Harvesting Vermicompost

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From this




comes this



in just four hours and $20 for hardware.

Improvements at the Site

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

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

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

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

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'

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

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.