Junk Mail, Chickens, Compost

So here's the deal...
I take all of our junk mail and shed it in a paper shredder. Then I use it as chicken bedding in the coop. Then I take the paper (+ manure) and throw it in the compost bin. This goes from mailbox to finished compost in about 8 to 12 weeks.

SO LET's EXPLORE THIS CONCEPT!


Cons:
There are MANY people who find tons of flaws with my system including: junk mail has stuff you might not want in finished compost, shredded paper is not ideal chicken bedding and chicken manure has more nitrogen than is ideal for fruiting plants.

To those people I say, "I do not care." 

then I dance around laughing like a maniac

Pros:
I use the junk mail that I had been throwing away. I no longer have to purchase chicken bedding for the coop. I have a plentiful carbon source for the compost year round. I am using the chicken manure to help my plants grow. (yeah eggs and compost I love those hens) AND, I get lots of compost pretty fast (LOTS)

Some of the finer points:

1. I really try to exclude obviously "bad" stuff like plastic, chunks of glue or perfume samples.

2. I sprinkle diatomacious earth on the paper before I put it in the coop to help to control mites/insects. (only use "Food/Feed" grade DE. The other type, used mainly for pool filters, is heat/chemically treated which makes it very dangerous if inhaled)

3. When using paper as bedding one should make every effort to keep the paper "dry" in the coop. This is because if rain gets in and makes a damp environment then some nasty pathogens could grow in the bedding (just like in most conventional bedding). It's also nice to do this just to keep your chickens comfortable. 

Some people are more concerned about this this, I am not. 

This may be because my coop is elevated and dry or because I have a healthy immune system 

(ie. I'm not under 5 years old, immune-compromised or elderly). 

I do not let my 3 year old son play with the soiled bedding. 

Maybe that's because I'm:

a. really smart about zoonotic diseases

b. a superior mother, or 

c. not a complete moron... 

(partial maybe, but whatever)

4. This is working really well for me and all of my plants (fruiting & non) are responding in a very positive way everytime I apply the compost to them (or tea made from this compost).

So, here is the inside of the coop...

 Here are the hens (or 3.6 of them)..

Here is MBC! (love it!)

And the finished compost.

The Tomato

Oh Yeah!
Kool-Aid Voice

but... a bug already chomped it.

 I don't know, it could still be okay, right?

:-|

Also, I found a pretty big spider on the pumpkins. I left her there as pest control, but now I'm kind of scared of that area.

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!

A Remedy for Seed Packet Chaos

I have never been accused of being an organized person. In someways I'm really thankful for that, but it wasn't serving me well in the realm of seeds. 

Until recently, I kept all of my seed packets in a really pretty box. A box which I often lost. Yeah, I'm quite the chronic loser.

Good Grief

So, if confronted with seed displays while out and about I'd commonly buy stuff I had at home or, even worse, I'd freak out and not buy something because I thought I had it. 

SO, WHAT'S THE SOLUTION!? 

Well, I saw this awesome idea on "Gardening by the Yard." 

A Great Show hosted by a Tulsa Local

First, I grabbed the mystery box of seeds from under a pile of plastic pots in the garage or somewhere similar

Then I laid them all out 

(this picture keeps loading upside down, whatever.)

Then in one of my old school binders I filled plastic photo holders with the seed packets.

.

I held them in the little pouches with a piece of tape

 This was looking pretty good! So, now what?

Should I carry this binder at all times? 

Should I memorize it page by page? 

Should I just forget the whole thing and take a nap?

NO! I should do data entry... (lame)

So, I entered everything into MS Excel and made a spreadsheet (gag!)

The end result is that I am now able to print off a very portable list of my seed catalog. 

HEY! I can probably even load it on to my phone so I'll never be without this valuable information.

I envision a lot of efficiently purchased seeds in my future!!!

I still have all of my flower packets to do, but Pa'Sha to that!