spiceoflife's Blog

Eureka!...I mean, you reek ah!...er, I mean, Urea!
Apr 22, 2008 | 8:37 PM PST
Tags: Urea , compost , nitrogen , green stuff

I was going to post this in the compost thread, but it was a pretty long so I'm putting it in my blog instead.

So, I had off from work on Monday. It's Patriots Day here in Massachusetts, the hub of the American Revolution, and many years ago they made it a state holiday. There are lots of flags flying, lots of wearing of red, white and blue, and the running of the Boston Marathon where people from all over the world descend upon the state and run themselves into the ground.

Me? I decided to celebrate working in my victory garden and starting a new spring compost pile. But I had a problem. All I had was brown stuff. Being spring, I didn't have a bunch of fully grown, recently harvested, green stems and such. I only had all of the brown leaves and spent grass I raked from around the yard and under the grape vines. So what do I do? I could just make the pile with just the brown stuff, but it would never heat up respectably and it would take too long to break down. (I like my women like I like my compost piles - tall and hot. Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing that in.)  I'm going to need this stuff in like a month when my young plants start taking off. I had to get some green stuff, or the equivalent of green stuff, i.e., I needed a source of nitrogen.

Off to Agway!

Looking around I found some likely candidates - blood meal - this stuff is a great source of nitrogen, about 40% by weight, but it was a little pricey. I had used it in the past with good success. This was a possibility, but I wanted to see what else I could find.

Next, I found cottonseed meal. This wasn't as high in nitrogen as the blood meal, but still respectable. I had also used this to good effect. Plus, it was plant based, which I liked. The only problem here was that they only had the 25 pound bag for $27.00. Moving on.......

This was when the Agway employee asked me if I needed any help. They're like that there. (No, I don't work for Agway, smarta$$!) I told him my dilemma - I need a nitrogen source and I don't want to spend a lot of money. Voila! He shows me Urea. It's made by Espoma, it's organic, it's 45% nitrogen, and it's only $10.00 for a 5 pound bag. Sold!

With a few thank yous exchanged I take my compost supercharger back home and dutifully build my yard-waste lasagna by layers - brown leaves, water, sprinkle a handful or two of urea, a couple shovel-fulls of almost-finished compost. Repeated 5-10 times. Pop the cover on it and bake in the sun for 24 hours.  Yummo!

I get satisfaction out of doing things well, and this includes making a good compost pile.  Today, I get out of work and dash home to check on it. I grab my turning fork and start turning it over. And yep, I can feel that heat starting already! But then, I notice the smell.  It's unpleasant, but not overwhelming.  And there is the definite twang of ammonia. Darn it, I put in too much urea! The wee little beasties have too much nitrogen and can't metabolize it all and are just releasing it as ammonia. The ammonia smell was weak, and I didn't see any of the urea pellets in the pile, so I'm hoping that this is as bad it will get.  I'm going to need to turn it every day or two until the smell goes away.

Anyway, lesson learned. In the future, a half of a handful of urea per layer will probably suffice when using it in place of the green garden scraps in a compost pile.

If I had thought about it, this would have made a good video clip as part of my compost series - "Choosing of the green! Sources of nitrogen to get your compost pile fired up."

Regards,

Robe
rt

I told myself I wouldn't, but.....
Apr 19, 2008 | 9:11 PM PST
Tag: Gardenia

The weather was gorgeous today here in Eastern Mass and I was at a couple of the local nurseries and farms checking out their latest offerings.  I came across some Gardenias, and as it turns out, I found them awesome.  The deep green leaves, snow white blossoms, so fragrant.....mmmmmmm....   (cue Wizard of Oz sound clip of "poppies.... poppies....") and I couldn't resist.  Now if you've read my profile you'll know that I have certain rules (well not rules so much as guides to my garden) when choosing plants.  One of them is:  the plant has to, at least theoretically be able to, provide something besides just looking and/or smelling good.  As far as I know, this plant breaks that rule, and now I have one more tender plant that will become an indoor roommate starting next fall for 6 months or so.  I should post a pic of my living room before the weather gets nice enough to put all my pots outdoors.  They're all gathered around the picture window in the living room like a bunch of homeless people crowded around a fire in a barrel, jockeying for more light.  

Regards,

Robert 

As the compost turns.....
Apr 8, 2008 | 5:15 PM PST
Tags: compost , Pomegranates , olive , black magic

FINALLY! The planets have aligned and I found myself with both the time and warm enough weather to get outside and DO something in the yard. I managed to turn my compost piles, adding in quite a bit of stuff that had been stacking up on the deck, waiting for an opportunity to add to the mix!

I pruned my grape vines(3). I think I finally have a plan for them beyond "let them ramble unchecked and grow tendrils into the shingles". one will grow to the left of the front door under the picture window. One will grow right. And one will grow around the corner of the house, trained down the railing on the steps to the deck. Let's see if the vines understood that, too.

One thorn in the back of my mind, however is that I saw a GROUNDHOG while I was out there. He visited me once last spring and took out about a half dozen of my pole beans. But from what I've heard about these great white garden sharks I think I got off easy. I'm thinking he's going to be a bigger problem this year, given that he's apparently only mildly intimidated by me as it is. When he saw me he seemed to take his time moseying away. And I'm not sure, but I think he flipped me the bird when I turned around. I'm going to start lifting weights and stop shaving to show him I'm not a dude to mess with.

Update on plants (roll Taps). The olives and the pomegranates died - all of them. I don't know why. Maybe I overwatered, watered too much with the water from the frog's aquarium, left the grow light on too long, didn't transplant them in time (I think it was this actually), didn't water them enough, let them get too hot near the air register, etc. Anyway, I have more seeds. I managed to save two of the longan berry plants (I think, the jury is still out .)

My Black Magic elephant ear has spider mites. I'm hoping I can keep him just long enough to get him outside and then I know he'll be fine.

Hope springs eternal!

Props to my new friends stereoman and brown thumb! Loved the emails, pictures and blogs!

Here's something to noodle on, why is getting dirty fun, but staying dirty is gross. Weird.

See you all in bed, garden bed that is. ;-)

Robert