Floof-ish! New food discoveries!
amylou321
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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Comments (31)Hey Equinox; Haven't been here in awhile. This darned internet, ever expanding - ever interesting; like the world's biggest library. Maybe if I'd just never learned to read, I would've been ok, Ah Well.. Yep, I'm one of those people who freezes and blenderizes. For those who don't know me, I have two large (16 Gal.) Rubbermaid-type plastic bins which I originally started in Nov. 2009 with EF's. Part of the problem, is that we produce a lot more waste than the worms can consume and even though the town where I now live has a city-wide organic waste recycling program, it just feels wrong to be tossing stuff that I know the worms (microbes) will enjoy. The freezing and thawing process really helps to break down cell structure, leaving a nice, soft mess. This then goes into my (not my wife's) food processor, to which I add composted rabbit poop, coffee grounds, powdered eggshells, etc. The resulting mash which usually tends to the wetter side, I mix with shredded cardboard and then feed on one side of the bin. It usually takes the microbes a week or so to start working on the food. Within two weeks the worms have migrated to the food, leaving the other side worm-free and making it easier to harvest the castings. As for air flow, I finally solved my problem. I drilled 1/2" holes all around the sides in the upper half of the bin. Sure, the worms could escape if they wanted to, but with ample moisture, plenty of food, good airflow and proper bedding; they just don't seem to want to leave. Of course when the weather is nasty, I'll always find a few gone exploring, but the majority seem to stay put. In the past I lined the inside of the bins with fine mosquito netting, hoping to keep out the fruit flies and fungus gnats while providing air flow through the netting, as well as keeping the worms from escaping and making it easier to harvest the castings (because all the castings are within the netting and not stuck to the walls of the bin). In reality it didn't quite work out that way. The flies and gnats got in regardless. I found the best thing is to hang sheets of yellow sticky fly paper above the bins and then to encourage the flies to join their friends at the big yellow picnic table. It usually works. When the mosquito netting got wet, it stopped the airflow rather than helped it, so that didn't work either. But here was the worst of it: when the worms hatched, they were so tiny that they could actually pass through the fine mesh of the mosquito netting into the space between the netting and the wall of the bin. Once there, they couldn't get back. Food particles and moisture would filter down through the netting and I always found worms there whenever I harvested out the main bin. Now, my bins are outside. I have a large porch/patio area, but no actual ground. The winter of 2011-2012 was particularly wet (in my area) and so I didn't really have a chance to harvest out the bins properly, until Mar.2012. In Dec. 2011 after about a week of constant rain, I had a major worm escape (though mostly from the worms living in that limbo place between the netting and the bin)and lost around 500 worms. After that experience, I tossed the mosquito netting and drilled large 1/2" holes all around. So far, even with heavy rains, they seem to stay put. Shaul...See MoreSummer trip to New England and Canada
Comments (29)Wow, it's funny how people have such different ideas of what is worth seeing. I've been to Niagra five times, with and without kids. I could stare at those Falls endlessly. Every time I go I do every possible "tour" of the Falls. The Cave of the Winds is not to be missed. Sometimes I get off the MOM and get right back on the next trip, and the next. I'm mesmerized by those Falls and the closer I get to them the better. I'm not fond of the cable car over the whirlpool, but I do it if the others in my group want to do it. I heard the cave that goes behind the Falls is closed now and if so I'll be heartbroken as that is a fantastic experience. I am told that Goat Island is the best of all the attractions in NF, but somehow I have never managed to get over there. There is a safari/amusement park between NF and Toronto...my whole family loves that place. The only thing I've really enjoyed seeing in TO is the "castle" that is there. I spent a week at 1,000 islands once. It was a long week, lol. The highlight of that trip was also a castle built on a privately owned island. NF does have a horrible area full of mini golf, funhouses, ripleys, etc....See More*Floof* A day in the life of...
Comments (11)Oooo fun! My day(s) are pitiful compared to yours! Good Grief! I have 2 different routines. One for those times i work, and one for when I'm off. Age: 35 yo female Lives with: SO, 4 large dogs, and a random cat that decides it lives on our property now. Work days (nights): 4-5 am: make breakfast for SO before he goes to work. Clean kitchen. 6 am: shower,go to bed Sleep until 2 pm or so 2-4 pm: Feed and play with dogs, feed random cat, cook dinner for SO to have when he gets home from work. Clean Kitchen. Take second shower and,dry hair, and otherwise make myself presentable for work. 4 pm: This is when i leave for work, I almost always have at least one stop to make. 5pm: Arrive at work. Do as much work as i have to. I usually cook and eat my first meal before 6pm. I have a full kitchen setup here so I am able to cook fresh, though i sometimes just get something on the way. 5pm-Midnight: Do whatever work comes in, tend to my large flower garden, clean the office, feed the "work"cats, and otherwise keep myself amused until my fitbit resets at midnight and i can get my steps in for the next day. Midnight: (fitbit resets to 0)- Go outside and walk laps around my office building until i get 15000 steps, stopping throughout as work requires. Sometimes this is 0 times, sometimes its 20, just depends on the night. 5 am: Yay! go home. Make breakfast. Shower. Change sheet. Bed. Off days (nights): 4-5 am(ish): Make Breakfast. Clean kitchen. 5am(ish)- ???-Back to bed! Only for a few hours. I change my sleep schedule to "normal' people hours to accommodate the man. Rest of the my day could be whatever. I am off 4 nights. I try to stick to a basic routine. One day i do all of our laundry for the week, which between the 2 of us may be 5 or 6 loads at most. I wash, dry, fold or hang up and put away all the laundry that one day. I also wash our comforter that day, i change the sheet daily. That same day i do a thorough house cleaning. Dusting, scrubbing the bathrooms, sweep, swiffer, mop all floors, baseboards, etc. Another one of those days i do our basic weekly shopping. While I am out i try to do whatever other errands can be done. I live in the sticks and its a drive into where all the stuff i go to is, so i try to get it all out of the way on one day. Stores, bank,post office, whatever. I usually shop for meals daily, but since all this has been going on and we are trying to say home as much as possible, this has changed and i try try try to get all of our food for the week on this day as well. I sometimes have to go to the nearest store, which is about 10 minutes away in between. But I am really trying hard not to. Another day i make whatever candles, scent cubes and sprays i need to restock my inventory. I also tend to bake something sweet for SO to eat and for me to stare at since i am on an eternal diet,since I am already in the kitchen and hot and toiling away i might as well bake some cookies or a peach cobbler or some bread or brownies or something...... The last day I try to relax. Though random things do come up. I feel very lucky to be somewhat flexible. I find parents fascinating. I cannot imagine having my whole life being devoted to taking care of others all day every day. To have someones very life depend on me. That is probably why i decided very early in life not to have children. Especially now, it must be so stressful. Every single off day i do some gardening, do lots of playtime and training with the mutts, I cook at least 2 meals,we only tend to eat 2 meals every day. I often cook 2 different meals for each meal, or at least 2 different variations on a meal, because i am on a diet and SO is not. I am probably unreasonably weird about the kitchen. I CANNOT sleep if my kitchen is not sparkling clean. I cannot leave dishes in the sink or a dirty stove or if my counter tops have not been wiped down. Nope. And every single off day i get on my treadmill at the end of the day to make sure i get at least 15000 steps for that day. Then i shower and go to bed. I try to be in bed by midnight. By then, SO is already asleep. He works 6 days a week, tends to come home, eat, relax a little bit, then go to bed early. His one day off he is running around all day doing things... This is my last night at work this run. Tomorrow its supposed to storm BUT i have some hibiscus plants that NEED to be planted so i guess i will out there digging in the rain. I started my flower garden last year and it will take probably two or 3 more years for me to get it as large as i want it. Until then, lots and lots of work need to be done to it. I run my dishwasher every day as well. And its just the two of us. Even on days that i work i have a remarkable ability to use way more dishes then is probably needed to make 2 meals a day for 2 people....See MoreFood floof! The menu
Comments (46)We're going to my DH's ex's and her husband's house for dinner, per usual (20 years). There will be about 20 - 26 of us - all his side (mine live on the other end of the country except DS in GA). They serve a really nice turkey, but also dump -from-a-bag stuffing mix, plopped canned cranberry sauce, and their adult children will bring instant mashed potatoes, canned gravy, bag salad, "brown 'n serve" rolls and some icky baked-in-store cake with inedible frosting. The youngest grand (17) will make green bean casserole for her grandpa (because I refuse to make it, hate it) as she has been doing for 5 years! Bless her. But I do think it is the only thing she actually cooks. Her mom is big on take-out, drive-thru, and pizza delivery. The other four 20 yr-old-ish grandchildren (who I've been coaching) are bringing homemade bread, apple sauce from 4 kinds of apples, baked butternut squash with honey and sweet spices, mixed lettuces and strawberries with celery seed dressing, and from-scratch brownies. So proud of them. I like to shake things up for appetizers so I'll bring oven baked veggie egg rolls with my own Chinese-style hot mustard and apricot duck sauce, deviled egg salad in quartered potato buns, stuffed mini sweet peppers (with herbed cheese), homemade crackers with pepperoncini cream cheese dip, and everything (like on a bagel) dip to eat with mini cukes, radishes, cherry tomatoes and celery sticks, and some deli ham rolled up with Swiss cheese and a bit of spicy brown mustard for those of us who don't like turkey, plus apple slab pie with drizzle and pecan pie bars on shortbread crust. I always bring plastic bags for the family to take home "leftovers" since no one seems to remember from the last time, or they just expect me to? I also bring our own silverware because ex- hasn't figured out that it is impossible to cut turkey with plastic knives and eat with plastic forks. I also bring a couple of extra knives for whomever else has a problem. You'd think after 20 years she'd go to Goodwill and pick up some 25c silverware - maybe $15 worth. I don't say anything but DH always rolls his eyes at me. If I went to Goodwill and got some I would be ostracized for life. Bad enough that I bring a few extra pieces. I'm rolling my eyes now. I may hint to the grands that it might be a really really nice gift for their other grandma. But then again.......See Moreplllog
2 years agoamylou321
2 years agoamylou321
2 years ago
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