Composting...

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I still feel a little embarassed when I remember visiting a friend's house several years back. We had finished a meal, and she opened a rather stinky plastic container and told me to rake my remaining scraps of food into the container. "Huh?" I think was my response. She said, "This is my compost." I said, "Oh yeah, right," like I knew what that meant. Later, I had some small pieces of paper, and she offered me the container again- "You don't want this in there!" I replied. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "Why bother trying to explain composting to this girl?". LOL

Compost is plant matter that has been recycled and decomposed as a fertilizer. A person can simply save paper, table scraps, egg shells, etc (supposedly exluding meats, fish and bones) and carry it out to a sunny area where it is put to rot. :) I have read that if you include those meats, the pile may get too hot and acidic and not work so well. I am wondering how accurate that is though. The pilgrims noted that when the indians planted their corn, they would put the corn seed on top of a fish when they planted it. Anyway, besides the occasional mixing of the pile (turning dirt into it), that is about all that it entails. There are some people who get very precise with composting to help them grow a better garden, adding in exact things to add certain nutrients into their soil. I don't intend to do that.

 Experts say, after a year or so, when the matter is good and broken down- it makes some of the best fertilizer for a garden, and serves as a natural pesticide.
I consider this a pretty easy project for us to try out- and the boys are already in high gear to carry our junk out to a compost pile. It cuts back on the trash we are chunking out too. Danny says this is my project and I will be in charge of it. LOL Oh well- I'll handle the composting and the milking if he can handle the planting, and weeding, which I seem to always take the back seat on. ;) It really isn't intentional. I just have a lot of other things to do- and when I finish those he's already taken care of the others.
Here is a good link on composting:
http://www.composting101.com/

Speaking of milking, our jersey, Miss Magnolia has been dry for a couple of months now. When we sold her calf we thought she was already bred. Unfortunatly, we found out about a week later we were wrong when we caught her getting awfully friendly with our bull. Since getting her, I milked once a day- because the calf kept her milk supply up and that once a day milking was adequete milk for our family. After the calf was sold her supply immedietly dropped to nothing, and we have since been waiting on her to calf. She should be due to have a little one by August or September. I can't wait to be milking again, and be back to making butter and enjoying the fresh milk. I'd like to embark and some new ventures like cheese making as well. I'm really looking forward to that.
While looking for a picture of Miss Magnolia in the deep, dark abyss of photos that are saved in no certain folder, or organized manner on our computer- I came across these old pics:

           This is when I was learning to milk on one of our Brangus cows- LOL

This is after we got a milk cow (Holstein) and I was 5 months preggo with Amaus. I had to milk next to the barn post on the opposite side. At the end of "Elsie's" career on 'Lattimore Plantation' ;) (and right before she was taken to the cow sale) she got pretty angry about life in general and I had to milk beside the post "just in case" she decided to clock me with one of her hind legs.

NOW BACK TO THE PRESENT: and away from the old photos that remind me I've yet to lose the remainder of the 50 lbs I delightfully added to my life while expecting Amaus. :)

The garden has now been planted with corn, squash, zuchini, peppers, (red, yellow, bell, banana) and tomatoes, snap beans, butter beans, cucumbers, YAY!

I am wondering how these eggs got here! Our chickens are in a pen. Oh wait! It's all coming back to me now! I sent the boys to feed the chickens and gather eggs this morning, and they never came back. Looks like they must have taken a pit stop at the garden where they had egg throwing wars??? Hmmmm...

This year I decided not to try to go crazy planting flowers in our beds around the house. Usually by July they are such a mess and it gets tough to keep them cleaned out. I am just trying to keep what I've got- clean. (roses, lantana, day lilies, indian hawthorne, holly bushes) I have put a few flowers in pots. I am finally satisfied with that and not eager to expand in that dept.

The concrete behind this pot is Danny's latest project. He is building a gold fish pond. This was something he started last fall. If this is anything like our treehouse, it will end up being pretty cool once he's finished with it. (Whenever that may be) For now- Amaus enjoys throwing whatever piece of trash, firewood, or rock he can find into it! Water boots make great gold fish pond torpedos, too. It's like our own built in landfill! LOL I'm totally kidding. I know it will be neat- eventually. :)