Well There's Good News & Bad News

Good News First...

I made "Compost Tea"!

I expect that I'll dial in the process in the future, but for a first attempt I think it went well.

So, First I watched a bunch of you tube videos about making the tea and then I totally modified everything to fit with what I already had.



Here's MBC.
I have it divided in half now because it makes compost much faster this way.

 I sift it through this bucket, that my sweet and handsome husband Chris, made for me.

I end up with this. It's beautiful compost and I get a great upper body workout from shaking it all through the sifter bucket. I'm convinced that I'll soon have American Gladiator Girl Arms.

pretty pretty pretty nice...

perfection

Meanwhile, in another corner of the backyard, I'd been saving rainwater in a rubber-made container.

 This was necessary because our tap water has chloramine in it. Chloramine will kill the microorganisms that you're trying to grow and it won't "gas off" like regular chlorine, yuck. 

I could have used tap water and just treated it with aquarium tap water dechlorination drops, but I didn't. Although, I do have them. I decided that the rainwater would be better because well, my plants just love rainwater! 

So, I put a little compost in the leg of a pair of pantyhose that had a run in them and hung it in the container along with a water pump.

Now, I know you're supposed to use an air stone to keep the tea aerobic, but I didn't have one. I had a pump. So, oh well!

I say "Get Over It" to the Tea Nazis!

 Later, I decided to hang it from a fence post.

 I let this sit for like 12 hours then removed the Tea bag and added watermelon juice. They reccomended molasses, but - again - that is not what I had.

10 hours later I sprayed it on everything!

 This...

 and this...

and these...

And this stuff too.

Now for the Bad News...

I found some Squash Bugs and their Evil Eggs!

I ran this leaf through the garbage disposal

So, I guess it's go time.

That's right! I'm coming for you squash bugs and I don't care how bad you stink when I squish you. 

What a Difference a Weekend Makes

For the last three years my family has attended Backwoods Bash over Memorial Day Weekend. It's super FUN! We camp and listen to great music. When we return home my garden has always changed.

This year, I returned to find a ton of green tomatoes, roses covered with a second flush of buds, 3 to 4 fat baby squash and one huge bell pepper. I also found a ton of weeds. (yeah, those jerks!)

I spent my first morning home pulling weeds and sitting in the garden. I love that. I love just sitting out there when it's still early and everything is beautiful. This morning while I was enjoying the zen of the garden I was pooped on by a bird. That brings you right back to reality. Thank you random bird, for reminding me that we are all connected and while I may think my life and garden are profound, really they're just your restroom. 

In other news, my orange lilies are blooming!