Time to play in the "dirt." Actually I'm screening mulch from the bin. This was all leaves, banana peels, coffee grounds (including the paper filters, egg shells, veggie and fruit peels, etc.
This is how it looks fresh from the mulch bin where it has been collecting since last spring. I dig out the bottom half of the bin for this year and leave the top part which will fall down. It has lots of worm eggs that will hatch this spring and work their magic.
If you look closely you can see some worms. although they are the hardy ones that have managed to stay alive in the warmth of the center of the bin. The decomposing stuff creates heat to keep them alive.
After processing the mulch through a 1/2" screen, the clumps turn into a fine, sweet smelling stuff that I add to my raised beds. This stuff acts to "recharge" the soil in the beds. Thank you worms!
It's that time of year that reminds me of that Dr. Seuss verse: "Poor Ali Sard, he has to mow grass in his uncle's back yard. The faster he mows it, the faster he grows it!"
With us, it's raking, blowing, sweeping leaves from our two big maple trees that just about makes us go nuts! The faster we rake 'em, the faster they fall!
We grind some of them and dig them into the raised beds. This year I thought maybe I'd just skip the grinding part but my under gardener saved the day! Maple leaves are actually harder to grind because they are so thin and light. They also get soggy in a light rain, unlike oak leaves. So we had to get to the grinding before another storm moves in this weekend. Just the way to spend a nice sunny fall day!
Jack, my faithful under gardener, grinding away.
Most of them make it into the bucket!
The bin is almost full of ground leaves but the trees are no where near done. Me thinks we'll be doing this again next week. Hoping for lots of wind from the northeast to blow the leaves into the neighbor's yard but it will probably come from the northwest!
Time for a coffee break and a hot shower!
My trusty mulch bin has been working away quietly since Fall (along with the red worms) to produce garden gold for use this spring. Here you can see the kitchen scraps (banana peels, green waste, egg shells and coffee grounds) combined with layers of maple leaves and grass clippings at the top of the bin.
A few months later and I open the lower door on the bin to reveal dark, rich stuff at the bottom of the bin.
I dig it out and screen it to get out the twigs, peach pits and those stupid sticky fruit labels...don't get me started on those things...
The screen also helps to break up the egg shells into small pieces.
I avoid putting in rose prunings and tomato vines (too many pathogens or viruses with those plants) along with meat scraps or bones (they might attract vermin). I also make sure to layer dry mulch with the wet or green kitchen scraps and I add a quart of "worm tea" that I buy at the grower's market. The tea has red worm eggs that hatch and fill the bin with garbage eating wonders! So I get worm "castings" (poop) mixed in with all the good stuff.
So here is the finished result...fantastic, sweet smelling (yes!) and crumbly garden gold to recharge my raised beds and pot up new plants (I add in some high quality potting soil for potting). If I were a plant, I'd be saying "yum!"
