The recent 'Stay at Home' orders from our governor are wise and prudent with this ever increasing Corona virus....but I'm getting a little stir crazy! Thankfully the weather has been beautiful and I've been working outside a LOT. One thing I tackled is a brush pile on the backside of our barn, otherwise known as the neglected compost pile.
Because I was out of commission last summer due to my foot surgery/recovery, we've just been heaping yard waste and kitchen scraps into a huge pile. No reasoning to it, and certainly no care has been taken. It has been rotting over the course of a year, and underneath all that woody brush is lush, rich soil and I wanted it!
I began clearing stuff out, burning some, sifting and saving others and what I ended up with is pretty pleasing. I have a ton of rich, organic compost and I have a whole NEW bed on one side of the barn and a composting system with a watermelon patch on the other side. WIN - WIN!
My new bed has a fig tree, elderberry tree, and meyer lemon tree as a very small permaculture "orchard." I nestled in two tractor tires and two old pots as temporary beds for spaghetti squash, malabar spinach, pie pumpkins, and acorn squash. I filled them in with salvaged compost then the whole thing was heavily mulched with the larger brush pieces. Now I have increased my growing space and added four new "crops" for FREE!
Y'all know how much I love free!
The now barren side of the barn will hold a new composting system using hardware cloth bins. Since the soil was so rich in organic matter, I decided to plant some watermelons there. Their vines can sprawl all they want without overtaking my lawn.
This small two day task has increased our home food production, gave me tons of free compost, gotten rid of an eye sore, was a good source of exercise for me, and gave me a killer tan!
Who knew I'd be so good at
"Sheltering in Place?"
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