Lazy Urban Composting, Part 4 – Two Buckets! October 31, 2007

Some of the recipients of the compost pile output.

I finally dug out the compost pile over the weekend, and got two buckets of the good stuff for the bed beside the garage. I probably could have gotten more if I had really dug the whole thing out, but it was too easy just to dig a hole in the side of the pile and pull out what I did get.

The compostable plates I put in the pile at the beginning of the summer were completely gone, so I’ll definitely be buying more of those again. There are still too many sticks in the pile, which means I need to get a little more strict about what I put in there. Best of all, nearly all of our vegetable and fruit waste went into the pile instead of down the garbage disposal – more soil for the garden, and less water wasted. My conclusion is that you can compost without putting any effort into it outside of digging it out twice a year – it may be less efficient than having a well-maintained “hot” pile, but it still works!

Various Fall Colors October 22, 2007

More of the habanero chiles are ripening.

The grape woodbine is no longer trying to crawl in the garage. Just a day after I took this picture, these leaves had fallen.

And the water lily is still blooming at this late date. The few water hyacinths that haven’t been eaten by some sort of night visitor are the ones in the middle of the pond with the lily.

More Signs of Fall October 11, 2007

The blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) is one of the first plants in my garden to turn color in the fall (right along with the grape woodbine/Virginia creeper). The color seemed a little ridiculous when it was close to 90 over the weekend, but now it matches the properly crisp October weather.

Volunteers are great! October 9, 2007

Sometimes, letting the garden go where it will can produce serendipity. Here’s a great blue lobelia volunteer that popped up right next to some white woodland asters I planted. The only lobelia I planted was 10 feet away from here, so this is a seedling from last year’s flowers. It’s not the only one either; there are lobelias across the pond from the original patch as well.

This is yet another reason to plant seed-grown species rather than hybrids. Not only are you getting greater genetic diversity in your garden, but the garden can then plant itself as the years go by!