Warm weather this time of year? Time to get moving!

Well the weather has been wonderful for several days.  So it really gets me thinking about all the work that needs to be done as spring is just around the corner.  As you know if you have been following my posts I have been building garden beds.  These are in ground beds that were dug as a ditch across the side of a hill in my urban landscape.   You should have seen the look on the neighbors faces when I started ripping out my yard a few years ago!  LOL  It was priceless.  Now they have seen it transform into something completely different and it will be changing again dramatically this year.   My garden will be on steroids this year as I convert more and more idle space into growing space and transform it to a growing space in a high plains desert that uses little or not water.  It is going to be very exciting to see how this goes.  

So what did we do this morning before I had to head off for work?  Well I got my behind out of bed early and went out and started emptying my compost bins from last year into my garden beds in the back yard.  Up to this point I have been working in the front yard and I need another truck load of manure to finish my "in ground" beds.  I will be creating some more beds that are on the surface of the front lawn also as I continue to get more manure and wood chips. 

In the back yard this morning I started emptying my compost bins into the garden beds.  Sadly it won't be anywhere enough to meet the needs of the garden so I will have to explore more compost bins and get my vermicomposting system up and running soon.  So for the bins I have right now they are large black plastic bins you can buy at Home Depot.  They don't really hold a great deal when you start properly mixing your browns, greens and water to keep the pile composting and keep pests and smells under control.  A properly managed compost bin should not smell or attract unwanted attention from pests.  But it also means my space is reduced in the bins as I line the bottom and sides with straw and hay.  Anyway maybe I can do some video on how some of this is done in case your wanting to start composting yourself.

So I have 3 of these bins, but only 2 of them are ready to be dumped.  The third one has been my active bin for my kitchen scraps so it will have to wait until the fall before I can dump it.  I will look for some pallets and mesh to build a new bin this year with much more capacity.  I started laying the compost out on the first bed and my dogs went NUTS!  They LOVE the smell of that compost... Now the battle is on to keep them out of the garden beds!  I imagine it will be more of the same as I bring in the next loads of horse manure into those beds starting the week after next.   I will be getting loads to finish the front yard in ground beds next week. 

As I have built these beds with a deep bed of manure and a deep bed of wood chips the key now to get the composting action going is nitrogen and water to get things reacting and starting the composting process.  So I gave the beds with the mulch already down a shot of water to get them started.  I will be coming behind that now with some organic nitrogen fertilizer to give them another swift kick in the right direction and will keep moving from bed to bed from now to planting season giving the beds nitrogen to bind to the wood chips and get things moving.  Hopefully they will be ready to roll as we start planting. 

We will be starting some seeds indoors in the next few weeks for our peppers and tomatoes.  We have a water tank showing up for our rainwater collection system on Saturday.  So it is very exciting times around the homestead! 

There is no time like the present... If you get a good weather day it is time to get up a little early and get out and get something done... It feels great, and it is one less thing you will have to do when planting seasons and your home projects are piling up.

Now back to yelling at my dogs for digging through the compost in the beds! LOL

Take Care and God Bless!

Longsnowsm