Soilutions Blog

Customer's Garden

2011-09-13T08:41:00.006-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of one of our customer's yard. He writes "Basically, our story is that in 2005 the yard was gravel and weeds. Prior tenants had used the yard for auto repairs and parking. With pecan hulls, plants and seed from the nursery, and a whole lot of love, we have transformed the yard into a lush green space. And this year we began irrigating through the acequia, and it's just exploded."

Congratulations on a beautiful oasis.

I love it.

Persistent Herbicide

2011-08-10T08:10:00.006-06:00

I am pretty sure that not many of you follow national compost news as closely as we do.

Recently, the big news has been the introduction of a persistent herbicide by DuPont. Imprelis (also Milestone and Forefront) contains a broad leaf herbicide, aminocyclopyrachlor, designed to withstand "wear and tear", as it were, and remain active for up to a year. This means that when sprayed on a lawn to end growth of broad leaf weeds such as dandelions, the active ingredient remains active, even after being composted, for up to a year or more. Most herbicides available to certified applicators and all those available to the general public are broken down by the microbial action that occurs during the commercial composting process. For this reason, Soilutions has never been worried about what chemicals our tipping customers use on the greenwaste we receive at our recycling facility. (10 years ago, Dow Chemical introduced a persistent herbicide containing the active ingredient clopyrlid. The US Composting Council, and several states quickly joined forces to demand that Dow remove it from circulation.)

After a story by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/science/earth/15herbicide.html?pagewanted=all) told of 1000's of people in the northeast experiencing die-back or death of certain conifers resulting from "misuse" of Imprelis, we began to followed the story more closely in the trade magazines. Because of the location of the events, and the fact that most use was on golf courses or municipal parks, greenwaste generators of which we don't see much, we were still not worried about it. Then a customer came to us claiming that he planted tomatoes in our soil and they were showing signs of herbicide distress, according to his nurseryman. (Never mind that the soil he bought this year was made two years ago before Imprelis was even on the market, nor that the other 1000 cubic yards of topsoil was getting its usual rave reviews.) The idea that there was toxic soil being sold in the area was becoming a stronger one and that would not do anybody in the business any good.

I called all the nurseries, shopped at the big box stores, checked all the labels of all the available herbicides and found not one contained the active ingredient of Imprelis. Our friends at Plant World, Inc even promised that if they were given the opportunity to carry it, they would decline. Then I called a chemical fertilizer manufacturer in Albuquerque. They do carry Milestone, but that turns out to be an insecticide and it is costly ($500+/gal), too costly to be widely used by our customers. Even they had not yet heard of Imprelis.

So this all happened in July and August. Just as I was writing the draft for this article, DuPont issued a "voluntary recall" of Imprelis and set up a website (http://www2.dupont.com/Professional_Products/en_US/Products_and_Services/Imprelis/index.html) to assist those affected by its misuse. I was skeptical that they would cop to any wrong doing. It is registered with the EPA (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/imprelis.html) and there are specific restrictions concerning its use on page 9 (or some such)of the warning label booklet (who reads those things anyway?).

Just the next week, while browsing a discarded New York Times I noticed an article claiming that the EPA had banned the sale and use of Imprelis (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/e-p-a-halts-sale-of-suspected-tree-killer/?scp=1&sq=imprelis&st=cse). Score one for the EPA, the USCC,BioCycle and all the others that put pressure on the chemical giant.

Compost Innovations

2011-07-26T14:40:00.004-06:00

In my travels this week-end, I had opportunity to repeat the phrase, "We were so early, we were late" several times. In the New Mexico solid waste management business, it is more appropriate to say "We are so far behind, we are leading the way."

At Soilutions, as strange as it may sound, we have to invent every means of production. At first, fifteen years ago, those innovations came fast and furious. But over the years, we got in a routine, got comfortable, got efficient.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce that today we had a MAJOR break-through in the process of compost production.

Check it out.

When I see creativity and innovation of this magnitude, it makes me proud to work here.

Vermicultural Mycology

2011-07-15T09:17:00.006-06:00

This morning, in a rush to get the kids up and ready for the day, coffee drunk, breakfast made, and house organized for the early morning guests (long story), I decided to take the kitchen waste from the last couple of days to the worms. The import of this is not that I recycled my food waste, but rather that I decided that it NEEDED to be done this morning. I could have and maybe should have taken the five minutes it usually takes to feed the worms to sweep the floor of dog hair, or to return the "camping" gear from last night's sleep over from the living room to the bedroom. I could have paid a couple of bills, scrubbed the toilet, picked up dog poop, shaved, loaded the washing machine, or ... you get the picture. But this morning I decided to reward myself with an early morning jaunt to the worm bin. (Without getting into details, the last couple of weeks have rewarded me fairly obviously when I have made seemingly selfish or pleasurable decisions rather than the responsible or logical ones.) So I gambled with being late and falling behind, with missing that first moment of sleepy innocence (which is getting more and more fleeting) when my boys arise, and took the containers to the worm bin.

As I said, I have recently been rewarded with my rash decisions. This morning was no different. Check out what greeted me when I lifted the lid...

I, as usual, have no idea what I am looking at here, but it is so darn beautiful that I don't really care.

I am often asked about things in a worm bin that aren't worms: rolly-pollys, flies, ants, mice, etc. My response is always "those macro creatures are just participating in the decomposition process. If they don't bother you, they shouldn't bother you." Mushrooms fall into the same category. Mushrooms and other fungi breakdown the "harder" woody material in your bin, i.e., wood, paper, and in this case, corn cobs.

So I snapped a couple of pictures, carefully dumped the kitchen waste away from the mushrooms, closed the lid, and recognized the fleeting beauty just offered to me.

Happy composting.

Farmer's Market

2011-06-09T10:01:00.004-06:00

Just a couple of photos of last week's Farmers Market.

Our waste collection station

Our fearless leader: Ski

Look for these signs at future events

This next week, we will have for sale bags of vermicompost and bottles of liquid compost extract as well as bags of our Premium Compost. If nothing else, stop by to check out our tumblers.

Demand Accountablity

2011-06-07T08:52:00.002-06:00

Study: Biodegradable Products in Landfills May be Harmful

From Waste & Recycling News -- Biodegradable products, such as disposable cups and utensils, may be doing more harm than good in landfills, according to researchers from North Carolina State University.

The study, which was published online in Environmental Science & Technology, found that so-called eco-friendly products release a powerful greenhouse gas as they break down.

The problem is attributable to the rate at which biodegradable materials break down, the study found. According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, products marked as biodegradable should decompose within "a reasonably short period of time" after disposal.

But that rapid deterioration may be environmentally harmful, the researchers found.

Federal regulations do not require landfills that collect methane to install gas collection systems for at least two years after the waste is buried. If materials break down and release methane too quickly, the study said, much of the methane will likely be emitted before the collection technology is installed. This means less potential fuel for energy use and more greenhouse gas emissions.

The researchers found that a slower rate of biodegradation is more environmentally friendly because the majority of the methane production will occur after the methane collection system is in place.

"Methane can be a valuable energy source when captured, but is a potent greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere," said Morton Barlaz, co-author of the study and a professor and head of N.C. State’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, in a statement. "In other words, biodegradable products are not necessarily more environmentally friendly when disposed of in landfills."

So next time you buy yummy food from your favorite local cafe, ask them why they aren't offering recycling services (like those offered by us at Soilutions) for the premium biodegradable service ware they offering to look more green.

Road side Ruminations

2011-04-21T09:11:00.000-06:00

I was driving my boys home from school yesterday when I got to thinking. As anyone with pre teen boys will tell you, they are constantly hungry. I try to make it a point to have a burrito or some snack for them so they stay in a good mood on the drive. Yesterday I came from work, so did not have a chance to stop and stock up. I did have some peanuts in my lunch pail and offered them up. They ate them ravenously and made a game of tossing the shells out the window at various street signs.
Now what got me thinking was how cool it was that we could just throw the shells out the window without any social discrimination. Tossing peanut shells out the car window isn’t considered littering in my book. Since they are a natural product I consider it feeding the critters that scavenge the roadsides. I put apple cores, sunflower seeds, and orange peels in the same category.
When we pulled up to a stop sign and the car in front of us opened its door and dropped a McDonald’s bag on the ground before driving away, it made clear a point: by eating natural food in the packaging that Mother Nature gave it, we are making our lives easier in yet another way. Not only are we putting less strain on the systems (health care, sanitary, road maintenance, etc,) but we are putting less strain on ourselves. I mean I don’t have to worry about finding a trash can, or about spending an hour on the weekend cleaning the foot wells of my car.
How cool is that?

Show Us Your Compost!

2011-04-07T12:42:00.002-06:00

I feel like starting a new campaign. I want to see a little chutzpah from our customers. I want to see how people are composting. Be it at home, school, work, play, real or imagined.

So take a picture of you or someone you know in the act of composting. Make sure the image above is visible somehow. Send it to me either Facebook or through email or whatever. As I said, I want to see how creative you all can be.

Who knows, maybe there is a free yard of compost for the most interesting...

Our Place in the World

2011-03-04T07:38:00.003-07:00

I recently spent an evening listening (I didn't feel like she needed advice just then) to a friend lament her lack of place in this world. She feels she has no meaningful job, no permanent place to stay, and as such, doesn't feel like she contributes. She expressed envy that I get to go to work everyday and do something to save the earth. She felt useless because she spent one day in bed, unable to get up and shoo the ants away.

It got me thinking. What is important, nowadays? Is it important to go to work everyday? Certainly. Is it important to ensure that your kids have an active interesting social life? Absolutely. But it is also equally important to recognize a body's need to stop periodically, to reflect, to weep. From the devil's advocate point of view, I could argue that she did less damage to the earth yesterday, than I did driving to work, then school, then to soccer practice, then home again.

But more importantly, she spent the day reflecting. Today, she will be more sure and aware of who she is and where she belongs. I hope the little things she does everyday to make the world a better place for her, me, and anyone she runs into are as clear to her today as they always are to me.

At Soilutions, the nature of what we do allows us to come into contact everyday with people who are trying to do their part to make our world a better place. The impact a small urban garden has on the world (I know I am sounding overly dramatic here, but it's true) is immense. But there are other ways to impact positively our world. For those that don't or can't garden, just being kind, courteous, and considerate has an equal impact on this world we call home.

Peace.

C and D Recycling

2011-01-15T08:35:00.003-07:00

Soilutions, Inc., a compost facility and organics recycler in the South Valley of Albuquerque, will stop accepting construction lumber as of March 30 2011.

Due to the high cost of processing, long labor hours cleaning the material of contaminates, and a lack of end market for the finished product, we are forced to stop receiving construction lumber from many LEED new construction projects. This will affect nearly twenty contractors and at least two major haulers. We currently accept about 3000 cubic yards a month.

Until we can find a market for the finished material, there just isn't any financial reason to keep accepting it.

Materials range from coarsely ground chunks to uniformly screened mulches. Some of the finished products meet the NMDOT specifications for mulch and mulch logs and are on the state's approved product list. Many are competitively priced.

Uses for the material include decorative mulch for the urban gardener, erosion control, SWPPP implementation, and NMDOT applications.

New Worm Bin

2011-01-06T08:02:00.007-07:00

I know I am a compost dork. I had a real reminder of that this last week.

I am moving into a new apartment. What do you think I set up first? The shower curtain? The computer table? No. I saw that I needed a recycling center first. Moving generates a lot of trash, or I should say it generates a lot of unwanted discards: paper from unpacking, cardboard from the new coffee maker, coffee filter, the paperboard six pack holder, orange peels, etc.

Here is a picture of my simple worm bin.

It's just a 5 gal. bucket with some worms and bedding at the bottom and various organic discards thrown on top. As it dries out, I pour undrunk coffee (a rarity I can assure you), and used dish water. The bulky cardboard I hope will be compressed as more material gets dumped on top.

As you can see, nothing fancy, but it erases the constant chagrin I have when faced with throwing away perfectly good waste.

Moving is usually a time of reflection. A chance to change things that I've always wanted to change but couldn't find the time to do so. I have a long road ahead to make an environmentally healthy living area out of my new small apartment, but at least I got the important thing out of the way.

Just in Time

2010-12-30T11:19:00.002-07:00

Just in time for the Polar Bear Swim. I was starting to worry that the water would remain in the 40's.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T15:17:00.004-07:00

I don't know what the rest of you think, but Christmas is a time of such wealth. It sounds oxymoronic, especially after I've spent a month's wages on toys for the family. But regardless of bad commercial habits, people just seem richer in other ways: kinder, slower, happier. As I harvest some greens for tonight's salad, I realize again it is a good time to reflect. And when I do so, I almost always find that I have so much.

Today, especially, I feel like I have too much: to much wrapping paper, too many cardboard boxes, too many brown paper bags from spent luminarias. With the weather co-operating and with a few extra days off of work, let me tell you what I will be doing the next couple of days. The wrapping paper and cardboard boxes will be place over the top of some of my dried tumble weeds. Then I'll put a good layer of mulch (in this case wood chips) to cover sufficiently to keep them buried. The sand from the luminarias will go into a base for short brick walkway. Paper bags and leftover candles will go into my compost bin. I have an artificial tree, but generally buy a "Charlie Brown" tree. That I will plant next to last year's.

Once again, I feel better about giving back to the earth as a way of saying thanks for all her generosity throughout the year.

Merry Christmas. Don't be strangers.

This is where I work

2010-12-21T07:41:00.007-07:00

Jealous yet?

The drive in was so pretty, I had to call and wake Kim to tell her (not recommended by the way).

12/16/10

2010-12-16T11:40:00.002-07:00

Ahh...Rain

Cover Crops

2010-12-10T14:09:00.004-07:00

Here is a link to a cover crop story in Organic Gardening: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-3-81-789,00.html

Again, anybody with any knowledge about this gardening practice, I urge you to chime in.

As an aside, I am privy to some of the goings on at the Rio Grande Community Farm regarding cover crop studies. I'll let you all know as soon as I know how things came out.

Christmas Gifts

2010-12-07T14:15:00.005-07:00

Okay, so the Sun Mar 200 didn't tickle your fancy?
How about the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler?

The vertical tumbling action of the patented Tumbleweed Compost Bin, designed with a stainless steel rod running through the middle, creates an aerobic action that offers a quick and odorless form of composting. It is supported by sturdy, galvanized tubular steel legs that won't rust. The steel in these legs is made with recycled metal (as available). The recycled content varies between 17 and 20 percent.

The Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler is attractive and excellent at keeping pests out of your pile.

Give us a ring if this one interests you, only three left...

Christmas Gifts

2010-12-03T07:55:00.003-07:00

Do you have a gardener friend who is already starting to jones for spring? Why not give them a leg up on the seed starting frenzy? It's easy to make compost at home. A compost tumbler keeps your garden looking neat while turning leftover food into a great seed starting mix.

Soilutions has a number of compost bins available. Here's one:

The Sun Mar 200 compost tumbler is already assembled, is an attractive green color and hold almost a 1/3 cubic yard of material. Simply fill it with leaves, grass clipping, kitchen waste...anything organic, turn it periodically, and by Spring all that "waste" will be turned to black gold.

The Sun Mar 200 is on wheels so it is perfect for someone with a small back porch. The hinged lid allows for easy extraction of finished product.

Call us for more information about the Sun Mar 200 or any of our other compost ideas.
505-877-0220

Welcome to Winter, Baby!

2010-11-26T08:11:00.002-07:00

It was 16F INSIDE the office this morning.

If anybody feels like dropping off some Brandy, I don't think it would be turned down.

Words to Live By

2010-11-19T08:01:00.002-07:00

When driving home with graciously given homemade sauerkraut, ensure the lid is screwed on tightly!

Pictures of Food in Soilutions' Dirt

2010-10-30T14:23:00.004-06:00

I am always encouraging people to send me pictures of their projects to post here. Surprisingly, I get very few. Here are a couple of photographs of some food grown by a Soilutions customer in our Topsoil Blend.

The lovely Artichoke. I don't know why it isn't grown more often in this climate. It handles the weather well and is so beautiful.

My personal favorite: Chard. It is so versatile in the kitchen, it is so easy to grow, and it too is lovely.

Who doesn't like watermelons?

Former Employee Makes Good

2010-10-14T14:43:00.002-06:00

Here's a shout out to a former employee of Soilutions: Casey MacFarland. If it weren't for Casey's leaving, I would never have had the opportunity to work here. But he moved on to do what he loves and now he has a book out.

Check out his website: http://wildlifetrackingsouthwest.com/home and see if you can't attend one of his book signings near you. There's one this Sunday in the East Mountains.

Seed Saving Workshop

2010-10-12T07:48:00.002-06:00

Please Join Us!!

Seed Saving Workshop
with Joshua Cravens director of the Arid Crop Seed Cache
Saturday October 16th, 2010
3:00 PM
Free
410 Atrisco NW Albuquerque, NM 87105
Just north of Central

This is our last workshop of the season. We will cover seed saving basics, with lots of hands on examples as well as more advanced techniques such as saving seed from biennials.
• Why Save Seed
• How to Save, Clean and Store Seed
• Saving Seed from Biennials

Biennial plants are ones that go to seed during their second growing season, usually in the spring. Some example of biennial plants are parsnips, carrots, cole plants (cabbage, brussel sprouts, turnips, kale and so on), celery and celery root (celeriac), parsley, beets and swiss chard. Come learn tips on how to best save seeds from your biennials.

Hope to see you there!!

Questions, please email Sarah:
sarah@gardensedge.org
505-948-8398

Lots to do this weekend

2010-09-17T09:01:00.002-06:00

There is so much to do this weekend. I figured instead of enumerating it all, I'd send you to a great website, hosted by a great organization, featuring a great calendar. Soilutions will be at a couple of these events.

http://www.gardenersguild.org/urbangardenactivities

While you're visiting the site, go ahead and become a member.

Get out there and garden!

Weeds

2010-09-02T11:07:00.005-06:00

By a VERY informal poll, all of you are sick and tired of pulling weeds for past three months. The rain is great but I know that, in the far reaches of my brain, I curse ever so slightly the rain because of all the inevitable weed sprouts.

I have been trying for years to document the power of mulch in terms of weed control. I have 5" or more of mulch throughout my property. Where the mulch is undisturbed, I have zero weeds; where the mulch is mixed with soil, the weeds have taken hold, but are really easy to pull because the roots are in the friable mulch; where there is no mulch, the weeds are strong and impossible to pull from the compacted soil. It really is significant enough to warrant consideration, but I weed in the morning before the sun rises so photos don't really come out well.

In the course of conversation with customers, I finally got one long time customer to send me a picture of her garden.

This picture is an excellent example of what a layer of organics can do to ease weed ills. Obviously, on the left of the path, no treatment. But on the right, she says "On the right, I mulched as follows 3-years prior to this photo: 1-2 layers of cardboard + 1" of Soilutions compost + 2" of Soilutions wood chips."

At home, I have started using the weeds as an organic layer, i.e., instead of cardboard. So I pull the weeds, lay them flat, cover them with mulch. That way I save room in my truck for the bulkier branches.

Pretty convincing. Thanks for the photo.

Portable Gardens

2010-08-19T09:32:00.003-06:00

I love to garden. Duh.

But I would also like to live on a boat and sail around the world. Or maybe just drive around the country tasting vanilla ice cream from all the small creameries on all the small roads in all the back woods of our world.

Or I would love to live in a very hip city, Paris of course, or Portland (Maine or Oregon), Sofia Bulgaria, on the tip top of a high rise.

So, my living fantasies don't really have space for a garden, it seems, even though I would give up many, many comforts to continue to be able to taste a carrot 10 seconds out of the ground.

I followed a blog by Roz Savage as she was rowing solo across the Pacific Ocean. Enthralled, I bought her book depicting her similar journey across the Atlantic. As a composter, I kept asking myself, does she have worms on board to manage her waste? She didn't as far as I could tell, but it turns out she kept a pan of bean sprouts growing for her fresh food supply.

There was a customer a year or two back that worked in a women's health clinic. She and her fellow workers were finding that many of her patient's illnesses were related to poor diet. So she commandeered half the facility's parking lot and built a garden to help instruct women how to eat.

Gardening helps me stay active. My neighbors are well into their 60's and can work me under the table still. I attribute that stamina to daily work in their garden. But when I am old and in a retirement home or should one of my fantasies come true and find myself living atop a building in Bucharest, how am I to maintain a stress-busting garden?

So, from the scientific testing laboratories of Soilutions, Inc, comes a new gardening tool: the portable garden.

Light enough to move, small enough to fit on a roof top or in the back of pickup, yet filled with the same great growing medium you have come to know and trust from Soilutions.

I am speaking of a mesh "sock" filled with a blend of compost, soil, and composted chips. Simply lay out the sock, slit it, plant starts or seeds, water and viola!

Landlord kicking you out just before tomatoes are ripe? A portable garden will allow you to take the tomatoes with you. Too much asphalt? Not enough space? Guerrilla alley garden? Traveler? This might just be the answer to your problems.

Organic Pest Control

2010-07-31T10:06:00.005-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of little guys doing overtime to keep the flies down around here.

Cover Crop Conversation Continued

2010-07-29T08:40:00.007-06:00

A question was raised concerning the previous blog entry/email.

I have a question on the cocktail mix. It's my understanding that most cover crops are harvest/cut/flailed, etc.
sometime between the start of flowering and halfway into bloom. With a cocktail, how do you determine the optimum time to take the cover crop down? Is it the flowering schedule of the earliest member of the mix?
The average point of all of them?

And the answer:

Most of our farmers terminate the cover crop with winter kill, meaning it is allowed to fully develop. Before moving into soil health we terminated all sunlight harvest after grain harvest. Now we use the cover crops to harvest the sunlight from grain harvest to winter. This sunlight ultimately becomes additional carbon in the soil. Making increases in soil organic matter more achievable. We have built soil health based no-till systems on the cropland and grazing systems on the rangeland, then the cover crops are used as a bridge to connect the cropland and rangeland. We try for a continual live root, just like native rangeland has. The livestock are a tool to harvest 40-50% of the cover crop biomass, leaving the remainder as soil armor. The livestock can also be used to terminate cover crops by mob grazing. I have attached pictures showing what the soil cover looks like before

and after

having 750,000 lbs of beef per acre graze a cool season cover crop cocktail. Our local Soil Conservation District also has a crop roller which is used to terminate rye or field pea.

We rolled the pea during bloom and the rye during 50%+ anthesis, both were seeded as monocultures. Occasionally we have farmers who terminate a cover crop mixture with herbicide, but only rarely with tillage.

Cover Crops

2010-07-29T08:22:00.003-06:00

The following is excerpts from an email conversation concerning cover crops for a local organic farm. I am finding it very useful as this particular aspect of sustainable farming is difficult for me to understand.

Your first attempt at planning a cover crop mixture is very good. As I recall some of the resource concerns included armor (surface residue), crop diversity, soil aggregates, nutrient cycling, and infiltration to name a few. I see the mixture consists of cool season broadleaves and cool season grass, which is what we would use here for a fall seeding after harvest. The high carbon portion appears a little high, with the first 4 species making up 50%, while the legume may be a little low at 30% of the mix. I would suggest decreasing the high carbon to 40% and increasing the legume to 40%. Possibly an additional legume could be added, such as Lentil. The brassica portion at 20% looks good, since they are nitrogen scavenging and low carbon you do not need very much. The high carbon will give you soil armor and their roots will improve the soil aggregates and soil organic matter. The legumes will improve the nutrient cycling, while the brassicas create streets and avenues for the water to move into the soil profile. Improving soil health is about restoring balance, and the cover crop mixtures will help you with this task. Always try to include crop types in the cover crop mixture that are not used in the annual crop rotation, this will improve crop diversity and help feed the soil biology a more balanced diet.

I attached two cover crop pictures too.

[The photo above depicts] a 14-way mixture, which is primarily cool season. It was seeded at the Menoken Farm on May 12 and includes: wheat, oat, forage pea, lentil, ac greenfix, turnip, radish, sunflower, Italian rye grass, hairy vetch, sweet clover, phacelia, canola, and flax. The native pollinators did very well with this mixture too.

[This photo is] a primarily warm season 11-way mixture, and was seeded on June 14th at the Black Leg Ranch. It consists of: pearl millet, proso millet, sudan, soybean, cowpea, sunflower, radish, turnip, sweet clover, canola, and corn. Both are based on the clients resource concerns and objectives. This is not the first time that nature has seen this many different plants together. We have to understand they are working together and not competing. Thank you for your interest in soil health.

I have used this email without permission from it's author but thank him nonetheless.

Hot enough for ya?

2010-07-16T10:33:00.011-06:00

The weather has been nice lately; I especially enjoy the cool overcast mornings. But I bet your plants are suffering. We have received about 1" less than average of rain so far and have had two (at least)spells of intense heat. For those of you without a swimming pool, it can be tough to cool down. Next time you are sitting inside with a cold beer while watching Buffy reruns, think of your poor plants wilting in the afternoon swelter. Vegetables won't set fruit when it gets over 90F. Heat stressed plants are more susceptible to disease and pest damage. But when you continue to dump water on them, your water bill will punish you.

You know where this going...

You need to mulch. Mulches, like compost, are a universal cure all. A thick layer of organic mulch keeps soil temperatures low. It helps retain moisture in the soil. (Did you know that in New Mexico, we have the evaporative average of 60" annually? That means that in New Mexico, the natural evaporation of water from soil to the atmosphere averages 5 feet a year. 5 feet! We only get 8" or so of rain to replenish that.) That moist soil provides a habitat for beneficial organism that create a healthy growing environment for plants. It's not by accident that bushes and trees drop their leaves periodically; they are providing mulch to protect and build the soil in which they live.

Although visually pleasing mulch is in some cases as important as properly functioning mulch, some materials perform better than others in some situations.

Windy areas: we have seen over the years that particle shape is as important as particle size when choosing a mulch for a windy area. An elongated shape tends to allow the mulch to knit together so that it stays in place better. These mulches also do well in well traveled areas.

A coarsely ground woody material is a good example. We call this Native Mulch

Another good example is this material. It is a little more decorative. We call it Black and Tan.

Established Trees and Shrubs: The problem with amending the soil around established trees and shrubs is that an disturbance of the soil will damage valuable feeder roots. So a mulch that contains a lot of humic acid containing compost will perform two functions: feed and protect the soil.

Forest Floor Mulch is an excellent mulch for established trees.

Decorative areas: Sometimes you want to show off a rose garden or create a pathway. A good mulch for that application would be a uniform material. These are generally processed more and will be a bit more expensive. Pecan Shells or Wood Mulch are excellent materials.

A new mulch we have is a good pathway mulch. It is a certified playgound mulch called Playsoft.

It's light in color, very uniform in particle distribution, attractive and soft.

Vegetable areas: Now here is where it gets fun. I like to use short fibered mulched in the veggie garden because they generally break down faster. Short fibered materials are usually not as carbonaceous so they won't rob nitrogen from you prized tomatoes. The best part (to me at least) is that these potential mulches are everywhere for the taking. Grass clippings or leaves make great mulches for veggie gardens. Of course, an excellent mulch for your veggies is a compost approved for use on certified organic farms...Premium Compost.

Vote for a Charity

2010-07-02T10:31:00.003-06:00

This was forwarded to me by an old friend.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38027143/ns/today-what_do_you_care_about_today/

What warrants a blog entry this time was the dilemma between the organizations from which to choose. The old school in me says that surfing always trumps anything else. There really is a cleansing quality to the surf that every one should test. But the new school in me sees a huge demand for urban farms. My recent experience with our Soilutions' sign painting makes me want to vote for the urban art project.

So, I leave it up to you all to vote your heart. I don't think there is a bad choose.

Los Poblanos Lavender Festival

2010-06-25T09:02:00.003-06:00

Make arrangements to attend this year's Lavender Festival at Los Poblanos Organic Farm. More information at

http://www.lospoblanos.com/lavender_farm/-/lavenderfestival/#

This year, Ski has been working really hard to organize foodwaste collection at the festival. Special events pose specific hurdles when it comes to organic waste collection. The general public is notoriously unreliable at separating organics from non-organics. This year, as I understand it, there will be a slew of volunteers to stand by the collection carts to help festival attendees properly sort all recyclables, not just the organics.

So when you go, thank the volunteers and pay special attention to the green carts marked "Organics Only" and know that you are helping us reduce local greenhouse gases.

Not to be outdone, Soilutions' owners Jim and Karen Brooks will be offering a composting workshop for the event. If you've never seen them speak, you will be in for a treat; be prepared to leave energized about your home compost.

Seedlings Up For Grabs

2010-06-18T16:20:00.002-06:00

So a long time customer just came in with several flats of Tomato starts. There are about 200? They were grown by an organization called seed2need out of Corrales. As I understand it, they grow food on vacant and abandoned lots and donate the food to the food bank system. They grew way too many seedlings this year, so want to share their wealth a little. They only ask that you follow in their footsteps and give some of the tomatoes to the food banks. The Storehouse on Broadway was suggested but there are several. Our customer works at RoadRunner Food Bank, so there is another one to consider.

Vermicompost for Sale

2010-06-16T11:16:00.004-06:00

Every six months or so, we clean up our worm beds. When the beds contain more castings than fresh food for the worms, it becomes toxic to the worms. They become lethargic, get smaller and, if left alone, will die. So we dig the worm castings out and replenish the feed stocks. This year I used a combination of leaves and grass clippings. After I dug out the bin, I passed the material over a 1/4" screen to get most of the worms out and to separate any large or uncomposted material from the fine particle sized casting. The worms and the larger pieces go back into the bin while the finer material goes into the garden. Or if you want, it can go into YOUR garden. We have a limited amount until this fall, so get it now. One cubic foot bags sell for $10. bring your own 5 gal bucket and save $3.

Hope to see you soon.

Rubber Necking

2010-06-11T10:35:00.006-06:00

Everyone likes a good fire.

I don't think that the building has been vacant for years and is now for sale has anything to do with it.

I mentioned this property in a post dated July 2nd 2009.. As I recall, I was complaining that it was properties like this that got me depressed sometimes. It didn't occur to me that burning the place was a viable solution. Maybe I was wrong.

As I write this, our delivery truck is detained at the top of Bates Rd. Something about a hazard. I wonder if they are going to evacuate us?

Then it got really big.

The New Face of Soilutions, part 2

2010-06-10T08:07:00.004-06:00

For a look at what it takes to re-do a "simple" sign, go to: http://www.actualcreative.com/presentations/soilutions/

The original sign was a "Bates Lumber" sign (we are situated on the same property as the old Bates Lumber Mill), so the structure itself is probably 30-40 years old. You know us: re-use when ever possible.

The first question I had for Danny was how quickly it would get "tagged" by the local graffiti-ists. He said that the culture among the artists prohibited covering up or tagging a well-done mural: honor among thieves so to speak.

I suppose that last comment is unfair, at least to Danny. Here in Albuquerque, spray paint is considered a blight to communities performed by thugs and deadbeats. Obviously, to others outside our area, i.e., New york City, it is an art performed by artists.

Once again, I am enlightened by a customer.

The New Face of Soilutions

2010-06-09T07:56:00.004-06:00

Hopefully, you all will see this for yourself. It's the sign at the end of Bates Rd.

We are pretty good at what we do, i.e., make compost. We are not very good at advertising. So when this guy walked into our office and said that he wanted to re-paint our sign, we said okay. We had been thinking of re-doing it for some time; each morning the rust spots bothered us. And now that the RailRunner comes by several times each day, we figured an old rusty sign wasn't the best face for our business.

I encourage you all to check out the guy's website (http://www.actualcreative.com), but in the meantime, here's what I know of him. His name is Danny Skinz and he owns and operates an advertising business in New York City: big clients like Chrysler, Tampico, Nintendo, Ecko, and now Soilutions. Then he had an epiphany, and moved to NM after studying Permaculture. I don't know how he found us (how does anyone find us?) but decided that he could help us out.

His real love is aerosol, i.e. spray paint, and what he really wants to do is paint our delivery trucks. Any one who knows us knows that we don't make quick decisions. So we agreed to have him re-work the sign as a test run. Not a test run for him as much as a test run for us to see if the "urban" style would work for us.

Well, we are as tickled with it as anyone could be. I think it is sharp, unique, and speaks to the growing crossover market of agricultural and urban gardening in which we find ourselves deep in the midst . As one customer said yesterday, "it puts you into the twentieth century finally."

So please let us know what you think as you drive by on your way to recycle those branches, or to buy mulch for your newly planted trees. And look for Ski in our soon to be freshly painted delivery truck at a restaurant or cafe near you .

Plants for Sale

2010-05-27T09:03:00.006-06:00

I have some plants for sale. They are in 4" pots and some 1 gal. containers.

Cosmos are a standard in any garden. These are a variety of colors. Full sun and moderate water. Check out http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/flowers/cosmos/cosmos.html for more information.

Russian Sage. This is a beautiful shrub but it must be kept under control. Once established, it needs no water. Plant it in direct sun and in poor soil. Check out http://www.americanmeadows.com/Perennials/OtherPerennials/perovskia-little-spire.aspx for more information.

Bee Balm is a very hardy herb with many uses. Check out http://www.altnature.com/gallery/beebalm.htm for more information. The 4" plants will grow and produce bee-loving blooms all summer.

Prices: 4" pots $2.50 each
1 gal. $5.00 each

I have many more. Please feel free to ask me what all is available.

Gulf Oil Spill

2010-05-26T15:44:00.001-06:00

I wonder if they could use compost in those booms? It's biologically active, loves carbon, won't harm the environment like dispersant.

Here's a blog from San Francisco concerning the gulf coast catastrophe:
http://sfbaykeeper.blogspot.com/

This is big folks. Let's not be complacent.

Fun with Recycling part 4

2010-05-11T08:24:00.007-06:00

Here are some new examples of what can be done with recycled lumber.

This is a custom "dutch" double gate made to fit a newly constructed block wall. The tops open to let the sunset in while keeping the dogs in the courtyard.

This is a much simpler gate. The problem here was installation.

Both gates are made with Douglas fir scrap lumber using mortise and tenon techniques.

Mother's Day

2010-05-08T08:04:00.002-06:00

In honor of those who gave of their life so that we might experience ours, I am adopting a new ritual: I will now plant my warm season seeds on Mother's Day. What better way to remind myself of the beautiful cycle of birth, nurturing, and reward that started and continues with my mother?

April is the Cruelest Month

2010-04-29T09:09:00.002-06:00

"In the very essence of poetry there is something indecent
a thing is brought forth which we didn't know we had in us."
---Czeslaw Milosz, Ars Poetica

It is said that gardening is an exercise in faith. We plant seed, water, weed, on the belief that a miracle will happen. And when it does, we experience the elation of life both externally with having aided the seeds' growth, and internally when we realize that there are things greater than we are. As the seed grows toward the sun, we, too, grow.

Whitman writes:

Now I am terrified at the Earth! it is that calm and patient,
It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions,
It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of
diseas’d
corpses,
It distils such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor,
It renews with such unwitting looks, its prodigal, annual, sumptuous crops,
It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last.

--Excerpt from This Compost by Walt Whitman

April is indeed a cruel time. It offers so much hope that will be dashed by October. But it is a kind month too, offering fruitfulness from last year's "fetors".

Friends and the Garden

2010-04-22T10:06:00.004-06:00

I'd like to discuss the value of gardens. I mean to get past the obvious values: fresh fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers, shade, stress release, exercise, creativity, solitude peacefulness, energy savings, etc.

I have been seeing A LOT of people lately at the compost site; a lot of regulars, usuals, and first timers alike. Not many of them are from San Francisco, nor are they poets with an interest in French literature. Yet every person coming through our gates has something in common: gardens. Some are starting new gardens, some are old hands; some are revitalizing an old orchard, some are remodeling an inherited garden. Everyone is smiling. Everyone has committed to make the trek to what I call our South Valley Paradise.I don't see that kind of elation in a hospital, or office, or shoe store, or even in a restaurant. Gardeners are naturally happy people.

But there is something more.When I was young and surfing in the Pacific everyday, I was always struck by the camaraderie that seemed inherent in the lifestyle.Old guys, young guns, lawyers, bums, long boarders, short boarders, single fin, three fins; we all knew something that the "landlubbers" didn't know. The "pure stoke" of playing in the ocean transcended our differences. I would have choked back then to make this comparison, but gardening is akin to surfing.

Here at the site, we have seen three or four groups of soldiers recently. I don't agree nor envy the lifestyle they've chosen. In fact, along with over-population, I believe the military is THE cause of all our problems both domestically and internationally. But individually, in the quest for a good tomato, these guys are alright.

Most of my lasting relationships encompass gardens. I remember a picture of a woman on her porch. Her pain and worries were so large to us at the time. But in this picture a rampant party of cosmos overwhelmed the stress and she looks happy. My wife gave me a large bouquet of daisies after we first met. We celebrated my father-in-laws life under a new built arbor freshly planted with honeysuckle.

As I grow older, I find that real, deep, meaningful relationships come fewer and farther between; the spaces now filled with work, children, bills. I don't find the time to lay open my deep concerns nor admit that I've failed at something or someone. But given the right circumstances, smothered with a healthy dose of garden talk, I find that there is time and a real desire to share openly and honestly. I am developing a new friendship with a fellow gardener. Through mulch, tansies, and grand hoop-house dreams, we have broken the wall of friendly chit-chat. We have admitted failure and discussed tribulations. Mohandas K. Gandhi is quoted as saying: "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." Amid the lettuce and the weeds, my new friend has allowed me to reach an understanding that I am human.

Week After Easter Radio

2010-04-09T13:20:00.002-06:00

I hope no one forsook their Easter repast to tune in last week to hear our Fearless Leader on the radio; it was postponed. Now you will have to suffer through what I have to say. But I would still urge you all to take a listen as there appears to be several other extremely knowledgeable and friendly people enlisted to partake in the hour long broadcast.
Sunday April 11th, 2010. channel 1550 am from 6-7pm. I invite you to call: ask me a question.

Easter Radio

2010-03-31T10:37:00.001-06:00

Listen for the voice of Jim Brooks, owner of Soilutions and compost guru extraordinaire, on Sunday night, channel 1550 am. I think the time will be between 4-5pm. After you've stuffed yourself with Jelly Beans and Cadbury chocolate bunnies, relax by the radio to hear discussions of local organic farming, farmers, and others in the community (like Jim) who dedicate their lives to making ours better.

Spring Update

2010-03-27T10:07:00.003-06:00

Wow, has it been a month since I last posted?

I suppose a lot has happened since then: we've gone through another "eventful" grind with the County, I have been giving lectures and presentations on a regular occurrence, we have finished screening various wood products and are now concentrating on screening Premium Compost to keep up with the growing flow of customers.

But most importantly, within the last month, we have once again been reinvigorated by the sometimes near deluge of customers. True, the weather has delayed our spring season a little, but for the most part we have seen a lot of our old customers. The people who come year after year a little earlier than the others warm us because they start to squeeze open the door that the cold winter shut quickly and hard on us at thanksgiving time. There were two weeks this year that we had a total of one person each week buy material from us. We expect that but it's still really hard on us and shatters any confidence we might have built during the "season".

Organic Farmers Conference

2010-02-24T07:52:00.007-07:00

We had a fun time at the conference. I got to touch base with a bunch of old friends and chat up a few new ones.

Thanks to: Rachel for the work and the muffin; Robyn for the encouragement; Karen for you high energy, vision, and determination; Brett for your trust and hard work; Tamara (I signed us up yesterday); Stephanie, it was great to finally meet you, come over for a swim when it gets warm; Dave for the joke; Seeds of Change (seriously, only two packets?); and Brad, every time I hear you I get enthused.

It was great to hear about your endeavors, Eric. Good luck.

How great are Corva and Frances? Nice to you again.

Hello to: Isaura, April, Jim, Brandy, Tomas, Don, Nissa, Cindy, Gordon, Illana, the Water Lady, Arizona Community Gardens, Monica, and Alceides. It was nice to meet you all, again or for the first time.

Sorry I missed you, Monte--we'll talk soon.

Thanks to the wait staff for heating up my lunch. I didn't get a lunch ticket but the homemade burrito made up for it.

It was nice to see you all. There was over 500 people in attendance, I wish I could have talked to you all. Keep up the good work.

Cold Frame Update--February

2010-02-11T09:11:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the cold frame. I've been eating greens for a month now.

Not much work involved. I water once a week if it so needed.

Erosion of Our Most Precious Natural Resource

2010-02-09T08:20:00.002-07:00

As the spring planting season approaches, many of us will be turning our attention to the vegetable plot out back. Whether you were successful last year or had problems, maybe you’re an old hand at it, or sick of leathery lettuce from the big box markets and have decided to grow your own; I encourage you to first consider your soil.

New Mexico has plenty of dirt, but not as much soil. In fact, NM has the largest rate of soil loss in the nation (USDA http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome). The biggest factor in soil degradation is the loss of native vegetation and soil disturbance. Soil erosion puts sediment into our waterways, pollutes our air, adds to our soil reclamation costs, depletes native vegetation, and destroys infrastructure. Furthermore, soil can carry with it chemical pollutants. On a large scale, this is devastating to our rivers, and costs taxpayers, the home construction industry, local, state, and federal governments millions of dollars each year.

In your own landscape, erosion will decrease the value of your property, increase water usage, and decrease plant productivity and longevity. Soil is essential to the health of our planet, our farms, our plants, and our health. Most of everything we use on a daily basis comes from fertile soil: food, clothes, medicine, and home building materials.

What’s the difference between soil and dirt? Look under your finger nails. If there is a brown line under your nails, that’s dirt. If the brown line under your nails has something growing out of it, that’s soil. If you are one of those with something growing out from your nails, consider yourself lucky. In a natural healthy environment, soil consists of inorganic particles (defined by particle size as sand, silt, clay), and organic matter. The organic matter comes from decomposing plant and animal debris (both macro and micro). Organic matter shades the topsoil and protects it from the erosive properties of the wind and rain. It also provides a habitat for the micro-organisms that improve the moisture retention and nutrient availability of the soil. While most NM soils have an adequate percentage of inorganic particles, they generally lack sufficient organic content. (For a good look at soil components’ total volume percentage, see Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison, pg 200.)

This insufficiency in organic content often leads to over-use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The use of synthetic fertilizers is intended to artificially stimulate a plant, similar to steroid use in humans. The more holistic way to treat deficiencies is to treat the cause, not the symptom. The reason a plant performs poorly can in most cases be traced back to the soil in which it grows. A healthy soil makes healthy plants. Studies have recently shown that fruit grown with synthetic fertilizers have less nutrition than fruit from plants grown in healthy soil. Fortunately, we see throughout the growing regions of NM many farmers succeeding by carefully minding the health of their soil.

While you may not be farming an acre of heirlooms for sale at the markets, each of us can do more on a local level, to heal the life blood of the planet. That barren hard pack may not be as useless as you imagine. The single most important thing an individual can do to remediate soil and prevent erosion is to mulch. Properly installed organic mulch does so much: reduces evaporation, cools the soil, filter storm run-off, controls weeds, and establishes the microbial environment necessary to provide the slow release of nutrients. Organic mulch protects the bare soil from the erosive properties of wind and rain by providing an environment where plant roots can form a binding matrix.

Another easy and effective way to quickly remediate soil is to add compost. Where mulching is a slow method of tending to you soil, adding compost is an immediate boost in beneficial microbe population and replenishes valuable nutrients absorbed by plants throughout the previous growing season. Making compost also diverts methane producing organic matter from the landfills. It is easy to make at home and benefits all kinds of soil types.

Now that less than 5% of the US population live in rural settings anymore, we don’t think of the role of soil in our lives except when the kids track it in. When farming was a way of life, taking care of the soil was an obvious and important element of that way of life. We have lost a connection to the soil. “To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves”. (Mohandas K. Gandhi) As a country, we need to regard the soil as a living organism, and to nurture its health. Time is running out. Although the human species is not yet endangered, out fate is inextricably intertwined with that of all other species.

The Price of Low Cost

2010-01-29T09:51:00.002-07:00

A recent blurb in the Business Weekly Section of the Journal mentioned the potential for a “trash collection fee” increase. Mayor Berry says: “The Solid Waste Mgt. Dept. isn’t collecting enough in fees to cover the cost of operations.” Alb. Journal, 12/26/09

Soilutions is glad the new administration is addressing the issue. We are direct competitors for green waste diversion with City and County solid waste departments. We have been fretting over the low tipping fees at the transfer stations (the most accessible option for residents) since before our incorporation. As a privately owned and operated business, we know what it cost to operate a solid waste facility and just can’t reconcile their fees with what we are pretty sure to be their costs. The low tipping fees directly retard the growth of the recycling industry in New Mexico.

According to the 2009 NM Solid Waste Annual Report, NM currently has a recycling rate of 12.4%, well below the 33% national average. According to Wasteage.com, the south central region of the United States (of which NM is a part) also ranks in the lowest in national tipping fee averages at just $23.28/ton (compare to the mid-Atlantic area at $69.07/ton). Because of the perceived abundance of wide open space, it is just cheaper to throw stuff in a hole here. Curbside pickup of residential trash is deemed a right of citizenship and maybe it is. It certainly helps to keep properties clean and safe. It also makes it easy to throw increasingly valuable recyclables away.

There are many ways to avoid raising residential trash service fees: pay as you throw programs, decreased frequency, and increased recycling pick-up to name a few. While an increase of the cost of residential trash service may be difficult to push through in these economic times, an alternative to recouping some of the solid waste department’s costs would be to increase the fees at transfer stations. Transfer stations typically are used by those with more trash than can be carried in a residential cart. Increasing fees at the transfer stations would only impact heavy generators. People not willing to pay the increase would be forced to seek other options. One option is to divert waste (over 70% of what goes into NM landfills is recyclable; at LEAST 35% is organic material). Diverting waste simply means sorting it such that items will go where they can be appropriately managed. This is by far the most environmentally (and thus patriotic) viable option.

Increased fees at the transfer stations will not increase illegal dumping as is generally argued. We already have unbearably low fees in our state and still see illegal dumping everywhere. Illegal dumping is one of those things that just occur. People who dump illegally do so because of ignorance, laziness, or I don’t know what. For example, Soilutions doesn’t charge to receive clean horse manure. Nonetheless, I see trailer loads of it dumped on the side of roads all the time. But by the same token, those that responsibly dispose of waste will do so at any cost. When Soilutions raises our recycling tip fees, we hear some grumbling but when informed why the rates increased, those people accept it. As with most things, education and communication are essential to proper decision making.

Illegal dumping is unsightly, dangerous, and expensive. Solid waste departments could allocate part of the increased revenue to illegal dumping clean-up. Transfer stations that purportedly separate green waste from municipal solid waste (MSW) do not, in fact. A landfill operator once told me that they take green waste for free but don’t have the money to manage it so it sits around and gets contaminated. Increased fees would allow for the extra time and money needed to properly reclaim and manage green waste received at these facilities. Increased tip fees would allow landfills and solid waste departments to generate enough money to establish mandated funds for proper closure, to remediate non-compliance violations, construct landfill cells properly, monitor the facility throughout its lifetime, and for further corrective activities.

Increases in tipping fees nation-wide have proven time and again to be beneficial to recycling programs. According to EPA.gov, high tip fees along with a properly managed recycling program actually reduce illegal dumping. And so, I would suggest to Mayor Berry that a raise in fees for curbside pick-up may not be the answer at this time. Rather, a fee increase at the transfer stations and landfills, where clients are high volume users, would not only generate the income needed to finance curbside pick-up, but also strengthen the recycling environment in New Mexico.

Now if we could just get them to sell their finished material at a profit, we’d be making strides forward.

Spring, take 2

2010-01-23T10:15:00.005-07:00

As I sit here this morning, I have to giggle a bit. This week has been the complete opposite to last weekend. Rainy, cold, and now, snowy. It's great and I love it. (By the by, the compost site got 7.55" rain last year: almost normal). But isn't it just like mother nature to throw us a curve?

In preparation for spring soon coming, though, despite this weeks' indicators to the contrary, we are sprucing the place up a bit. We are refreshing our mulch on our driveways and replenishing our samples.

I gave a tour to two young ladies from Costa Rica yesterday. They were troopers. I can't imagine they see much snow down there. Anyway, they work at the Intel Plant down there. No one in Costa Rica is recycling organics and they heard that we do a good job with the organics from the Rio Rancho Plant. So they came down to take a look at how we do what we do. I am always amazed that Soilutions has a reputation outside my own head. (Jim got a call from some mid-schoolers in Virginia or some such place because everywhere they turned his name kept popping up). Maybe there is a consultant gig for me in Costa Rica in the future.

Spring

2010-01-19T12:34:00.003-07:00

No. Spring has not yet arrived in NM. But it sure does feel like it's around the corner. I spent the weekend tilling the old plot; I even added a new 100 square foot area. I got a kick out of turning over all the carrots and beets that I must have missed last fall. Not bad tasting, a little sandy but that never hurt anyone. Nature helps those that help themselves: it rained last night to soak all the yummy compost and vermicompost into the soil. I even had my first harvest dream of the year.

I picked a meager salad from a small cold frame.

At the compost site, we are getting one or two more people calling each week; one or two more people coming down and getting something to start off with. There was a couple of weeks during the Christmas/New Year's Day period where we didn't see a handful of people all week. This week, we are going to double our yearly totals for deliveries!

Enjoy the moisture while we can.

Products Price Changes

2010-01-15T07:46:00.004-07:00

Thank you to all who have supported us in 2009. The preliminary numbers show that we will be able to continue to serve you with are fine garden products and seemingly expert knowledge for another year.

Unfortunately, we find it necessary to raise our selling prices on products this year. Most notably, for the first time in our 13+ years, we are raising the price on our Premium Compost from $32/yd to $36/yd. Costs to manufacture have just gotten to too high. Please check our other price changes on this website or give me a call.

When we first started, we were selling Premium at $14/yd when, after a brief calculation, it was costing us $20/yd to make! Since then we have concentrated on lowering our costs so that the price would remain constant for our customers. But, as I said, the cost of diesel, property taxes, compliance costs, insurance, and the ever important labor costs have increases too dramatically over the recent past.

Please note that tipping fees will remain at the ridiculously low rate of $5/yd. Usually, the recycling aspect of our company shares the costs with the manufacturing side, but we didn't feel it was fair to you in this continuing tight economic climate to raise those fees.

We look forward to seeing you all soon, and thanks for your support.

Polar Bear Swim Update

2010-01-09T09:06:00.014-07:00

Finally, here is the update and photos for which I know you've all been waiting.

The weather was beautiful; sunny, warm and not much breeze.

Turn out was down,

although not by much thanks to two late comers.

The pool temperature was high: 38F when we opened it, 40F by the time we got in.

There was some confusion on when we were to swim, which left plenty of time to break the ice

and to sit and watch it thaw

but we had most people fired up by about noon.

A newcomer to the event proved that in fact we are not crazy. He jumped in and dawdled for a good minute or so.

One swimmer had a run-in with a chunk of ice,

and my youngest son did a full lap lengthwise (probably equaling the newcomer for total time spent in the water).

Not to be outdone, I was able to do a two full laps, complete with flip turn (again, no photos). The guest of honor, cold water aficionado and 3 time Channel swimmer Suzie, leisurely completed two laps.

Thanks to all who returned for the second or third year. Special thanks to Jim and Karen for letting me tell you all about it on company time.

Spectators as well as participants had a feast of chowder, hoppin'john, and whiskey sours (before and) afterward.

See you next year!

PS. We extended the festivities this year by going to Elephant Butte on January 2. The water was 46F but seemed MUCH colder. Suzie is caught swimming, this time for 5 minutes or more, as part of her 50 swims in 50 states mission.

Fun with Recycling: part 3

2009-12-29T08:56:00.003-07:00

From this:

to this:

These gates are "dutch" meaning the top portions open while the bottom portions can remain closed, keeping the dogs inside the courtyard. There are no metal fasteners in these gates: just mortise and tenon joinery.

While the other projects I have shown take very little time and skill to construct, these gates took about a weekend worth of time and some specialized tools.

Poem

2009-12-24T08:05:00.003-07:00

Winter, and Christmas time in particular, brings out the sentimentalist in me. So here's a poem I wrote the other day to celebrate the tenacity of nature.

-----

This Tuesday morning is as cold as Monday
Swept up in a drift of three days uninhabited
The smell of a barn long vacated

I swing around the corner in a white Ford
Looking for signs of weekend hooliganism
None to see, just piles of leaves

Piles of leaves shaped like a mini Kilimanjaro
Her head amid gusty clouds
Except here its restless leaves rustling

And I stop to reconnect with the first heap
Not the most important heap we have
Just the first one I see on this Tuesday morning

To see if it’s steaming, water vapor rather,
To see if it’s vaporing away like it should
Like it did yesterday morning

It is my rock, my one true thing, my Kilimanjaro
This first pile of compost I see
Decomposing because I came to work, once

Regardless of how my weekend went

-----

Happy Holiday.
Be safe.
Make Compost

How to figure a good carbon: nitrogen ratio

2009-12-23T07:52:00.002-07:00

Here's a good site to help determine a good ratio for backyard composting.

http://www.mastercomposter.com/ref/calcc_n.html

Climate Masters Class Offered in Albuquerque

2009-12-22T08:55:00.001-07:00

State's Second Climate Masters Class Offered in Albuquerque

The New Mexico Environment Department will be offering a Climate Master class in Albuquerque beginning in January, 2010. The inaugural class in Santa Fe this past spring was a resounding success and class participants have already logged over 155 volunteer hours.

The Climate Masters Program is a 10-week free series of classes focused on climate change and what you can do to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions in your daily life. Class topics include Climate Change 101, Home Energy, Water, Transportation, Green Building, Renewable Energy, Yards, Consumption and Waste, Food, and Outreach and Consultations. Local experts in these fields will discuss the topics, climate change and what individuals can do.

Climate Masters is modeled after the Master Gardener program. This program is a two-part educational effort, in which community members are provided 30 hours of training and in return they "pay back" the program through 30 hours of volunteer service in the year following the training.

On average, students that take the class can reduce their own personal emissions by approximately 2 tons per year. Individual action is critical to solving the climate crisis because individuals are the end users of most energy production via home heating and cooling, appliances, food, travel and embedded energy in products that we throw away. Climate Master will provide training, specific tools and methods that will enable participants and others in making a difference.

Registration is required. The deadline to register is January 8, 2010. The class is limited to 25. See the following website for the registration application www.nmenv.state.nm.us/aqb/NewMexicoClimateMasters

Polar Bear Swim

2009-12-10T10:54:00.005-07:00

Most of you, if you've been to the site in these winter months, have been alerted to the Polar Bear Swim I host every year. I t started with just me and two neighborhood teenagers, then grew and grew. This year we have people traveling from as far as San Francisco to attend.

Basically, I have an in ground pool that gets a lot of use by friends and strangers alike in the summer. But in the winter, it just sits there. So one year, I believe it was spurred on by the need to clear my head, on New Year's Day, we went for a dip. Sounds easy. I forgot to mention that we broke ice for the hour previous.

The first time, we just jumped in and out in about 3 seconds. We moved on to a lap width-wise then a lap length-wise.

Last year, my then 5 year old son shamed us all by jumping in first. He got so many accolades, that he jumped in again before we covered the pool up.
Everybody cheers and jeers, and has romping good time. Then it's inside to eat posole and clam chowder; drink more cocktails and sit by the fire; chat and watch the Rose Bowl.

So here's the flier:

Please join us for the 3rd Annual
Polar Bear Swim
Friday, January 1st, 2010
Noon -5:30pm

Sandhill “Community” Pool
03 Sandhill Rd.
RSVP
walter@soilutions.net or 505.681.5371

This year we will again be attempting a FULL LAP (13 yd)
Hot Toddy’s, Warm Towels, a Burn Barrel, the Rose Bowl, and a Hearty Stew
will be provided. Caps generously provided by the Swim-Art. Other promotional consideration provided by
the San Francisco Dolphin Club

*All swimmers MUST be accompanied by a sane dry adult. Complete submission (overhead) is NOT required. Verification of availability of warmed towel strongly suggested before entering pool. Photographic evidence of participation will be provided upon request.

come on by, even if you don't want to swim. All are welcome.

Wreath Making Materials

2009-12-09T14:32:00.004-07:00

We seem to be getting a lot of evergreen cuttings lately. I don't fancy myself a genus/species wank so I can't tell you what kind of evergreens, only that there are some short needled boughs and some long needled boughs and some blue spruce-y boughs.

We have juniper branches, too. I even saw some holly branches with berries!

Come on down and browse our brush pile. Take some fire wood home with you.

I never have the gumption or know how to make craft things like wreaths and garlands, but I know that there are plenty of people who do. It's a great time of year to be working with this aromatic material. Sitting by the fireside lacing popcorn and berries through the needles for the birds. How festive.

Don't forget to recycle you Christmas trees here when the time comes.

Erosion Control 101

2009-12-08T15:55:00.002-07:00

Here are a couple of links that everyone should be aware of. They address some erosion control techniques. More importantly, I think it's great that Rio Rancho and the Flood Control Authority have the chutzpah to recognize that the way they did things in the past didn't work.

For a video starring our own Jim Brooks, click here:
http://www.sscafca.com/cms.php/video_player/6466/?height=400&width=425

For a downloadable brochure, click here:
http://www.sscafca.com/document_library/SSCAFCA_erosioncontrolbrochure.pdf

There is also an quick news blurb on KRQE's site:
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/environment/erosion-seminar-held-in-rio-rancho

Jim will probably kill me for suggesting such a thing, but if you want him to come to your neighborhood association, or to give a day long presentation, his fees are reasonable and the knowledge gained invaluable.

Shopping Suggestion

2009-12-04T09:02:00.001-07:00

The New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) has been chosen by Starlight Event Design to be a beneficiary of an online auction. All of the donated pieces are left over from a large fundraiser and the donors choose 3 non-profits to donate proceeds to from this online auction. NMRC is one of those! Bidding starts today, December 4th and closes on Sunday, December 6th at 8:00 pm. Do a little holiday shopping and benefit, NMRC. Auction items include:
*Art
*Spa treatments
*Architecture services
*Music lessons
*Photography sessions
*Tattoo gift certificates (you could always have the recycling symbol tattooed to your arm)
*Landscape Design services …… and more!
To view the items and start bidding, please click on

http://auctions.readysetauction.com/starlighteventdesign

To get started view the catalog of items. Once you view the items you can click an item and make a bid. Visitor's will then be asked to register with the website so they can place a bid. They will create an account and then be able to actively bid on items. Visitors can view the catalog of items without registering. You MUST register in order to bid.

Winners will be able to pay for their items after we have closed the auction Sunday 8pm. An invoice will then be generated within 24hrs and emailed to the winner with a final total of items.

2009-12-02T13:30:00.002-07:00

When I started this blog, I was so looking forward to winter, this time of year in fact, because it would afford time to post regularly. I have a folder of all the ideas I was going to address, and the sheer lack of customers coming in the door would allow me to take each idea and cultivate it into full blooming recantations of life here at the compost site.

Well, it has definitely slowed down, but I find that there is truly not much happening here. I am not getting the daily phone calls of interesting questions. I have built and planted and watered and pruned and harvested almost everything available. So, before my boss reads this and starts wondering why he is still paying me, I will tell you of some on-going projects.

We screen our Topsoil Blend now. After collecting sod that people have judiciously recycled with us throughout the previous year, we blend it with Premium Compost and let nature work her magic for another year. Then, we move our screening plant out to the north ramp and start screening the large particles out. Screening Topsoil Blend is one of those endeavors that has come to signify both the end of the year and a bold statement for us of the hope for the coming year. It offers us a chance to begin our reflection on the year past but also to commit ourselves to the future. It's akin to tilling your garden in the fall.

We will also be working hard on developing a new mulch or two. Without getting into details, things changed rapidly in the landscape manufacture business this year. We see both an opportunity and a necessity to continue to develop and produce from locally recycled materials products that are useful and attractive.

With the seasonal decline in the number of retail customers, I get to get out of the office more. I have meetings with entities involved in the organics industry and I participate in the NM Recycling Coalition's many endeavors. I visit past, current, and prospective customers. I like to thank people who have spent time or money with us. One of the budding relationships about which I am really excited is a project with Gardener's Guild on Central. If you haven't checked them out already, do so.

We strive every day to give our customers a good product at a fair price. We want an educated customer. It is unfortunate that the season I have the most time to spend with curious gardeners is the season when no one is thinking about their gardens. So we spend a lot of time by the heater (and often times on top of a steaming compost pile) dissecting how we do what we do and how better to do it.

I guess there is more to do here than I had originally thought. Stay tuned for updates on the haps.

Respect the Bird

2009-11-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Respect it!
Don't forget to compost that carcass and all the vegetable scraps that gave so that you might celebrate.
Be save.
Happy Thanksgiving

Electronic Pruning--Part 2

2009-11-20T10:06:00.006-07:00

On 8/27/09, I posted an entry about pruning an apple tree. In it, I took pictures of an apple tree I had inherited when I moved into my house oh-so long ago. I wanted some expert advice on how to prune it properly, but didn't want the professional (in this case Corva Rose with Divine Earth) to drive all the way out to my property for just one tree. I also like to do that kind of work so any effort made by Corva would not result in any paying work. That has happened to me many a time, and it just isn't any fun.

Back in September, the tree was fully leaved out and bearing lots of small apples. Now the tree is essentially bare of leaves. I have taken the pictures from the same spots and sent them on to Corva. While I await her response, here is the tree from various angles.

Looking East...

North...

West...

And finally South...

Obviously, the photos should be as clear and descriptive as possible. I'll see what else Corva needs and let you know.

Leaf Mulch

2009-11-18T14:54:00.004-07:00

Some of you may know that for years I have run a little landscaping business (yes, I am for hire). Mostly now I just do cleanups and small installations, but I have been known to do major jobs. Obviously, my work is steeped in recycling and compost use. This Monday one of my long time customers asked me: "Can you take these leaves away and bring me some mulch?" I was speechless (but only for a moment).

I explained that the falling leaves were in fact nature's way of providing a mulch.That the leaves contained nutrients and trace minerals that the trees had absorbed all summer from the soil. That if left to blanket the soil around the tree's drip line, they would insulate the soil and roots, then slowly decompose. That that decomposition would then return the nutrients and minerals back to the root zone of the plant for re-use.

She was a little shocked that one didn't need to buy a mulch to effectively protect the soil and roots around a tree. Appearance was an issue so we agreed to leave the leaves in place and cover them with a thinner layer of Pecan Shells. Problem solved, for now.

But I was intrigued by the notion that in order to garden well, one had to spend money. Or more broadly, that landscaping is some process designed and schemed by some entity out there that knows better than nature does. I run into this frequently at Soilutions when people want to: put wood ashes on their NM lawn, blend compost with Peat Moss, use weed barrier, direct rainwater off the property and use sprinklers, grow blueberries in Albuquerque, or put a "dry river bed" from no-where-near a downspout to no-where-near a plant.

I run into this all the time in my own business, as well. I feel that people should take care of there own waste. Basically, if you make a mess, clean it up. In landscape terms, that means, to me , that if you have a lawn, YOU mow it, YOU be responsible for knowing how to care for it, etc. If you have a tree, YOU deal with the leaves when they fall. It's my version of what's "wrong with the world", like over-population, living beyond one's credit means or whatever the catch phrase of the day is. I think a personal responsibility to our immediate environment would engender more sensible landscapes, produce less waste, and create a more diverse and thus more personable urban environment. Obviously though, there are plenty of reasons to hire help for some of your landscape needs.

But if we all take a stab at managing our own property, just think of the possibilities. I find my mind stimulated when trying to create a look I want with the (recycled) materials I have on hand. I see more of my daily path when I am scouting a junk pile for that last piece to finish a job. I save money and resources by shaping the project to the materials. I let my plants reseed themselves, where they want to grow. When it rains, I go outside for a look. People like my client, who started this tirade, would have time to ponder the little thing s that occur in our garden and hopefully realize that they occur for a reason.

Cold Frame Update

2009-11-17T11:04:00.004-07:00

Check it out.

Last night it got down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit at the compost site (14 degrees F at my house)

(You can see the blue line on the left indicating the low temperature for the night)

So I thought it would be good to see how our little plants handled the drop in temperature.

(Except for a little tinge of frost on the topmost leafs of the radishes, no damage.)

By the way, I have been noshing on radishes for several weeks.

Winter Innovation

2009-11-13T09:21:00.008-07:00

We all slow down when Winter starts to set in. For me, it coincides with the time change. Without much sunlight to work with, but with the same amount of time, I find myself lying in bed a little longer to listen to my wife breathe gently, sitting a little longer over my second cup of coffee in front of the fire, or taking a little longer way to work.

When the crew shows up to work, a little later each week, we chat more about family and kids rather than the work day ahead. The slowness of it all was a welcome relief from the hectic asses-and-elbows mentality of early Spring. But this year is different; it is different for all of us. At Soilutions, we sit in the office and wonder, sometimes aloud, whether this is the year that breaks us. Did we do enough when times were better? True, each winter is tight but we have always had a nest egg from the Spring that, if budgeted properly, would get us through until the phones ring again in late March. We are grateful to the regulars, but they too are worried.

This year is different.

But what I am trying to get to, what the title of this entry alludes to, is that we haven't given up. We have always been a small, diverse group, too smart to take it sitting down. Several years ago we forged an unheard-of agreement with a local government to divert greenwaste from the landfills. We started the Pecan Shell Mulch craze 10 years ago; they used to pay to haul this stuff to the landfill. We were instrumental in getting the construction lumber recycling industry up and running in NM. Then we invented a program that collects foodwaste from local restaurants and hotels. This year we partnered loosely with a company that make wattles, or mulch socks, and services the NMDOT to help mitigate soil erosion on the side of our roads. In short, we have invented, time and again, necessary markets for organics diversion and re-use in NM.

In this dire economic crisis, we feel that we have come through once again. For the first time we are offering a mulch marketed as much for its price as its usefulness. We call it Blower Mulch because it was made originally for use by the large commercial blower trucks that spread thousands of cubic years at a time on hillsides and roadside. It is made of recycled construction lumber, namely dimensional lumber (2x4, 2x6, etc), pallets, crates, and plywood. It is not approved for use on certified organic gardens like our flagship material Premium Compost and other products. We process Blower Mulch much the same way we process many of our products: grind it to 2" and then screen it to 1/2"-1". It's a nice blond material, from a completely renewable resource, economical, and quite useful.

So where's the innovation? Well, granted it isn't on the same scale as starting the only Foodwaste Collection Service in the state, but it is innovative in several ways. Blower Mulch allows LEED construction companies to "close the loop" by using this mulch on it's finished landscapes. It represents a variation on our standard ideology of processing products as little as possible. It forces our customers to look at a product with an open mind; you are not going to find this mulch in the box stores. We have always had the most expensive product on the market; now we beat all private producers' prices for a comparable product.

So come on down and take a free sample home with you.

Finish mulching that 1/2 acre you're tired of weeding but couldn't afford to deal with properly. It's selling for $11/yd3 for the time being until we can all get back on our collective feet again.

Hope to see you soon.

We are Grinding

2009-11-04T09:24:00.007-07:00

From this....

to this.

We are grinding now and for the next couple of weeks. I encourage you to come down and witness the event. There are not many opportunities to experience something of this magnitude. For us at Soilutions, grinding IS an event. It takes all of our staff and most of our equipment, working long dusty hours.

It drains the bank account. For all the customers who are disgruntled at paying us to dispose properly of their waste ("You guys are making money from both ends!"), I really want you to come down and see for yourself what goes into processing the raw materials you bring us. If you think about what goes on and that none of it is cheap, you will begin to realize that our tipping fee is more than fair. Just with the fluctuations in diesel fuel alone, we often get burned. What I mean by that is we are expected to charge a set rate to receive greenwaste; but the expense to process that greenwaste is very dependent on the cost of diesel. If we charge $5/yd in February to receive material but grind it in March when diesel has jumped 25%, then we are losing money.

Then consider why and how the municipalities can charge less to bury it when their employees are better paid and better insured; their equipment is new and they give away an inferior product.

Einstein said once "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

Enough said for now.

Cranes Are Here!

2009-10-30T13:55:00.006-06:00

The Sandhill cranes have arrived.

Every year, almost like clockwork, we are rewarded for our hard work by 20 or so Sandhill Cranes. These strange and beautiful creatures make a home of our yard for the winter. They fly off to the river or nearby fields when we arrive and come back to roost for the night amongst our piles.

Come on down to see 'em.

Recent Temperature Changes

2009-10-30T11:22:00.006-06:00

We have seen a recent drop in temperatures across the state. Yesterday, we had blinding snow(I couldn't see the red barn in the next lot). The day before it was freezing rain. Not much happening here lately so I figure this is a good topic to address. Invariably I get asked whether the weather extremes impact our composting processes.

So today, while taking weekly temperatures, I decided to photograph the results.

This morning it was right around 18F when we pulled in. (My coffee actually cooled before I could finish it.) Needless to say, I didn't get out and document that temp.
[One of the employees here is a Vermonter. I would expect him to be in his element now what with the cold. But he is as cold as the rest of us. We got to talking about that and figure that it is just because we aren't used to the briskness of it all yet. By January, we'll all be so used to weather like today's that we should go swimming (more on that later)].

Here is the thermometer at 10am.

This next picture is taken immediately after I stuck the thermometer into the pile. It is on the north side of the pile, still in the shade. Look closely to see some frost still.

This is taken in a different portion of the pile, about 5 mins. later.

The reason that the internal temperature is unaffected by the elements is very simple. The heat generated from the compost pile is not environmental; rather it is caused by the cellular break down of the organics by microorganisms. One of the results is the release of energy in the form of heat. The trapped heat produces an environment attractive to the micro organisms, which allows them to reproduce, and so on. Our piles here at the site are large enough to trap that heat. In a smaller back yard compost pile, the heat may be generated but it is not retained and the pile goes dormant.

Cold Frame--Week 3

2009-10-24T08:22:00.006-06:00

I have been very busy the last couple of weeks. It seems I've been out of the office spreading the gospel of compost almost as much as I've been in it. Earlier this week, I was in Santa Fe for three days to bring my facility certification back up to date. I haven't been around to tend to the cold frame I made a couple of weeks ago. As the night time temperatures drop, frost becomes hazardous to many plants. I was worried whether they would survive. I needn't have.

(This shows a min/max thermometer. Coldest temperatures for the night are shown on the left.Looks like it dropped to 28F last night.)

After three weeks, our little cold frame is still going strong.

The radishes on the left have really flourished, but it might be too cold for them to set. We'll see. The chard on the right is not going to have any problems; it's far enough along. The cabbage in the middle is still small but it too, should be alright.

Stay tuned.

Harvesting Vermicompost

2009-10-09T09:29:00.010-06:00

I usually clean out my worm bins a couple of times a year. The goal is to remove the worm castings and to replenish the organic content of the bin so that it can spend the winter regenerating more worms without being disturbed. Then in the spring when there is a rush on worms at the compost site, this bin will be ready. In the spring, I will screen another bin as a back up. This way I pertually have a bin full of worms to harvest.

It is fairly easy to determine which bin to screen. When the contents of the bin are homoginously dark black and virtually devoid of worms, it is time to harvest. The vermicompost is the waste from the worms, their excrement. As with most creatures, their own excrement is toxic to them. When the bin contains more of their waste then of food, they either move on or die.

Shovel the material into a screen. I vacillate between screening and not screening. I suppose it depends on the application. Screening allows for a finer material, so if you are going to topdress houseplants or a lawn, then I would screen it. If there are lots of undigested particles, if the material has trash in it, then I would screen it. If it's just going into the garden as a soil amendment or if it is already exceptionally fine, then screening is not necessary.

If it is going to be screened, you will need to build a screen. Obviously the size of the mesh determines the size of the finished product. I usually use 1/2" hardware cloth available at all hardware stores. Chicken wire works fine, too; whatever's available. A couple of 2 x 4's and some staples are all you need to finish the construction of the screen.

After you've screened it, you'll be left with two products: what we in the biz call overs and unders.

The unders (that which falls through the screen) is what you are after. I make a quick check to see if any worms fell through and toss any I find back into the bin. The unders are ready to use now in whatever fashion you deem fit.

The overs are then picked through for any trash, rocks, or worms...

and put back into the bin for further composting.

Then I fill the bin back up with readily available organic material, in this case, horse manure. (At home, I don't fill the bin up immmediately. Rather I fill it as kitchen and yard waste become available.)

I water the material and clean it up all nice and pretty. It should be teeming with worms in a month or so.

Hope

2009-10-09T08:45:00.002-06:00

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."

My political views are my own. I try to welcome thoughtful opinions regardless of origin. I feel this statement, however, offers so much to us as a country. We have a reason to be proud again.

Cold Frame Construction- one week later

2009-10-06T08:29:00.004-06:00

Here are the radish seeds sprouting.

If you look closely, the chard seeds are starting to show as well.

I am still waiting for the cabbage. Stay tuned.

Cold Frame Construction

2009-09-30T10:12:00.010-06:00

As the weather cools, I get rejuvenated about the garden. Currently I am swimming in melons and beets and carrots. But I know that soon enough the summer bounty will wane. I will quickly go from being selective of which fruits to pick to scrounging for something that isn't soft from frost. In recent years, I have tried to remember to plant cool weather seeds in August. This year I did remember and have a nice crop of lettuces already. The problem has always been finding space. So I started constructing raised beds that I can cover as it cools, or shade in the spring as it warms. These raised beds also help define the garden and don't get in the way of the larger summer plot, to which I add compost and rototill every fall and spring.

I convinced the bosses (not hard to do really) to let me build a cold frame at work as a sort of show bed. I told them I could convince people more easily to use our topsoil if they can see a pleasant little crop of radishes, beets, and greens. Besides, with what we promote and believe as a company, how can we NOT have a vegetable garden?! (Actually, we tried several years ago. We did it differently and got hammered by the rabbits, the wind and the sun.)

So I did build one. It really is very simple, it only took me a morning to do it all.
As always, I start at the trusty recycled lumber pile. Between what's available and what I have in mind, I can collect the necessary pieces.

Then, I construct the bed and place it. In this case, it is on a south facing wall. It will get plenty of shade from a beautiful Chitalpa in the summer, but when the tree drops its leaves, the bed will get a heavy dose of winter sun. Hopefully the building will trap some heat and protect the cold frame from some wind. Maybe we will even get a little heat from the radiant heater that sits inside the office.

Before I fill the frame with a high quality planting medium (read: Soilutions' Topsoil Blend; a mixture of our Premium Compost and local sandy loam that is approved for use on certified organic gardens in NM) I placed a wire mesh on the bottom. My intent is to keep squirrels, skunks, or gophers out of it. I used a piece of galvanized hardware cloth that we had sitting around the heap. Chicken wire would work well, too.

In goes the Topsoil Blend...

then the seeds.

I scavenged a couple of lengths of 3/4" PVC and some sheeting from our trash pile and put together a little hoop frame to cover the bed. This will act like a greenhouse: keep the moisture and the day's heat in and the frost out. 1/2" PVC would have worked better, i.e., more flexible, but when you using recycled materials, you take what you find.

If, during the day, it gets too warm, which is all too often this time of year, I can open the lid temporarily.

Stay tuned for progressive photos of the sprouts. Don't be bashful, come on down and grab a radish or two!

Constructing a Worm Bin

2009-09-26T14:17:00.010-06:00

Hopefully by now, many people are aware of the wonders of redworms. These little guys happily eat foodwaste (or any other organic waste) quickly without demanding much from us. Unlike humans, they only eat what won't kill them and they reproduce only as food and space allow. On top of that, the vermicompost they secrete is biotically dense and beneficial to soils and plants.

This weekend, I built a small worm bin for the compost site. The bins we already have here are on the north side of the office. This is to keep them as cool as possible in the summer. But in the winter, the poor critters freeze and become hard to harvest. So, after much cajoling from the bosses, we decided to put a smaller bin on the south of the office for winter time harvesting. (Let me clarify now that worms are productive year round, though they are more lethargic in weather extremes, i.e., winter and summer. Given the right environment they will manage your waste very efficiently all year.)

The first thing to do is choose a location for a worm bin. As I said, we chose a spot in the garden that would be sunny in the winter but shaded in the summer. We have also found that an in-ground system is the easiest and best insulated.

After we have agreed upon an appropriate location, I start by digging the hole.

The hole size depends solely on the available space and the anticipated volume of waste generated. I like to line the hole so that dirt doesn't fall back in. For the lining, I go to my trusty recycled limber pile and pull out what I'll need.

I also dig it deep enough so that the worms have room to move to an area to their liking. In this case, I dug it 14" deep to have plenty of room below the freeze line.

Once the hole is dug, and after I build the frame, I place the frame into the hole. I want the edges to be close to ground level.

Into the frame goes the worms generously donated by a neighbor, taken from another bin, or purchased from us (or Gardener's Guild in ABQ).

I then fill the remainder of the bin with yummy feedstocks. This material can be anything readily available. I used mouldy straw and horse manure.

Almost done!
Since this is a bin constructed for winter harvesting, I put an extra layer of insulation, in this case an old straw bale. A little mulch to make it all attractive, and Voila, we have a worm bin.

Free Latillas

2009-09-19T08:07:00.002-06:00

Here's a great pile of cedar wood. Get these while you can--they're sure to be ground up in a week or two.
I imagine they could be used for latillas, coyote fencing, fire wood, furniture....

Rainy Days Ramblings

2009-09-17T08:55:00.009-06:00

I spend so much time hoping for rain that I get a little shocked when we actually get a couple of days of good soft rain. I know I can count on at least one good down pour during state fair time (I don't know why that is) and really look forward to it; it's usually still hot.
This year,though, the rain is providing me an added service: offering time to reflect. So often, we get the monsoons--moisture that builds most of the day, lurking on the horizon. We hustle about to finish up jobs or errands before the torrents force us inside for an hour. The monsoons actually add frenzy to my life. But today, as I sit in the tin box office, listening to the rain pop like corn on the roof, I have to bide my time. Not much will happen today--no customers, no sales, too sloppy to run the tractors in the yard.
Rains like this remind me of home. Long winter days and nights of moisture. I laugh to myself when I recall how we used to curse the moisture that would mould our towels, render newspapers unreadable, drip through the rafters, chills us through to the bone after weeks of trying to battle it. It would affect our soccer practices, our shopping routines, our dress code. Yet it would also bring the snails out for which my dad gave me .25$ per full milk jug. I would love the foam and sizzle produced from the 1/2 cup of salt we layered into the jugs to kill them; a sort of snail melba. Or my dad would get up on the flat roof and clean the oak leaves from the downspouts. If I wasn't careful below, I could get a good dollop of wet leaves across my shoulders as he'd throw them down. I learned to monitor his whereabouts by keeping track of his tobacco pipe or cigar smoke mixing with the wet air, swirling like a little chimney from roof-corner to roof-corner. Sometimes we would traipse the half-block to the park to watch the creek rise from a dribble to a stream to a torrent. There was a sense of danger standing on the bank that as a child I didn't quite understand but relished nonetheless. I guess I felt proud to be old enough to be trusted with peril.
When I lived in town not too long ago, the boys and I would rush outside to splash in the gutters or to watch elm leaves race each other down the block. I know that the neighbors were watching us and feeling that happiness people feel when watching youngster's pure joy.
Nowadays it seems that when it rains, I have to just stop. Just stand by the door and watch the rain fall into puddles. I try to think of words to describe the sound or feel of it. What else does that little plop resemble? If I were talented, then that little plop would resemble a deep breathe. And in that river of warm air as it exits my body would be my bills, my attitude, my sore muscles, my chores, errands, and obligations. My parents would be young again, and my wife happy. My spirit, anxious to be cleansed, would float on that deep breathe like a leaf in the gutter, and dance between each rain drop. Or it would raise it's weary head and catch just one on it's tongue.

For me this is time well spent.

Master Composter Classes Now Available

2009-09-11T08:17:00.003-06:00

Through the hard work and perseverance of John Zarola, Albuquerque will be able to offer Master Composter classes in the spring. The classes will be designed to "teach the teachers." This means that interested individuals will be able learn all about small scale backyard composting in such a way that they will then go out into their community, i.e., neighborhood associations, schools, senior centers, and instruct others.

The training classes, for approximately 20 students, are projected to be held on:

April 24, 25 and May 1, 2 of 2010. Classes will run from 9 AM - 3 PM on all 4 days.

Class location will be: the Open Space Visitors Center, 6500 Coors Blvd., NW, ABQ, 87103.

Jim Brooks (of Soilutions fame) and other professionals will instruct the students according to the stated curriculum. Field trips will be added to the training requirements as planning evolves.

Students accepted into the program will agree to a certain number of volunteer hours which will be completed after graduation by teaching the interested public about home composting.

The current active steering committee is composed of: Jim Brooks, DeLaina Cushing, Dorothy Koopmans, Joran Viers and John Zarola.

After construction of an informational website, continued information, including: curriculum, references, application form, text book and assignments will be available at:

www.bernalilloextension.nmsu.edu/mastercomposter. Notice will be sent when this site is active.

Currently questions of interest may be sent to: John Zarola, Volunteer Coordinator johnzarola@comcast.net.
505.929.0414

Question: What's your take on Permaculture?

2009-09-03T14:41:00.011-06:00

Recently a friend of mine in San Francisco asked me about Permaculture. He'll be taking classes soon and wanted my take on it.

Well, I have mixed feelings. I have never taken any formal Permaculture classes or instructions. I would say I am more of a follower of Jim Brooks than of Permaculture per se. Simply put, Permaculture promotes the idea of making any space – a yard, a home, a business, a community, etc. – into a self-contained system that supplies its own needs, creates abundance, and regenerates waste within itself. The above image depicts the ideology behind Permaculture very well: interdependence, fluidity, and the cyclical qualities of nature, of which we are a part. To me the rising popularity of the term Permaculture is due to urbanites need to classify a lost way of life. Like the "green" movement, "sustainability", and "local", Permaculture has been usurped by larger powers as a way to make sense of people's reactions to the chaos they find themselves living in. It irks me that there are websites now stating "Have a Permaculture Business" and even "Let Permaculture Design Your Kitchen." Permaculture is by far a better idea than the general mindless living we have fallen into, but in no way the sole solution. There are just too many threads running through our lives to successfully adhere to one ideology.

As a part of larger living philosophy, though, Permaculture is certainly helpful.

I have gleaned from various conversations and readings that Permaculture is a practice of sensible, logical, and thoughtful living through management of resources on available property. Instead of building a fence by driving to a box store and buying harvested rain forest wood, Permaculture suggests that we build what we in the southwest call a coyote fence out of limbs and branches from our property. Or better still, plant a living fence, maybe out of berry bushes so that we have two (or more) functions in one feature: barrier, wildlife habitat, and food source. In the southwest, water is a big issue in Permaculture circles. Again, Permaculture guides us to use our brain. Most standard building codes mandate that water be whisked away from a dwelling as quickly as possible. These houses usually have underground automated sprinkler system, too. The Permaculturist asks why pump water out of the aquifer to water a lawn when we can harvest the rain or grey water to perform the same function? And why do we have a lawn that needs to be watered in the first place?

Brad Lancaster in his indispensable book "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Vol. 1" makes the suggestion that in order to properly manage water on a property, we need to watch it first to learn how it flows. Yet how often do we run inside out of the rain? Simple logic like this goes against our inclinations, but I don't think it goes against our intuitions.

Like most things, we do not NEED to study Permaculture to practice it. Simply slowing down, being mindful of our surroundings, and being thoughtful in our approach to a problem or project is all that we need to do to be a successful Permaculturist.

Recycling in New Mexico

2009-09-02T13:43:00.004-06:00

It's difficult being in the recycling business in New Mexico. We often feel 30 years behind everyone else. We hear of $70-150 landfill tip fees on the coasts; ours is $3.85/cubic yard residential. California has goals to reduce waste going to landfills by %75 by 2010 but we as a state have a 12% recycling rate. We read of innovative uses for carpet, tires, glass in other parts of the country while it seems the only use in New Mexico for these types of materials is to line the sides of roads and ditches. There IS a lot of local enthusiasm for the "green movement", for recycling, etc. just not a lot of will shown by our lawmakers.

However, in the latest issue of BioCycle, there is an article about a yard waste recycling and composting facility in Kansas City, Missouri. I have roots in KC going back all of my 42 years and then some. One thing that always startled me on visits to the area was a skepticism toward recycling. I have a cousin who actually asked me "why should I recycle." When an Uncle from the area heard I was in this business, he turned me on to Missouri Organic Recycling (MOR); his friend started it years ago with his dad, or some such. Last time I was out there, I dragged my parents out to their (MOR) facility. I might just be the only person who visits dumps on their vacation. Anyway, I haven't felt so at home. With the exception of standing water, the facility looks very similar to ours.

Now back to the article in BioCyle. On the cover is a picture of food waste that looks very similar to large loads of food waste we get here on a regular basis. When I opened the magazine to the article, sure enough, MOR was the featured facility. Change the name from MOR to Soilutions, and ignore all the stuff about the state and all sorts of agencies throwing money at them from both sides to get the food waste collection program running,the article could be about Soilutions. They have the same challenges, the same goals, the same successes. MOR is just 10 years ahead of Soilutions.
So it gives me hope to see that we at Soilutions are developing innovative programs that, while they may not be avant-garde in relation to the rest of the world, they are on the right track to be on a par with the heavy hitting composters of the country.

Electronic Pruning

2009-08-27T08:28:00.008-06:00

In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint while growing a market-ready orchard, I am developing a process by which a local pruning expert can digitally advise me (and eventually any homeowner) on proper pruning cuts for any given tree or shrub. The idea grew from the fact that I live out in the "country" and I only have one mature tree in need of pruning. When I used to live in the city, I could easily get a pruning expert to swing by for an estimate, even for one tree. Now it hardly seems worth it for me or for the expert to make the journey. Also, I like to do the work myself, so any estimate would probably not result in any work for the expert. I thought that if I could get the advice for less money out of my pocket, a reduced amount of time travelling for the expert, and still get a healthy tree in the end, why not?

So far I have an expert on board ( Corva Rose, the magic behind Divine Earth Aesthetic Pruning and Restoration; www.divineearthnm.com) and an experimental Apple Tree. The first thing to do is take pictures of the tree from four directions, i.e., north, west, south, and east.

Looking north...

West...

South...

East...

This will give the expert a sense of walking around the tree to assess it. Next, I will submit additional photos from the same vantage points but taken in winter when the leaves have dropped and the branches are visible. The hope is that the expert can then use a computer program (I am sure one exists already) to overlay arrows and comments on where to prune for the best possible growth and production for the years to come.

My hope is that more people take personal responsibility for their gardens and trees, get out and enjoy their gardens more, understand plant growth and needs, generate business for experts in the horticultural business, and reduce automobile use.

Stay tuned for the next set of photos and an update on progress made toward this innovative new pruning technique.

Permitting Influx

2009-08-26T11:41:00.008-06:00

Today, on the way to work, the tule fog was back after several months on hiatus. The cooler weather and moist air even brought a mist over the swimming pool. It evoked a change, in seasons to be sure, but I couldn't help thinking a change in something grander, too.

Not to be overly dramatic, but the change is here. In the last week alone, Soilutions and it's neighbors have been inspected and in some cases fined by: NM Environment Department Ground Water Quality, NMED Hazardous Waste, OSHA, Bernalillo County Fire Department, and the EPA. The way things feel, I am sure the City Dust Abatement Department as well as god knows who all else are on their way.

I don't have any complaints about being compliant. It keeps every Tom, Dick, and Harry from getting into the lucrative composting business. There is a certain validness with ground water protection, employee safety, and fire hazards. But what gets me, or rather one of the things that gets me about the whole thing is that they don't offer alternatives, reasons, or, in some cases, legitimate fire prevention practices. You are supposed to do as they say. If you try to correct the violation, but do so incorrectly (because they don't care to offer any insight into what they mean by "approved" containment, for example,) no credit for trying. In fact, it appears that a failed attempt will get you a fine.

Soilutions has been in operation for over 13 years. Within that time, we have NEVER had a work related injury, NEVER had a fire, have ALWAYS had a certified facility operator on staff. We have NEVER had a customer accident, injury or even an unpleasant experience (well, I shouldn't say never an unpleasant experience. More like overwhelmingly favorable). We are kind, courteous, respectful, and helpful. We play by the rules and expect others to do so as well. When we opened shop, we asked the Bernalillo County Fire Department for an inspection. They did not come for 12 years! When they did finally show up early this year, the fire marshall finished the inspection by handing over a $70 bill to pay for it. I thought that's what taxes paid for!

And the inanity of it all. Because a neighbor had a fire along the ditch bank caused by a burning butt tossed by a passerby, we have to take temperature readings every week. We don't have to file those temperatures with any one at any time, but they do need to be available for review at the whim of the FD. Why? Anyone who knows about combustion, should know that the biological process inside a compost pile is vastly different than the combustion of a carbon source. But the point is, how does temperature readings deter fire hazard in the first place? If my pile is going to spontaneously combust, won't it do that regardless of my temperature readings? And, the pile most likely to burn is the pile of brush that will read ambient all the time. I feel like the boys with badges are just trying to boss us around. Granted, not all the departments coming by to inspect our operations have been adversarial. But "to a hammer, everything looks like a nail" and just by having to host these curious eyes we are risking fines that, in all honesty, even the best of compost companies can ill afford to pay.

So I suggest that we "inspect" some departments of our own. I'll start with the Bernalillo County Road Department. If I have to call one more time to have that pile of illegally dumped tires picked up from down the sreet, I'm gonna pick them up myself and dump them on their front steps. And how about the Sherrif's Department patrolling the road in the first place to stop the illegal dumpers; or the bums stealing copper from our yards every other freaking Tuesday afternoon!

Anybody else have a Department they wnat to put on notice?

Backyard Vegetable Gardening

2009-08-11T13:00:00.007-06:00

I ended my last posting with a comment about having a long way to grow before organic growing is properly understood by all, even those practicing it. I think the same can be said for home vegetable gardening.

Check out his article from NPR the other day.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111721631

The gist of the article says that somebody planted vegetables in their front yard and that, even though the height was within the stated covenants, they were fined because the plants were vegetables, not ornamentals.

The hulabaloo is mimicked in the outcry earlier this year regarding the Obama's organic vegetable garden. Rumor had it that there was legislation under consideration to hinder the proliferation of back yard vegetable gardens citing potential salmonella/fecal coliform contamination.

While groups quickly embrace "Green Building" Technology in structures, they continue not to embrace the simple notion that to be truly sustainable you must also treat the supporting infrastructures in the same way. In many cases this is the first and least expensive step that should be taken.

Organic vs. Conventional

2009-08-05T10:54:00.007-06:00

A customer forwarded this article to me the other day.

http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100242535

I found it interesting that the article made a distinction between conventionally grown food and organically grown food. Up until 70 or so years ago, wasn't the conventional way to grow food similar to organic growing nowadays? Didn't the farmer grow his own food, rotating crops and using chickens as both fertilizer and pest control? If food traveled more than 10 miles from where it was grown it was because one family was visiting another and bringing along homemade pie.

It is only during the last century that food producers have experimented with non-conventional methods: taking all the nutrients from the soil with no thought of replenishment, modifying plants so that they accept only one type of pollen while being immune to the herbicides broadcast randomly, planting mono cultures, tearing down forests to plant crops with no value. As I see it, the organic movement is a trend towards the old ways, not a new fangled idea.

I found it also interesting that the article focused only on the nutrient value of the food from the two types of growing methods. That too, is incompatible with the whole idea of organic growing. Organic growing comprehensively addresses the entire process of growing food. We don't just look at the nutrient value of an individual vegetable; we look and consider where the food was grown, how it was grown, in what it was grown, how it was harvested, where it's sold, farm management...the list continues.

At the compost site I often discuss the "cost" of material. Most frequently it stems from a customer trying to decide between decorative gravel and our organic mulches. After I point out some of the true costs of gravel, i.e., mining (environmental and aesthetic) and it's equipment (diesel fuel and exhaust), transportation costs(including wear and tear on roads and highways), labor to move it, the effects of added heat to the our dry city and its surroundings, a customer begins to see the value in using a recycled product in their landscape.

While it's exciting to see MSN approach the subject of organically grown food (I don't think we would have seen an article like this even five years ago), we still have a long way to go before the subject is addressed fully and comprehensively.

A Good Day Ruined

2009-07-25T11:35:00.007-06:00

The other day was one of ups and downs. The first good thing to happen to me was commencement on a project that I had been putting off for quite some time. I am building a work bench. Sounds simple but it has proven not so. Most of the difficulty comes from the importance of the project; once I get the work bench built, then I can effectively use my planer and router, allowing me to build my gates to the south courtyard. Once the gates are built, it will be winter so I can focus on making and eventually installing my recycled pine flooring. I determined that I can work on the bench in the morning before I go to work. The garage is far enough away from sleeping quarters that the noise won't disturb the sleeping members of my family. But I digress.
So I got to the compost site feeling satisfied with a good mornings' work already. I haven't figured out how to work in the morning on the building projects and still keep up with work on the garden but I wasn't letting that bother me just then.
A good cup of coffee and an extra spirited future planning meeting at the office bode well for the day.
I should have known things were brewing, but we never do, do we?
"The boys" showed up to work. On their way in they had hit a hawk by car. Evidently the bird swooped down in front of the vehicle leaving no time to avoid it. It was a beautiful bird, one that we had all watched grow up with his siblings over the last couple of years.
Then, we decided that Misch should do some meet-and-greets while the weather was hot and business was slow. So we plotted his route and sent him on his way. (With some trepidation, I might add. Everytime Misch leaves, some piece of equipment goes on the fritz.) Without much phone traffic in the office, and the computer tied up, I decided to tour the ditch that borders our property. We battle thieves down here routinely and like to monitor suspicious activity when we can. Driving down the ditch, I noticed some large tractor tires, used to build up the ditch bankas a barrier, had been moved to create a passageway for a small vehicle. It looked like there were tire tracks going into the yard. I determined which company was affected and went over to notify them. (As a side note: have you ever noticed the reaction of people when confronted with someone that wants nothing from them, just to help them out, unasked?)Once they realized I wasn't trying to sell them land in Florida, they were very appreciative and had the breach repaired by the end of the day.
But by the time I got half way down the return road, things started to unravel.
I got a call from the office asking about a commercial tipper; what's their billing routine, etc. I thought they were a reliable customer, and explained it as such, but by the time I pulled in they had tipped and gone with out payment. The driver was not able to communicate with our office, so we were left holding the bag until I track down someone with authorization to pay.
While dealing with that, Phillip comes into the office to state that the our delivery truck is broken. "What do you mean broken?" I ask. Apparently, they broke the clutch (or the transmission, or the axle) trying to pull a full load out of the loading pit.
Within the following hour, our water pump quit. Just stopped. It had been leaking oil and we've had issues with the pull-cord but we could always nurse it back to operational. Not so today.
Before noon that day, we were completely incapacitated, dead in the water. Without our screen (down for regularly scheduled maintenance) we can't process product for sale. Without our delivery truck we can't deliver our products. Without our pump, we can't make product.
I like to say that in the compost business, if it gets done in six month, it is fast-tracked. Small hiccups here and ther are not really a problem in the long term scheme of things. If we can't get to it today, then we'll find something else to do and get back at it next week. Equipment fails, that's a fact of materials production. But there is something unnerving about being stopped suddenly on so many fronts.
So we all had a long lunch and will look forward to a better week forthcoming.

Garden Pests du Jour

2009-07-22T09:51:00.009-06:00

Here are a couple of little guys currently in my garden.

Quite lovely really.

This one was resting in the tomatoes one morning (look closely). I left him because I was hunting a much bigger critter, i.e.,...

Then there are these creepy crawlers. They are very similar to the squash bugs: same shape, size, and ability to reproduce alarmingly quickly. They are on the Brussel Sprouts, though, and do not kill the plant nor ruin the fruit.

The Devil Wears Green

2009-07-18T09:25:00.013-06:00

The last couple of years I have been having problems with my tomatoes; no wilt or other viruses, just poor growth and minimal fruit. It was bad enough that this year I decided not to grow any tomatoes (all the neighbors grow them anyway and always have enough to share). But my child brought home a bunch of seedlings grown in a Dixie cup for a class project. As I am a sucker for any plants, I could not let them wither no matter that decision. We planted them and, lo and behold, about three took root. This crop has been big, lush, and setting fruit like crazy. Tomatoes seem to be the bell weather for a garden and I was watching them anxiously. Yesterday afternoon I decided the first cherry tomatoes were ready to pick.

So this morning out I go with my coffee and dogs as companions. The air was cool, the ground dewy--perfect for a ceremonial harvest. You can probably see what's coming; the top half of the bushes were completely defoliated! I've seen this before. I expect it in fact. Tomato Horn Worm. Able to strip a plant in a single day. The only caterpillar to eat so voraciously it's audible. Perfectly camouflaged to be nearly invisible.

It is so big and fleshy that it borders the grotesque.

Yet beautiful and almost elegant; apt, as it is the larva of the swallowtail butterfly.

As with all of my garden nemeses, it does have an Achilles heel. I have learned that by following the large black droppings, and by practicing patience and stillness, I can discover them clamped to a branch. This morning I found five resting peacefully. I composted them. And still got my ceremonial harvest.

Yumm.

Fun with Recycling-- part 2

2009-07-16T10:01:00.006-06:00

Although not nearly as easy to make as the swing set in the previous post, here is a beautiful garden bell made from an used acetylene tank. After cutting off the bottom with a torch, the artist sanded the inside and out. If you look closely, southwestern icons are welded to the outside. A professional powder coat of paint was then applied for durability.

This bell has no clanger; a deep rich tone is achieved by rapping it with a wooden mallet.

This bell is a valuable piece to our garden puzzle, all the more so because the material was diverted from the landfill. We ring ours to summon the kids to dinner, to summon the spirits to tea, to welcome the sun and to bid the day goodbye. We whack it when we're angry, we rub it when we're pensive.

Fun with Recycling

2009-07-10T11:49:00.007-06:00

From this

comes this

in just four hours and $20 for hardware.

Improvements at the Site

2009-07-09T12:48:00.006-06:00

We are always trying to offer our clients a better product. In the early days that meant perfecting our process. Then we had electricity installed. After 13 years we have picked the low hanging fruit and are now able to work on some of the minutiae.

One of the ongoing issues for us is trash. From day one, we have worked to educate people what constitutes contamination. Whether through ignorance or maliciousness, we battle trash every day. Part of the problem comes from our permits: we are registered with the NMED as a composting facility, not a solid wasted facility. Technically, if we accept trash, we are in violation of our permit to operate. But the more realistic reason for curtailing trash is that it presents visual, and to an extent, actual evidence that we don't take the care that we claim to take. And lastly, trash pisses me off. This is my home away from home and to have people not see that and treat the site like a dump bums me out.

So, Misch has been working on a trash vacuum to remove trash from the product as it goes over the screens. The screening process is the last piece of the puzzle for our finished Premium Compost. But screening is the just the beginning for other products: Forest Floor Mulch, Topsoil Blend, Screened Mulch, new piles of Premium Compost, etc.

Basically what we have now is a vacuum, connected on one side to a vent, and on the other side to a cyclone that separates air from trash. The vent side is located below the conveyor so that just as the "overs" shoot off the conveyor, the vacuum sucks the lighter stuff, i.e. plastic, out of the stream. Plastic then goes into the cyclone where air is jettisoned out the top and the captured contaminates drop out the bottom to be disposed of in a conventional fashion.

A very simple concept really. But it has taken aver a year to design and build, countless man- hours and thousands of hard earned dollars. It is one way of reducing our costs so that we don't have to raise our prices. Enjoy.

Lillies in Bloom

2009-07-02T14:50:00.012-06:00

Down here at the compost facility, we are near many empty lots, junkyards, equipment yards. There is an former meat packing plant for sale. I drive by it every day and ponder the destination of all the crap that has collected over the years. It depresses me really. So much good stuff once upon a time. But after years of neglect and disuse, it has become unsightly, dangerous, and worthless.

But there is also a lot on the way home that makes me smile. Nine months of the year it looks like all the other lots around here: cluttered, junky, a hodgepodge of dusty disorderliness. Around the end of March somebody starts tilling rows and I get to thinking that it's going to be a vegetable garden. Looking at the place, why would anybody plant anything else but something to eat. About mid May, what looks like corn is sprouting and I nod in recognition. Corn: stable, sure-fire, useful. I am always a little jealous about how high it is so early on.

But in June, it hits me. It never creeps up, it is never subtle, it always hits. This lot is growing daylillies! Row and rows of daylillies. It is so incongruous to me. The blooms aren't harvested as far as I can tell. I 've never seen them at the local farmer's markets.

When I see it enough times to get over that disconnect, it dawns on me: flowers feed the soul like corn feeds the stomach, or some such. I think if I lived in squalor, I would need something beautiful to drag me through each day. Heck, I've got it made and I need something beautiful to drag me through each day!

Insectophile's Dilemma

2009-07-02T10:26:00.006-06:00

Here's a dilemma: I was out pulling weeds this morning and came across a ladybug. It was cruising for breakfast on a tumbleweed. Permaculture says quite a few things about weeds. One suggestion applicable here is to consider them as pioneer plants helping to control erosion while adding to soil tilth. I am a lazy gardener and don't mind weeds around so I like that idea. But another suggestion is to pull them when green and use the nitrogen to fire up a compost pile. That sounds good, too; I am all about composting.

So I got to work late this morning because I couldn't decide what to do. Do I pull the weed and move the ladybug to another plant? or do I keep the tumbleweed because it obviously is attractive to both the aphids and their predator?

A favorite joke around the campfire had the punchline, "Patience, Jackass." So I'll wait and see what the ladybugs do, what the seedheads on the weeds do, and what I feel like doing manana.

Score one for Organics

2009-06-25T07:59:00.003-06:00

I heard on NPR last night that Monsanto saw a 40% decrease in sales last quarter.
Monsanto is the company that makes the herbicide Roundup. They also happen to be the biggest driving force behind the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) movement. Has anyone else taken notice of their "Sustainable Agriculture" advertising push on the back of magazines such as the New Yorker? While no one likes to hear that 900 or so employees will be out of work at this difficult junction in our economic climate, I can't help but cheer for the populace's decision to restrain from purchasing their chemicals.

Los Lunas Farmer's Market

2009-06-12T10:07:00.003-06:00

Tuesday June 16 marks the first day of the new Los Lunas Farmer’s Market. I hope everyone comes to support this long awaited market. For more information try going to this link:

www.news-bulletin.com/news/89538-06-10-09.html

I am beginning to learn that Los Lunas is full of good people who feel stranded by others' the notion that we are too far away from Albuquerque to warrant any real consideration as a viable option for healthy food. La Montanita Co-Op at last conversation has no plans to investigate the possibility of opening up down here. Forget about Whole Foods or Sunflower Markets.
Never mind the “coals to Newcastle” idea. While many people have vegetable garden plots and the Valencia County Community Gardens organization is growing like a weed(pardon the pun), it is often too difficult for someone for whom farminig is not a full time job to grow a comprehensive, family-sustaining vegetable garden.
So I think a Farmer’s Market is a welcome addition to our booming little life in the country.

California Dreamin'

2009-06-09T11:01:00.005-06:00

This cool overcast weather reminds me of home. I am sure a lot of us used to call some place else home before we got to the Land of Entrapment.

I used to call the Cental Coast of California home, and before that, Northern California. There is an old phrase oft bantered about: "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". I miss the fog and the dew. I miss the sudden swath of sunshine at 11am as the fog clears out for awhile. I miss feeling like a local. So when the state flower, a poppy, bloomed the other day in my back yard, I couldn't believe my luck.

New Mexico has so much to offer and I don't want you all to feel like I am here unwillingly. But I do miss some things about the Golden State. Most of all I miss submerging myself daily in the Pacific Ocean. That's probably why we sponsor a polar bear swim every January 1st. To that end, I offer a link to video produced monthly by an old friend of mine. I hope you enjoy. http://surf.transworld.net/2009/04/17/nellys-magic-moments-part-4-santa-cruz/

Call For Photos

2009-06-05T08:34:00.011-06:00

I am always curious about the projects on which people use our products. People seem so excited when they leave here; their excitement is contagious.

So, I am making a call out to our customers to send me photos of their projects.

It could be a photo of a bountiful harvest.

Or a favorite plant responding to compost tea

Maybe a photo depicting potentialities.

We love to see projects getting installed, too.

Regardless of the photo, let me know if you want credit for the photos. I look forward to seeing what wonderful and creative things you all are doing.

Pretty trash

2009-05-30T08:16:00.001-06:00

This is a picture of food waste soon to be composted. I thought it was pretty.

Delivery Trucks

2009-05-28T12:56:00.017-06:00

I am often asked what size dump truck will deliver our products. Although we have access to all sized trucks, here are the three trucks that deliver our products most often.

This is our truck. It is a standard sized dump truck although has only one rear axle. Most gravel trucks have two rear axles (aka tandem) allowing them more weight capacity. Our truck needs a 10’ width clearance and about 18’ height clearance. We can dump on driveways without fear of cracking the pavement. It is fairly agile and can dump in most places. If you look under the rear doors, you’ll notice a bar. This bar hinders our ability to dump over anything (such as a wall, or even a high curb).

We have started referring some smaller deliveries to New Mexico Earth Adobe. This is their truck. It is about 7’ wide and can carry up to 6 cubic yards of our material. Weight is not an issue for this truck either. It is even more agile than our truck. The smaller truck allows it to run more efficiently. It does not have a minimum required quantity.

Southwest Express has been handling our long distance hauling for close to 10 years. One of the largest trucks at our disposal is their 30 yard end-dump. It is a full sized tractor/trailer measuring about 52’ long. The dump bed raises about 30’ in the air and is fairly unstable when raised. For this reason, a delivery of material in this quantity requires a large turn-around space and a FLAT, SOLID surface to dump on to. But, if you need a lot of material, and have the space to receive the truck, this is the most efficient way to go.

Now you know.