Starting Somewhere: Gearing up for Gardening

Posted by Suzanne | 0 comments

As the weather starts to show signs of spring (or at least we hope it does soon!) I’m turning my homesteading thoughts to the garden.  You know… that we don’t have, have never had, and have no idea how to have, but that’s for another day.  Right now, let’s talk trash.

Composting! Here we come!

In the fall, I started my first compost bin.  Overwhelmed by even what kind of bucket to use, I went to my closet, dumped some clothes out of a container and set about my starting.  Then we went out into the front yard and started collecting dirt and leaves.  I then started setting a plate on my counter and put all of our coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags, and fruit and veggie peelings on it.  Each day, or whenever I deemed it too gross to be in my kitchen, one of my children would step out on the back deck and dump the plate into the bin.

We have dumped some dirt into it and stirred it, but that’s been very rarely.  It’s not been very stinky, though it has been winter time.  I do hear that it doesn’t get really stinky like regular trash.

I do have to say, I wonder if it will be garden ready at the beginning of gardening this year.  It appears to not be breaking down at the rate that I had thought it would go.  But I will stay the course, and hope that something productive comes of it.

In the meantime, this has been an easy (read: lazy) way to feel like we’re changing our ways.  It is so low maintenance.  Seems like I can’t really get it wrong.  And it’s one more step that by next year will be such a part of our lives that we won’t have to think about it and may contribute positively to our lives.  At least I started, made one more change in our consuming ways, and stuck with it.  Big steps in my book!

For y’all who have thought about doing this, but have not started because you were intimidated by the unknown (and you know you’re out there, I couldn’t have been the only one!!) start here.  Let’s talk trash together and learn alongside each other.  If I can do this, I promise you can.

And for those that are old pros:  What I need from you is advice.  I didn’t research this.  I know nothing about what I’m doing except dumping our old produce in a bin and stirring dirt into it.  Is this right?  Should I be adding something else or not putting something in?  How long will this take to be actually useful in a garden?  Please leave a comment with your own composting blog post, someone else’s website that has great information, or just a comment telling me what I can do differently.  And let’s do this thing!

Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four. The little ones are 2 boys ages 7 and 5, a girl who’s 3, and a baby boy who’s not knee-high to a grasshopper yet. She eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way. In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. She lives in a world where there are few absolutes. The dishes don’t stay cleaned, the laundry doesn’t stay put away, the children don’t remember what she told them yesterday. But in their chaotic lives they have found joy. And they’d love to share that with you. So, come on over, kick a path through the toys, have a seat on the couch and grab a cup of strong coffee. Just be ready to hone your skills of “interrupted conversation”! And be sure to stop by her personal blog at JoyfulChaos.