PRESIDENT'S DAY PLAY

 There's something about President's Day weekend that always makes me set a garden goal to complete by then (weather allowing)...this time  the weather has been almost balmy...60 degrees and blindingly sunny. The goal was to empty and re-position the mulch bin (circa 2002 from Gardener's Supply). The concrete blocks it was sitting on have sunk into the clay soil about 3" since we placed it here at Angel Crest Manor in 2012. That made it lean back and distort my neighbor's cyclone fence...not good. So the only thing to do was empty the entire bin. The finished mulch that you see below was on the bottom of the bin just waiting for me to dig it out. Of course the newer kitchen scraps mixed with dry ground leaves on the top caved in when I took out the good stuff so I had to quickly shovel it into the wheelbarrow, red worms and all. After we re-set the bin on the concrete blocks (under-gardener help required, of course) I put the contents of the wheelbarrow back in the bin, layering the fresh scraps with more ground dry maple leaves and compost starter. 

Screening the "finished" mulch is back-breaking. Jack, my trusty under-gardener fabricated this 1/2" screen frame just for this job. I use my garden fork to push the mulch through the screen and the rocks, sticks, bark and fruit labels are all that is left on top. I pour those off and add another batch to the screen...on and on. I think I may have done almost a cubic yard (27 sq ft) this time! Considering that bagged compost goes for around $12 per 1.5 cu ft. bag, I've saved myself some dollars and have a far richer blend. Most bagged stuff is mainly peat moss. Mine is all kitchen scraps with the added benefit of worm poop from my red wigglies!   
It's ibuprofen time tonite!