So, I know it may seem like a little thing, but I am super proud of my compost. It's one of the most recognizable ways that I have gained a little bit of self-sufficiency. I renewed my garden soil 100% off-grid, with not a dime spent for any commercial composts, and not a single tax paid to the government on the nutrient-rich soil I made for myself. That's just a really big deal, and it feels good.
So, I know it may seem like a little thing, but I am super proud of my compost. It's one of the most recognizable ways that I have gained a little bit of self-sufficiency. I renewed my garden soil 100% off-grid, with not a dime spent for any commercial composts, and not a single tax paid to the government on the nutrient-rich soil I made for myself. That's just a really big deal, and it feels good.