A rainbow of grasshoppers went flying in every direction from the tall grass when I sprayed it down! First time I've ever seen a pink one. That was really neat. However, a friend of mine taught me that grasshoppers can be very destructive to a garden, so I'm glad that there seem to be fewer each day.
Next step: papier mâ ché the ground with pages torn from an old phone book and spray it with water to keep them from flying everywhere. I scattered a thin layer of grass clippings on top of that for the "green" layer and then a few inches of straw on top of that for the "brown" layer.
I covered about a third of my garden with one phone book |
I started a compost in the other corner on the same day, and it's coming along nicely. It amazes me how much we used to throw away that we can put in that compost heap! I got it started with a small pile of about 1/3 grass clippings and weeds and 2/3 straw, and I'm trying to keep that ratio of greens to browns. Maintaining it only takes a few minutes to make sure it's as damp as a wrung out sponge and mix it up with a shovel.
Just added that cardboard in back today to keep the pooch from pulling straw through the fence. She thought that was a great game! |
Since then, we've started keeping a labelled container in our fridge for scraps. The cold keeps things from getting smelly, and I only have to go mix it into the compost heap every day or two. Here are some examples of what we have been composting so far:
What you can and cannot compost seems to be a matter of debate. I've read a number of lists and some say you can compost anything organic up to roadkill (blech). Buuuut I haven't been able to generate a lot of heat with my compost heap yet. I'm guessing that's because it is small and not contained. So, although I have seen things begin to break down in the few weeks that I've been doing this, it's not as quick of a process as it could be. I'm going to stick to the safer stuff, which means no meat or dairy products.
Oh yeah, and remember the chicken wire I put down to dogproof the garden? It's working... but she's not giving up!
Right at the edge of the chicken wire... Yep. She's getting a snootful of cayenne next time. |
I didn't know you can compost tp rolls! I will totally add that to our pile. We mostly compost Fred's Gdiaper inserts and veggie scraps. Oh also bunnie litter (hay newspaper) and grass clippings. I think I need more dry paper things as sometimes it gets kinda muddie.
ReplyDeleteOh, I bet bunny litter would be great! I've heard goat droppings are good, since they're herbivores. Is it the same for bunnies? No such luck with dogs, unfortunately.
DeleteHere are a few of the lists I found while researching this stuff. It's pretty amazing what all people compost!
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/howtocompost/a/50-Things-You-Can-Compost.htm
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/f/greensandbrowns.htm
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/surprising-compost-items.htm