Using Compost Piles For My Garden

 

I love my Neuton garden cart!

I take my buckets out to the compost pile in my Neuton garden cart. Since I have physical limitations now, this little cart has made it possible for me to still do some of my homesteading chores. I especially hated having to ask my husband to get my compost for me when he already has a huge amount of chores to do himself. If I ask him to do something for me, he is always ready to do it. But I like my independence and won't give it up without kicking and screaming all the way!

Compost pile presently being filled

Three separate piles of compost makes our composting work. The first pile is the one we are adding new manure to daily. This we leave alone. We do not stir it or take its temperature. We just let it sit and it will compost.

Jewel weed is growing on top of it!

The second pile is the one we added to last year. It will be used next year. It will compost and when it is time to use this pile, it will be rich black dirt. Better than purchasing fertilizer.

Empty....for we used it last year.

The third compost pile is the one we used last year. It is empty basically. You can take what is left as it is still good and will remain so until we start adding more to it.

Rich compost is the secret of our bountiful garden harvests!

And this is the compost pile I am using presently. All of the compost here will be added to our raised beds as they all need topping off. Today though, I am getting buckets of compost to start plants in containers. I like to fill all my containers as well as raised beds. You can NEVER have TOO much food!

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Carrying my buckets back to the garden area where I will fill my many containers. It is too cold yet to do much serious planting and transplanting my plants from indoors to outside. But this is something I do every year. I like to have the containers scattered around the yard too.

My helpers, Patches and Hobo.

How are you doing with your garden this spring? Or are you having too much rain? Or cold temperatures? Do you have a compost plan in effect? How is it working out for you?

Have a great homesteading day! 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
 All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

Gardening Season Is Beginning At Peaceful Forest!

Squash & Pumpkin Plants 2010

Today finally feels like spring! Waking up to hearing the birds sing makes you ready to get out of bed in the morning. Like they are saying, "Hurry up sleepy head, the day is waiting!" The first thing that runs through my mind is digging in my raised beds. But I can't. Not yet.

Raised Beds in backyard  2010

I have been transplanting many of my seedlings already. They grew so fast that it was hardly worth starting them in the little flats. It is sadly too cold yet, in fact, our ground is still frozen and much of it is still snow covered. I will have strong little plants to put in the ground when I can.

Squash Blossom 2010

New York gardeners around here usually plan to get their gardens in on Memorial Day week-end. My father who has been gardening for most of his life doesn't even start his seeds until April first. By starting mine earlier though, when I put the plants in, it is like the gardeners who purchase plants instead of seeds. It gives you a head start on the harvest. We get vegetables earlier than usual. With our weather here in NY that is a good idea!

Rich Compost!

 Are you getting your garden in? I know many of my readers here are in a warmer climate than I am. So I hope you got a good start already. Happy spring!

 Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

Starting Seeds Today

We have three compost piles. One is the one we put manure in presently. That is what you see in the photo above. It is hot, so the snow melts instead of keeping it covered. The other snow piles are covering the other two piles. One is the one we stopped adding to two years ago. It will need another year to set. The other one we will be using this year, as it is now three years old.

I went out there and got two buckets of new compost. Put it in the baking pan and set it in the oven this morning for about three hours at 180 degrees. It sterilizes the compost. To start seeds you don't want anything else in there competing with the seeds. Later on in the garden, all those good things in the soil are welcome, as then the plants need them. But for now, they are in a controlled environment. 

Rich compost from our compost pile. It is like gold. Our garden is very productive due to the quality of our soil. We plant everything in raised beds full of this compost. It is easy to work with and full of earthworms. I love the smell of the dirt and the feel of it between my fingers. I guess it is no surprise that one of my favorite things to do as a child was to make mud pies and play in the dirt.

The seeds I ordered from Comstock, Ferre & Co. are heirloom seeds. They do not sell any GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds and that was what I was looking for in a seed company. I do not want to contribute even in a tiny way to Monsanto. If you don't know who Monsanto is, they are currently the company that is in control of the GMO seed market. Anyway, this post is not about the politics of heirloom seeds, but about my own little food factory here.

Today the seeds I stared were winter squash varieties. Last year we grew a few different kinds but didn't get as many to store as I wanted. I want to store as much food as possible. So this year I am doubling the amount of vegetables as I normally do. I will store some fresh and can the rest. Squash is one of our favorites. How about you? What kind of vegetables are you growing this year? I am getting started today because I have spring fever. 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole