My Waste is Getting Smaller

We went to Red Butte Gardens here as a family for memorial day and it inspired me to write another article about composting. Red Butte Gardens is a non-profit botanical and ecological center provided by University of Utah. It is a good place to go to learn about growing both flowers and vegetables in the Utah area.

While we were there we were able to check out a couple of the compost methods that they are using. You might recall that I showed you how to build a simple backyard composter for a small garden. Here are some additional methods that they were using.

The first composter was a very simple and functional bin made out of wood. You can see in the picture the list of things that are allowed and not allowed in the compost bin. This seems like a great method as it is open and I believe it would be easy to sift and mix the compost. My personal opinion is this is more for a larger garden area as opposed to the garden we have on our .11 acre plot of land in the city.

The second composter was one that they purchased called a can o worms vermicomposter. This was a fun one for me to look at as it uses worms to help with the breakdown of your household waste into beautiful soil for your garden. I also like the feature on this composter that allowed the compost tea to drain out of the bottom of the unit into a bucket. This tea can then be used as a liquid fertilizer for your garden. There are many worm composters available out there and maybe next spring I will make a homemade worm composter to share with you.

So how has our composter done for us? Here is a picture of our compost. This is what comes from some of our table scraps, a little chicken poop, hay, grass clippings, yard waste, and shredded newspaper. It’s very fulfilling to know we are reducing our household waste and at the same time helping to improve our garden’s output.

There are many ways to compost and these are just a few of the methods. Send us some pictures of your composters and let us know how they are working out.

--
Mike Johnson

Drying For Freedom

A Film About Clotheslines

Due to be released in 2010, Drying For Freedom is a film about communities and freedom; with 50 million clotheslines banned in the U.S alone, are we hanging our planet out to dry?

Visit their site at www.dryingforfreedom.com

The Dismal Science

I got my Bachelor’s in Economics and as such I like to keep spreadsheets and numbers to try and understand what is happening in the world around me. One of the things that I was concerned about when we started gardening was whether it was a good decision economically. Mainly I was concerned if it was worth my time based on the money I saved. I calculated our expenses (including the cost of time) the first year of gardening and was dismayed to find out that it didn’t save us money to garden. It was actually more expensive for me to produce a carrot than it was to buy one at the store. This made sense to me because of the whole economies of scale idea. Of course a farmer with a huge farm can produce a carrot cheaper than I can. I about quit gardening but luckily my wife kept us in the game.

Over the years I have realized that there are hidden benefits from gardening that I can’t put a price on that make having a garden a profitable endeavor. You can’t put a price on the lowering of my blood pressure because of the enjoyment I have from working in the garden, and the benefits of eating healthier. You can’t put a price on the work ethic your children and you receive as they get their hands dirty. You can’t put a price on the benefits of time spent together as a family working towards a common goal. You can’t put a price on the better tasting vegetables that you get to eat fresh from your backyard. You can’t put a price on the reduction of your carbon footprint from getting food from your back yard. All in all, I think gardening is profitable for all of us.

All that said, I still enjoy keeping track of my garden with numbers. I decided to weigh everything that we harvest from our garden this year so I can form a baseline for us to improve upon. We wanted to share our results with you. Just to give you an idea of the size of our garden we have on plot that is 27 ft by 9 ft and 4 plots that are 4 ft by 4 ft. I don’t consider this a lot of room at all and I am pleased with what we have produced so far. None of this includes the more than 2 dozen eggs that we get each week and all of this on a .11 acre lot.

I already reported on our June harvest here in which harvested a paltry 9 lbs of food. Following you will find our harvest for July and August.

July

Green Beans: 2 oz

Sugar Snap Peas: 8 oz

Carrots: 14 oz

Strawberries: 4oz

Lettuce: 2 lbs 6 oz

Raspberries: 6 oz

Yellow Squash: 3 lbs 10 oz

Zucchini: 12 lbs 6 oz

Beets: 13 oz

Tomatoes: 6 oz

Cucumbers: 6 lbs 4 oz

July Total 27 lbs 12 oz

August

Carrots: 6 lbs 2 oz

Zucchini: 38 lbs 9 oz

Beets: 5 lbs 6 oz

Tomatoes: 29 lbs 4 oz

Cucumbers: 20 lbs

Eggplant: 1 lb

August total 100 lbs 4 oz

So far we have grown about 137 pounds of food and I expect we will have a lot more in September. Think about bringing home 137 lbs of food from the grocery store. Gardening is a very satisfying and fulfilling hobby. If you already garden, keep it up. If you don’t, start out small but get started now.

--
Mike Johnson

Question from a Reader- Turkeys

One of our readers, Patricia, had a question about her turkeys. I personally couldn't answer her question and thought that I would open it up to all of our knowledgeable readers. Leave a comment if you have any insight to her problem.

Hello,

I wonder if you have had the problem of your male turkeys (2 and one naked neck rooster) fighting it out like machos in a bar? It's distressing, and they just started it. I have considered clipping the upper beak, which seems cruel, but not as cruel as what they're doing! I had three guineas in the pen who were also adding to the problem, but I separated them. Unfortunately, I can't let them free range here because each time I let them out, I lose two to coyotes or bobcats (haven't seen the predator, but have seen the missing chickens),

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Patricia

Pamper Yourself to Celebrate National Honey Month

Stimulating Camphor & Eucalyptus Honey Foot Soak - Makes 1 application -

Ingredients

8 cups hot water 1 cup honey 2 cups Epsom salt 2 Tablespoons almond oil, optional 6 drops eucalyptus oil 4 drops camphor oil, or 2 teaspoons camphor gel/cream 4 drops arnica oil, optional

Directions

Combine ingredients in blender and mix completely. Transfer to large container or spa foot bath. Soak feet for 20 minutes, towel dry and apply your favorite moisturizer.

Recipe Found at www.honey.com

It's National Honey Month

Interesting Facts About Honeybees
1. Honeybees are one of science's great mysteries because they have remained unchanged for 20 million years, even though the world changed around them.
2. Bees have been producing honey for at least 150 million years.
3. The true honeybee was not known in the Americas until Spanish, Dutch, and English settlers introduced it near the end of the 17th century.
4. Did you know that bees have 4 wings?
5. The honeybee's wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
6. A bee flies at a rate of about 12 miles per hour.
7. How many eyes does a honeybee have? Five.
8. Honeybees communicate with one another by "dancing".
9. The queen bee is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength. She will lay about 1,000 to 1,500 eggs per day.
10. In the cold winter months, bees will leave the hive only to take a short cleansing flight. They are fastidious about the cleanliness of their hive.
11. Honeybees do not die out over the winter. They feed on the honey they collected during the warmer months and patiently wait for spring. They form a tight cluster in their hive to keep the queen and themselves warm.
12. It takes 35 pounds of honey to provide enough energy for a small colony of bees to survive the winter.
13. Honeybee colonies have unique odors that members flash like identification cards at the hive's front door. All the individual bees in a colony smell enough alike so that the guard bees can identify them.

Fruity Frozen Honey Yogurt Pops-Eat the Seasons Friday

To celebrate National Honey Month, make a yummy frozen treat.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh, ripe nectarines, pineapple, or strawberries, chopped
• 1-1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 paper cups (3 oz.) and popsicle sticks or plastic spoons

Directions:

In a blender, combine all ingredients; mix well. Pour into eight (3 oz.) paper cups; insert popsicle sticks or plastic spoon in center of each. Freeze 4 hours or until solidly frozen.

Recipe found on www.honey.com

~marisa