A friends skid steer was in the shop for repairs so of course we had to test it to make sure everything worked. There was no better test area than pushing all the snow away from the multi-tumblers. :-)

A bunch of frozen kitchen waste got chucked into the tumblers and all the coffee grounds from the lanes. Shovelled some snow into one almost full tumbler and topped up with a couple bags of leaves.

Local daytime temps up to freezing mark but still going down to -15C overnight but the sun is warming up nicely. It's only a matter of time.

Lloyd

A favorite cotton T-shirt (or, according to DW, an embarrassing collection of holes held together by thread) that I just couldn't bear to callously throw away.

I worked on my old compost pile today sifting several 5 gallon buckets full.

I fed the new compost pile all the stuff that had not composted. I mixed the uncomposted siftings with weeds and winter grass cleaned from strawberry bed and pathway.

Peggy

I went out this eve before it got dark and emptied my bowful of cucumber,banana peels etc to my pile but was only able to get a small bit of pile turned---it was frozen. I hope in next few days our snow will be melted.

It will get all the screenings from the old compost heap, the past-their prime broccoli plants, weeds, and used kitty litter.

1 wheelbarrow load of chicken manure/sand from the coop
2 wheelbarrow loads of chopped leaves
15 gallons restaurant scraps
another wheelbarrow load of chopped leaves
interspersed with rainwater collected while Mother Nature was rinsing my 5-gal buckets
topped with 1/2 gal of Skunk Marinade left-over from last time the dog got skunked (why didn't we use it all? good question!)

'Nasty' bucket ... soak paper [kleenex,towels,paper plates,etc] in bucket with veg-cooking/rinsing water .... when sufficiently yucky, pour over pile and top off with a bag of UCG. ....shhhh..don't tell....I made a pot of coffee way too weak, so poured it onto the pile and made a new pot ... no one the wiser, but my microbes, and they will keep the secret.

What is "skunk marinade"? I imagine it is to remove odour but what are the ingredients and can this stuff be used on humans?

Just curious, might be good info to know.

Thx

Lloyd

Today I fed my compost a couple bags of leaves. Or I fed the leaves my compost. Not sure which but I layered leaves and all the goodies we had collected since last November in the big black bin thingy just off the patio. The advantage of the BBBT'y is that all those kitchen goodies were thawed. So one large wheelbarrow of yucky kitchen goodies and a couple bags of leaves layered on top of a pile of horse manure/dry grass. Topped it with a metal wheelbarrow in the hopes it will hold the heat in - when it starts to heat.

Really looks like a drop in the bucket compared with what I'd like and need. All other bins full of what should be usable compost are still full of ice. :-(

It's been positively balmy during the day here and the snow has almost all gone but at night it's still going down well below freezing. Good thing there are other reasons I like living in the north! LOL Making compost isn't one of them.

I can't remember the ratios, but you can clean up a skunked dog with tomato juice & hydrogen peroxide.

A dog groomer once gave us a recipe for de-skunking our dog. It works waaay better than tomato juice. Mix equal thirds of Dawn dishwashing liquid soap, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. Before using, thoroughly wet your dog with plain water then put the mixture all over by giving them a great petting and working it in. Do be careful that this does not get in your pet's eyes. Then let it sit for 10 minutes and rinse it off with plain water. The sooner that this is done after being sprayed the better. This works wonderfully. Colleen

Good to know... although I don't think my dog is brave enough to go after anything beside a paper bag. We call her the cowardly lab...

Last of last years 'taters - all 1d or so, 1-2 inches around - smaller than a golfball anyhow, stalks about 2 feet long.

Our variation of "skunk marinade" is kinda "all of the above" LOL. A jug of tomato juice, add some Dawn, baking soda, bit of lemon juice. . . shake well, rub into freshly wetted dog (or human), let marinade for atleast 10 mins, rinse well.

Today the pile got kitchen scraps, 10 gals restaurant scraps, some grouse feathers from the poor lil guy who didn't cross the road fast enough, and a finishing layer of shredded leaves.

Lloyd; for people who get skunked;) (me) fill bath tub with 4-6 inches of water add 2-3 cups white vinegar get in tub and wet/soak hair etc. Then shower and shampoo. Sorry to say but I know this works great from more than one experience.

Curt~ :-O

Thx, I shall file and keep. We see skunks occasionally and I know eventually it's gonna happen.

Secretly, I was hoping for a tomato juice or Clamato juice and beer marinade, kinda two birds with one stone thing.

Temperature up to zero Celsius today, getting twitchy. ;-)

Lloyd

Woody Harrelson.

Rain

Here is a link that might be useful: Oscar Fashion

"equal thirds of Dawn dishwashing liquid soap, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. Before using, thoroughly wet your dog with plain water then put the mixture all over by giving them a great petting and working it in. Do be careful that this does not get in your pet's eyes. Then let it sit for 10 minutes and rinse"

just spoke with a neighbor & she said this exact same thing;
said it's much better than the tomato juice mixture.

The compost was loaded with:
veggie tops
a few grapefruits that went bad
leftover pasta
coffee grounds
old coffee
old juice
leaves
unbleached used paper towels and tissues
two pumpkins that made it through the winter on the porch
a few buckets of rain water from last year

Mix well=)

Fetuccini with a lite herb sauce, Rosmary cream potatoes, with tuscan Garlic Crusted Bread ooops that was my Lean Cusine meal I had. Compost got the leftovers with leaves Coffee Grounds , shredded paper and hardwood ashes.

office paper
office coffee grounds & filters
& leftover olives/lettuce/tomatoes/onion/etc from sandwich buffet at office luncheon

Our office trash isn't nearly the volume it was before I started grubbing around in it...

Left over bucket full of seed starting mix after planting my veggie seeds today. I tossed that in the pile! :)

We eat a lot of beans. We keep them in the pot, rewarming it daily, and when there is only a cup or two left, we put it in a container in the fridge.

There were a lot of containers in the fridge. I opened one and whoah boy.....

So, 5 containers of pinto beans.

Today I added the usual bucket of kitchen scraps and quite a few leaves. I was glad to see steam coming off the pile. I think the whole 4x4x4 feet mass is going to heat up within a few days. A sure sign that winter is about over even though there is snow in the forecast.

new to the forum but absorbing for a while ! opened up a pile today and was glad to see some steam . added a bag of shredded paper, probly 60 coffee filters w/grounds,and lots of rotting veggies and old fruit. covered with some cardboard sheets . usually add like this once a month... cant wait till spring

Cut back my miscanthus gracillimus today and added to the pile again. :)

My usual banana peels, apple cores, orange peels, egg shells, and UCG's from me. But on Wednesday, I was eating lunch with our school nurse and she, upon request, laughingly gave me her orange peels and.... drum roll... her tea bag! Score! Also, I had several new people (new to providing me with compost - not new to the school) just walk up to my desk (I'm in the school office) and give me an apple core and another gave me 3 apple cores already bagged! I also have 2 others who routinely give me their banana peels. The good word seems to be spreading! Colleen

I had to pick up a neighbor's trash when my escape-artist dog turned it over, so I added her avocado peels, orange rinds, eggshells, mushy tomatoes, onion skins...

as well as office paper, junk mail, used coffee grounds & filters & used teabags.

..
Trying to fit my envy into the bin from the kitty litter to the neighbor's trash to Woody Harrelson (is that a brown or green?).

All that and a recipe for skunk marinade.

I'm not sure if Lloyd should do something for that twitch or not.

Thanks all.
..

Scored another big bag of UCG's from Starbucks last night. So those are going in. And my mom was recently in the hospital, and received a bazillion bouquets of flowers. They're just starting to die off now, so those will go in as well. Also oak leaves, which I'm almost positive will NEVER decompose. :)

Kim

Cleaned out the pantry. So old can goods, pie cherry, cranberry sauce, some old pudding and Jello, UCG & filters. 2 gallons of used potting mix with roots. Cardboard and cut up Junk mail. Best of all 200-300 imported red wigglers from my Vermicompost bins.

Curt~

-- stuff from the kitchen--canalope--cabbage--potato--just whatever i had left over from being home alone from spring break----JB

Curt -

I have a question about the worms you mentioned. I compost in a garbage can, and when moving a bin yesterday, came across a TON of worms on the surface of the ground. I scooped them all up and threw them into the can. Is this a good idea?

Worms freak me out, and the only thing worse than worms is dead worms. The can only help things along, right?

Kim

Worms are your best garden friends as well as your garden's best friends.

I my own self would put them into the garden.

dumped out the bin from last year, added a half gallon of urine, put it back in the bin to digest all the carbony stuff that didn't get digested last year.

I've marked some english ivy for death. It's been taking liberties with part of my yard and it is destined to be returned to the circle of life.

30-gal. Dry roasted peanut hulls
5-gal. Hard Shell gourd cut-offs
1-gal. Fruit Scraps (cores,peels,rinds)
8-doz. Eggshells
Big Sack of dog hair
4 old decaying rattan baskets.

I built a "townhouse" in the center of the pile I turned today.My compost is mostly aged horse manure, UCG, and straw. Abundant rainfall and a very warm week caused a worm population explosion. I placed an old plastic milk crate, wrapped in burlap and full of red wigglers, in the center of the pile about 10" above ground. The top story is another wrapped milk crate full of kitchen scraps, pumpkin, cardboard and straw. I then lined the 3' diameter hardware cloth bin with 4 layers wet of burlap coffee bean sacks and filled with compost containing thousands of worms. I dumped a plastic tub of worms out on top and covered with 6 " of wet straw and more burlap! I will mist it during hot periods. I hope the crates help bring air to the center of the pile. Next check October!

6 buckets of humanure and a wheelbarrow load of weeds and a bag of bunny bedding. Already about 110 and will be at 120 to 130 in a few days.

All the oak leaves, pine needles, and straw left after uncovering my roses. Oh, and some UCG's. :)

So today I added a bucket of the smelly gunk that I could scoop out of the pond, some leaves, and kitchen scraps. Will get more pond gunk this weekend if it warms up some. It was a little chilly out there tonight, to be mucking around in the pond. Could turn my bins today, mostly thawed. Emptied finished compost from the smaller pile into the almost finished compost in the other bin. Was very Happy and oh so pleased with my pile, my bins are about 3'square and one is now full of lovely 90% usuable compost, plus one very big fat mouse. Probably should have added her to the pile but couldn't do it. No where near what others can produce here but Im still pleased :-)Frogged

Kim; sorry I am late with this, the compost worms are not the same as the worms that live in the ground. I have all the local talent (earth worms) working the bottom of my bin, the compost worms will work in the compost itself.
Red worms(compost worms) will not go deep into the ground to survive our winter freeze. so they must be seeded in the spring and stored over winter out of the weather.
mendopete: Wish I had that many worms to add. BTW did you do the Euro night crawler plan?
Curt~

used tea bags from restaurant
tamale wrappers (corn husks)
used coffee grounds & filters
dog hair
shavings from eyeliner pencil
torn-up newspaper & ads

Head of lettuce, bell pepper remains, old banana, flower stems, tomato sauce, paper towel roll, and a little bit of UCG's - which the barista was nice (crazy) enough to double bag in plastic and then neatly place in a to go bag with handles. Really?!

Kim

Over the last few days, I put in about 10 gallons of horse manure (who knew I'd be carting around this stuff??!! In my car that too!) and about 12 pounds of UCGs, then added a bunch of cardboard to try and balance it out.

Ash from the 1980 Mount St. Helen eruption, which I collected the same week that John Lennon was killed. I've had this little vial for almost 30 years and today I thought, "Why? Why do I have this little container of ash? Ann, you should really dump that in the compost bucket. This is the crazy stuff, keeping containers of volcanic ash from the 80s," so I dumped it in my counter compost bucket. And I thought, "Now you've got something respectable to contribute to Sylvia's "What Have You Fed Your Compost Pile Today?" thread.

It's not even midnight and I already regret it.

Ah, I think you did the right, reasonable, sane thing.

It belongs in the compost pile.

The compost pile is its natural home.

It's cruel to keep ashes in a jar or bottle.

unless it's the ashes of an old lover who was mean to you, & those ashes *deserve* to be kept in a bottle, at least until you're tired of smirking at them.

annpat, you are still recycling the ashes too when you do that. The ashes will end up in the garden, which will someday also end up subducted into the earth again, and will then someday end up being erupted again through some other volcanic eruption. The cycle continues...

2 heads of moldy cabbage (freebies from the supermarket) and some "mystery" stuff that has already started to compost in the back of the fridge.