My Little Dirt Secret

The other morning I woke up really early and just couldn’t get back to sleep. I’m talking 4:30 AM. By 5:30, I gave up going back to sleep and sat out on the deck sipping hot chocolate. It was just so wonderful out, cool, green and quiet. The light is totally different at 5:30 AM. I should do something with this time, I thought. I should use this time to do something I really like.

You’ll never guess what I really like to do in the garden. I love to make compost.

A gardening fashion statement
A gardening fashion statement?

There’s something about clomping about in my gumboots, layering all the ingredients of my compost that is quite satisfying. Well, there’s something about clomping about in wellies that makes me like to pretend that I’m Barbara Good in the Good Life.

If you have never heard of The Good Life, you are too young. If that’s possible. Anyway, this was a very popular British TV series back in the 70’s that featured a couple determined to be self-sufficient on a 50 by 100 foot lot in a trendy area of London.

Anyway this couple, Tom and Barbara Good, had a veggie garden , chickens, even a pig at one point, instead of a lawn and flowers and a wood stove in the kitchen. This was all much to the consternation of their trendy Yuppie neighbours. Anyway, if you can, rent it. It’s even rumoured that the Queen of England plopped herself down on the couch every Tuesday evening to watch it.

We get everything second hand, we’re into sustainability, conservation and all that.

Actually five wheel barrows, if you count the handy little green weed barrow
Actually five wheel barrows, if you count the handy little green weed barrow

We have about four old wheel barrows, all for free, giveaways. Now you may wonder how does a couple on a 50 by 100 foot lot possibly use 4 wheelbarrows? Well, we do use them. Mostly to store all the weeds that we pull and the finished flowering plants. We don’t always have time to do the compost so basically I just store the stuff in the wheelbarrows and let it get sort of pre -composty. Then when I can, I “do” the compost.

Now, if you’ve been searching the internet for all kinds of ways to make compost , you’ll know there are many ways to do it. Then there’s my way. And here is my little dirt secret. I cheat a bit.

Our free black composter
Our free black composter

For instance we have one of those big black composters, which I got free, by the way, given away by a neighbour. I like to use that one for all the kitchen stuff like tea bags, coffee grounds with the filters (unbleached of course), peelings from fruit and veggies, egg shells (I crush them usually). I save all this stuff in two plastic recycled containers on the kitchen counter. As soon as they get full they get emptied out into the black composter, but, and this is where the cheating comes in, with each load I add a few trowels of dirt from the compost already made.

In winter I leave a pile of this finished compost close by so I can scoop it easily. I like to think that I’m adding some good bacteria and worms to get to work on all this bounty. Putting the kitchen scraps in the black composter until its composted, keeps it away from the rodents. We do have rats in Victoria.

Then we also have a pile of sod, from making new flower beds. This is the dirt I talked about in a previous blog, that is hard, dry and no self-respecting earthworm will touch. So there you have the ingredients, the old sod, the kitchen scraps from the black composter, and the wheel barrows full of decaying weeds and the secret ingredient, finished compost added to the mix.

The pre-composted weeds
The pre-composted weeds
Dirt for the backyard lasagne
The old sods for the backyard lasagne

Now I like to think of lasagna. That is layers. I put a layer of sods which I break up into the smallest bits I can by hand. I water that really well. In fact, my latest trick is to keep the hose going on a fine spray pointed at the compost

Keeping things wet
Keeping things wet

while I layer to keep the dust down and wet the stuff as I go. Then on top of that I put a layer of weeds, also broken up as much as possible. Then I add a layer of composted kitchen scraps from the black composter. All of these layers get thoroughly watered down, since the compost needs to be wet to work. Then back to a layer of sod, then weeds, then kitchen compost with some finished compost added.

We have two bins next to each other. We usually empty them both on to the garden in the spring but we save a bit for the cheating. That is we save some good finished compost full of worms and wigglers to seed the new layers with.

A layer of black plastic keeps the moisture in
A layer of black plastic keeps the moisture in

The last thing we do is also a bit of a cheat. We put black plastic over the working compost to increase the heat and keep it wet. A dried out compost won’t work.

Then by the next spring we have “black gold” as we like to call it. All for free, all natural and the garden loves it. Barbara and Tom would be proud.

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The Creeping Jaguar, Jazz, Brides and a Crimson Dragonfly

Saturday was one of those days that dawns with cloudless blue skies, warm breezes and the whole day ahead of us to enjoy. We had our cereal on the deck while surveying our wild garden. Just a couple of days before a hummingbird had come right up on the deck to drink nectar from a flowering succulent right before our eyes, oblivious of our presence. I had to take a memory shot, hoping to keep this forever in my memory, since as is usual when something like this happens, no camera at hand.

The day was planned, garage sailing in the morning and Jazz in the Park in the afternoon and maybe a little gardening as the top off at the end of the day.
Garage sailing started off well. Free stuff! Got a nice big basket to hide an ugly plant pot in the green house that houses what I like to call the Avocadon’t, an avocado plant grown froma sprouted avocado pit that Will had rescued from the compost heap. It is now about 4 feet tall! No avocados though. Just this big hulking plant that requires lots of water.

Then on to Esquimalt to find more good stuff at other sales. On the way, while stopped at a little store, I spied this odd assembly in a window.

The goose ornament and it's rooster buddy
The goose ornament and it’s rooster buddy

A large goose ornament almost tipping out of the window, seemed to be enjoying the day, with a rooster inside next to it.

Odd graffiti in an odd spot
Odd graffiti in an odd spot

And on the wall outside, for some unknown reason, a graffiti artist had chosen this spot to do some work which was colorful and oddly funny.

Picked up our good friend Mary Lou whom I’d convinced to leave her work behind and enjoy some good garage sailing.

This garden may be even wilder than mine
This garden may be even wilder than mine

While waiting for her to join us I spied this rampant garden, which may be even wilder than mine, I think.

Our little Subaru always wanted to be a Jaguar
Our little Subaru always wanted to be a Jaguar

In James Bay we found this stealthy black jaguar ornament with plastic orange roses that got my kitsch radar going. Had to have it. Decided to give our car a little transformation. For a few moments it was a kitschy jaguar complete with hood ornament. Ah we’re flying high now.

Later, we scarfed down a quick deli lunch complete with Nanaimo bars for dessert (Hey only one calorie, ok one very big calorie) while listening to the great jazz of Paul Wainright and his group.

Paul Wainright and the band on Stage in the park
Paul Wainright and the band on Stage in the park

This Jazz in the Park is free and can be enjoyed every Saturday afternoon at the Beacon Hill Park Bandshell. We enjoyed this immensely last summer and never heard a band we didn’t like. If you live here or are visiting, you must check this out as well as other events.

The park seemed to be full of weddings. The band had apparently been asked to stop playing jazz for 15 minutes at a certain point so that wedding vows given near the bandshell would not be overwhelmed by the concert. Before this intermission they’d jokingly played the theme to ‘Mission Impossible”.

Strolling, while the band took their break,

A beautiful crimson dragonfly by the lagoon in Beacon Hill Park
A beautiful crimson dragonfly by the lagoon in Beacon Hill Park

we came upon this stunningly gorgeous crimson dragon fly. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Then hot and tired, we headed home, ostensibly to do some gardening, but decided instead to indulge in what those who live in hot countries do, siesta.

Sunday morning found us in the garden at last. It’s amazing how good you feel after a few hours of gardening on a cool morning. Doesn’t matter what is on your mind or what aches and pains you have, somehow being out in the garden, just makes you feel great, better than any antidepressant. All in all, a very, very good weekend!

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