January 2010
1.) Start or continue adding ONLY vegetation to your compost pile.
2.) Mark your calendar for the year, adding Last Spring Frost [4/30 to 5/5] and First Fall Frost [9/26 to 10/2] dates to your calendar (average dates); Safe Dates = 5/6 (Spring), 9/25 (Fall).
3.) Take series of time lapse pictures of sunlight as it passes over your property during one day. Repeat in April, July & October. OR make mental or drawn map of sunlight/shade spots for these different quarters of the year.
4.) Build or Purchase a ground box. These can be purchased from CART Enterprises.
5.) If you want to Start Seeds Indoors, January is the time to arrange a place for germination and growth.
6.) It time to remove the decorations if you decorated your garden boxes for the holidays.
Another question — where can I borrow a time-lapse camera to take pics of sunlight?
Thanks!
Elizabeth, you have just stumped this author. I will check with my friends in Photo Forum regarding a time-lapse camera. What I did was set up a camera on a tripod aimed out the rear kitchen window and then took a picture approximately every half hour. I will admit that being retired made it easier to accomplish this task. Tom
When you say “add vegetation to your compost pile”, does that include unused pieces of food veggies like lettuce and tomatoes, or are you talking about clippings off of bushes and such?
Jodi,
I am talking about both. Adding unused kitchen vegetable matter should be added to help produce a more “blended” compost. I sometime scrape the seeds, such as melon seeds, into the garbage waste, to prevent their sprouting in the compost. These seeds are nothing to worry about, however, if you really get your compost “cooking”, getting your compost to heat up and keeping it moist but not soaking wet. The additional element is turning your compost pile often to allow air into the pile. It is said that if you turn your pile every day for 14 days, the vegetable matter should be fully decomposed. I will admit that I have never been disciplined enough to turn the pile every day.
You should AVOID animal matter, meats, eggs, butter, grease, etc., which will cause compost to smell and attract animals.
Clippings off bushes and such are OK, but should be “chopped” into small pieces which will accelerate their decomposition and turning them into compost. Also, the more woody the compost additions the longer it will take for the material to fully decompose. Sifting the final compost product will separate larger pieces which have not fully decomposed.
Tom