Butchering Day

When you wake up at the end of April, after most of your garden is planted, and there's 3 inches of fresh snow blanketing everything and it's falling like a storm, you can't help but wonder if you really are awake.  I was really awake. So on with the to-do list....It was butchering day for some of the chickens, so I got the outdoor butchering table and chopping block unburied and drug the hose over.  I got a huge pot of water simmering on the outdoor propane cooker. I grabbed the hatchet, knife, and a couple of buckets. Ready to go.                                        

Chopping a chicken's head off really isn't as hard as it seems, both physically and emotionally. I have two nails pounded part way into a wood round. They're just wide enough apart for a chicken neck. When I have a bird ready for the block, I grab it by its feet and  hang it upside down. The bird becomes completely calm and it's easy to lay it on its side on the block and fit its neck into the nail hold. I keep backward pressure on its feet so that it can't wiggle it's head  out of place. Then it's just a solid whack with a sharp hatchet.

The chicken definitely has a few headless seconds of instinct to flee, so I hold the bird around the back, clamping the wings to it's body. If you don't do this, or aren't quick at getting a sure hold, the chicken will frantically flap in attempt to flee. It makes a mess and its just not a good, peaceful feeling when this happens. I just clamp the wings and hold the bird upside down over a bucket to collect the blood. When the chicken stops moving (20 seconds?) I put it on the butchering table and give it a few minutes before proceeding.

I used to skin a chicken out like a rabbit, where you make a slit along the underside and literally reach in and pull the meat out of the skin. It's quick and effective, but after doing the hot pluck method a few weeks ago I am completely sold on plucking. The skin has a nice clean layer of protection for the meat. The skin also adds a lot of flavor to soup and makes for a juicy roasted chicken. To make the plucking easy, I heat up a pot of water until it is simmering and dip the bird in by holding it by the legs. I swish it around for maybe 15-25 seconds. I test a wing or tail feather, and when one comes out easily, I bring the drained bird to the table. When done right the feathers will come off easily. They go into a bucket at the foot of the table. 

To gut the bird, I start by making a slit down it's underside, then cut around the cloaca, which goes into the slop bucket. All the guts then get pulled out, with care not to rupture the intestines. Sometimes there will be an egg ready in its shell, so I carefully cut those out and save them. Getting all the guts out is the hardest part of the whole process. I find it real ly challenging to get all the guts scraped out of such a small chest cavity. Gutting a deer and gutting a chicken both take me about the same amount of time. 

Next, I wash the carcass thoroughly with the hose, then put it in a bucket of cold water to cool the meat down. Today I just stacked the carcasses in a huge strainer and layered them with heaps of fresh snow. I bring the meat into the house and rewash each one and pull out any straggling feathers. I cut the neck for ease of wrapping and put them inside the body cavity. I pat everything dry then wrap the bird whole in plastic wrap, label it, and put it in the freezer. 

 Yum, yum, yum! Chicken recipes to come next!

Composting Basics

I wrote this for a school I helped get into composting. Most of it is borrowed from other handouts I've made, but I think this version finally covers how to operate your bin. May it serve you well!

~~~~

Welcome to your compost bin! It’s a great place full of lots of activity, so enjoy it! It will give you fertilizer, worms, and freedom from the landfill!

To get started, you’ll want a collection bin for indoors. A two gallon bucket fits nicely under a sink and is small enough that it won’t have time to get stinky before it needs emptying.  You’ll also need a cover material tote. This will be outdoors and will house some sort of airy material, such as straw, leaves, moss, shredded paper, sawdust, or weeds. Having cover material is crucial to your composting success, so always have some on hand.

The process of composting is simple. Place your compostable scraps into your bucket. When the bucket is full, empty it into your bin and cover it with the cover material.  With the next addition, pull back the cover material already on top of your pile, dump your bucket, and re-cover. The cover material acts as a biofilter--it will filter out the smell so flies, rodents, dogs, and bears won’t be attracted to your pile.  Pieces of cardboard serve as a nice liner for your bin to keep all material in. 1/4 inch wire mesh is also a good liner.  Cover material along the sides is a good idea if you tend to have food poking out. If you have pest problems, chances are you’re not using enough cover material.

A variety of materials will make the best pile. In composting language, you have browns and greens. Very loosely, if it's dry it's a brown and if it has moisture it's a green. (More accurately, browns are mostly carbon and greens are mostly nitrogen.)  Usually, cover materials work out to be the browns of the pile. Browns provide carbon, add air space, and manage moisture, so don’t forget to add them if your cover material is fresh green weeds. 

Sort for the Bucket & Bin 

What to put in:
Moldy food
Fruits and vegetables
Breads and grains
Egg shells
Dairy

Coffee grounds

Liquids
House plant leaves
Garden debris
Small pieces of paper (not glossy)
Used tissue
Finger nail clippings & hair
Dog fur
Dryer lint
Dust pan & vacuum contents
BioPlastics (labeled compostable) 

What NOT to put in:
Meat scraps/bones
Fish
Fruit/vegetable stickers
Plastic
Metal
Glass
Anything that’s toxic    

Composting is a natural process. Microorganisms will appear and multiply in your bin and break the material down. If you’ve set up the right conditions, there will be billions of microbes working and they will create heat. Hot composting is great because it is fast and it kills pathogens and weed seeds. Cold composting works, but is slow, doesn’t kill weed seeds, and may create a slug problem.

If you are hot composting, the material will quickly heat up to 150 degrees F. It will hover there for a while, then slowly decrease. Once cooled, macro-organisms will appear to further decompose the pile. (This is when fungi and worms will appear.) You can either let the pile sit or turn it to restart the heating process.

When the bin looks full, keep filling it! It will magically take more material since the pile is constantly decomposing and shrinking. When it stops accepting additions use the second side of the bin. Once the second side is truly full, the first side should be done and ready for use.

Using compost is easy. Simply mix it in the top few inches of your soil. It’s good for potted plants, raised beds, and anything you want to have a boost. For creating a new bed, simply mix it with some sand.

If a problem occurs, do some trouble shooting. Composting isn’t supposed to stink, have flies, attract bears, or be difficult!

Pile is Stinky

• too much nitrogen (food scraps or animal manure) Add carbon, i.e. straw, leaves, shredded paper, sawdust, wood chips. 

• not enough biofilter. Add more material to top/sides of pile.

• pile is too wet -  If it's wetter than a wrung out sponge it's too wet and will compact into an anaerobic stink! Add more carbonaceous materials. 

• not enough air - jam a piece of rebar into the pile and wiggle back and forth to make an air hole through the pile. Make several holes. Next time add more bulky things like fern stalks or straw.

Pile is not heating up 

• not the right mixture of greens vs browns. Add greens (food scraps or live plant material)

• pile is too dry - add some water to the pile

• not enough material added at once. Add 10+ gallons at a time for a kick start. You can back off once it heats up.

Pile too hot (>160 F)

• too much nitrogen and microbial action . Split pile in two to avoid killing microbes. Add more carbon.

Basics to keep in mind:

• Acknowledge that a compost pile is alive. It needs nutrients, fiber, air, water, and protection.
• Put  a mix of traditional greens and browns in the pile. Divert stuff from the landfill or find stuff in the wild. Manure adds microbes.
• Add lots of material at once. Get scraps from neighbors--the more the merrier.
• Give the pile air. Layer bulky things in the mix to add pore space. Feel free to  turn it.
• Monitor moisture. Add  water as the heat evaporates some; add dry material if the pile is soggy.
• Have a big, covered pile. This protects the pile from the rain and makes it self-insulating from the cold.
• Have a biofilter. Put several inches of dry material on top of the pile to filter our smells and keep critters at bay.
• Have a composting thermometer (~$25). It lets you know what is going on so you know what to do. If it's not heating up, check the above list. If it's too hot split the pile in two and either cut back on greens or add more browns. 

It looks like a lot to think about, but once you are actually composting with your own hands you will find that it‘s a snap!  Composting can be as easy or hard as you make it. Don't worry about what you NEED to do--just experiment! You can read about lots of things NOT to do or ALWAYS to do, but it comes down to this: No one is the boss of composting! Every situation is different: different climate, different resources, different schedules, different set-ups.....Be creative, get to work, and see what you can turn into soil!

Have fun, and let me know if you need a hand!

Ideas for Child Involvement:

• Make signs for the bin - general “Our Compost” or one for each side, e.g. “Aging,”  “Add here,” etc.
• Empty the bucket into the bin and cover it with cover material
• Collect browns for cover material with their families and bring to school
• Offer to rake neighbor’s leaves as a community service & way to get browns
• Shred used paper for cover material
• Keep track of weight and volume in composting log - weigh full bucket on a scale and estimate gallons.
• Keep track of bin temperature in composting log - can make line graphs of temp vs. time to see the curve
• Start seedlings in trays on the surface of the bin - compare to seedlings started in areas of differing temperatures
• Attach window boxes to side of bin and plant something to eat
• Dig for worms in the finished compost
• Use the finished compost on classroom plants
• Observe finished compost under a magnifying glass
• Analyze the stages of compost - Adults can prep three jars with perforated lids:
• 1. food scraps layered between browns,  
  
•  2. material breaking down,
•  3. finished compost. (I can give you some)
• They can look at and smell the jars to note their similarities and differences. Be sure to remind them that all jars started with the same thing inside--the stuff  in jar #1!

• Read composting books
• Make a book on how your school composts using photos or drawings.
• Tell, draw, or write compost-related stories. I.e. The worm who at my banana peels, The day the cheese disappeared
• Share their knowledge--Invite families and neighbors to see the system
• Talk about garbage - What really makes something garbage? Categorize objects into where they belong if you don‘t need something -
•     -recycle center
•     -salvation army, freecycle, a friend
•     -compost bin
•     -art project
•     -landfill
• Grow a garden!

• help apply the finished compost in the yard.
• grow window boxes of herbs, veggies, or flowers in the classroom
• plant spring veggie starts for children to take home

Chicken Housing

In light of the Juneau Chicken Summit tomorrow, I thought I'd write about my chickens. I've had chickens for four years and have gone through a few different set-ups for them.

The first year (2009) I had 9 birds. I had started to build a coop out of pallets when I got a call from my husband's uncle. He was on a construction job out at the Silverbow Bakery and said he had to haul off their old dumpster cover. It was a three-sided house-like structure painted pastel yellow. It had a purple bagel painted on one side and "Order here" (with an arrow) painted on the other. It had seen better days. It got fork-lifted into the back of our truck, we drove into our front yard, tied it off to a tree, and drove away. Where she landed she lay, for it was too heavy and wobbly.

We lifted a corner at a time and set bricks around the perimeter to keep the wood from rotting on the soggy ground. I knocked out the rotted cross braces and replaced them. I added a fourth wall, a second side to the roof, a short person door, and a chicken door. In my naivety, I dropped the cash and added ridgid foam insulation between the studs and sheathed the inside. I had a gallon of electric yellow paint laying around (a 70's-themed kitchen gone bad), so I used it to brighten up the inside. Atlin wanted outside to be barn red, so seven coats of paint later, it was red! I added a couple of perches and a light, ran an extension cord and a gutter, built an automatic feeder, and voila!  It's about 3x8 feet and is probably my favorite coop.

Automatic refilling feeder and the third generation of nest boxes (these finally worked)

It was a great coup that got used for one full year before I expanded my flock and moved my chickens up the hill and gave their cozy quarters to the turkeys. Eventually it became a rabbit coop, at which point the fence was added. When the birds where there they were completely free-ranging all the time. They knew where home was and kept themselves safe. Most of them roosted in the huge spruces above the coop at night.  It sat empty for a while, and now it's the annex chicken coop. I put three chickens in it so we can enjoy watching our birds from the window again. 

(stock photo--I wish I had a flat space like that!)

Chickens can take a lot. The second year I had chickens, I moved them up the hill near our newly-built barn. I put them in....a Shelter Logic. I didn't even realized until I got home that it was an ugly yellow one either. I wish I had photos of the sorry scene, but you'll just have to believe me that the chickens thrived in it, even through a cold winter. This is my proof that chickens don't need insulated coops or heat lamps.

The barn

In 2011, after a year of milking goats, I passed them on and space opened up in the barn. I turned the chicken tent into a composting tent and moved the girls into the vacant stall. The stall is 3x8 feet. It worked well enough, but when the sheep got passed on, a bigger spaced opened up, so they moved again. They now resided in the main stall of the barn, which is 8x12 feet.  It's a nice space for them, and it's easy to clean with a pitch fork. They are fenced into a big (Juneau-big) "pasture," which is divided into two sections. They fed in one section last year and they'll feed on the other section this year. More on rotational grazing, creating pastures, and foraging to come later....

  

The perched chickens. (on 2x2s)

Australorp in a crate--the chicken-preferred nest box

 So the moral of the story is, work with what you have and it will probably work out!

Want a Job? Try Composting!

One day's worth of food scraps 

 

I've been community composting two days a week for 15 months now. I've put in well over 200 hours of volunteer time into the project, and hauled some 30,000 pounds of material.  But now, I'm tired. I'm over the constant urgency of piling material, and--the worst--washing buckets. I'm done saying "no, I need to compost" when my family asks me to do something fun. I'm ready for something else. I feel like I've proved the point that community composting can work in Juneau. It works in our climate. It works with our wildlife. It works for our businesses. It works in the garden. It works fiscally. I'm just not at a place in my life where I need to start another business. For now my family and commercial fishing is enough. And I need to walk the dogs more.

So, is anyone interested in composting on a large scale? I'm ready to step down and am looking for someone to take over the route! I can provide hands-on "training," and supply logistical and composting advice throughout the process. It's a fast way to build up your compost reserves!

Another idea I've had to handle all the compost is opening the cooperative part up on all ends. What I envision is an online database of businesses who produce compostable materials (food scraps, shredded paper, garden refuse, etc), how much they produce, and when it's available for pickup. Then, users could sign up to pick up so-and-so's buckets every x day. I think it could be a great networking tool to help businesses manage their waste and help gardeners garden better. Even if someone wasn't interested in large scale composting on a continual basis, they could at least acquire material to start a big, hot-composting pile, and periodically add to it as needed.

Broadening off the database idea a bit, if we could end up with site (say a spot out at the Juneau Community Garden) where people could compost, it could really get things rolling. If someone wanted to make some cash picking up food scraps they'd have a place to pile it, and there would be a very local market of buyers right at hand.

In any case, my last official pick-up is next week. If you think you might be interested in picking up some scraps, give me a shout! 

 Goodbye scraps, Hello fertilizer! I've got tons (literally) of finished compost to harvest!

Garden Planning and Hopeful Planting

The rhubarb, chives, marsh marigolds, and crocuses have poked their heads out, and the blueberry buds have swelled and beach grass is coming up. Hopefully the plants haven't called spring too soon. Though it is only 20-30 degrees out, it feels so warm since it's actually dry out.

 My garden map for the year is filled out in pencil with plans of what to plant where. I completely geek out with the garden map and make it to scale on grid paper and color code things. This is the third year I've made a map, and this year I'm stepping my record keeping up with an extra database to make tracking crop rotation easier. I made rock number labels for each raised bed. Now I can simply look in my database and see that bed #1 had kale, then lettuce, then peas in it. Crop rotation is important for both nutrient and pest management.

I have 46 raised beds, with more on the way!

Basil

Kale
 

I started a few flats indoors. I can't figure out how to prevent legginess.....I have my lights within centimeters of the lights but they all just want to reach up, up up......do I just not move the lights when the plants touch them? I wish I had more room to experiment with starts!

Potential Peas

I planted a packet of peas under row cover, in a hoop house, outdoors on March 12, and of course the temps immediately dropped to 20 degrees. Peas will sprout and grow in surprisingly low temperatures, but 20 is pushing it. People always wonder how I can plant so early and make it work. #1 is having dry, covered beds that warm up on sunny days. #2 is that many times many things don't work! It's a gamble to plant early, but at $2.50 a seed packet, it's not really risking much if something doesn't sprout. I stick to peas, onions, kale, spinach and lettuce for super early crops. If something doesn't sprout early you can always replant. If seeds haven't come up in a couple of weeks it's usually safe to say it's a bust--don't wait and wait and wait to replant just because you know the seeds are there. Now if the snow that just started falling would stop, I'd say "Get planting!"

Sustainability in the Barn

I mentioned many months ago that I wanted to stop using purchased straw in the chicken coop. At $25 a bale, I tend not to keep the barn floor as clean as I'd like. My current floor space of 8x12 feet requires quite a bit more straw than my old 3x8 coop. I also wonder about where the straw comes from--what kind of pesticides am I adding to my compost pile by using this mystery straw from down south? Is it from GMO wheat? Also, the thought of having something trucked and barged up here just so my chickens can poop on it seems a little extravagant if you really think about it.

Thanks Nicole!

When you need to find something it seems like you can always count on Freecycle! I posted an add for bulk shredded paper and had a response within a day. A friend at the Dept of Labor has been graciously calling me when their "file consolidation" pile stacks up.

Of course I'm always skeptical--even of my own ideas. I was worried about the shredded paper matting in the coop. And when on the first day the chickens had paper sticking to their legs, I envisioned them eventually becoming entirely covered in paper mache. But, after a month of using solely paper for the bedding, it's worked out even better than straw!

Over-flow

A couple of times a week I fluff things up with the pitchfork and occasionally toss in tote-fulls of new paper. The only down side is that it is a little unsightly in the pasture. Like straw, it spills out the doorways when it sticks to chicken feet and boots. Another concern is the toxicity of ink and bleached paper in the compost. In my research on composting paper, it's hard to find definite answers. In some instances it seems as though the composting process has the ability to cleanse toxins from the heap, which would be desired when using either paper or straw. For now, I'm simply hoping that is the case.  I plan on getting my finished compost tested for toxins and for nutrient content in the near future.

To me the pros of eliminating straw from the barn far out weigh the cons. 

If you need bedding for your critters, consider networking with a local office for their shredded paper!

Organic and GMO

It seems as though many people think organically-labeled food as a hoax--a hoity-toity extravagance. I always wonder why people don't see organic's significance. To me, it's a vote against the big agribusiness of conventional farming, which is characterized by the heavy use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. I can vote for a president who plants a big White House garden, but what does that do? Monsanto still rules the capitol. Go to the "Monsanto's Government Ties" list here to view the actual personnel.  I don't know how it can be legal!

If you're not familiar with Monsanto, here are a few Wikipedia notes about the Monsanto company:

• They are the creators/manufacturers of DDT, Agent Orange, and PCBs, all highly toxic chemicals.

• They created Round-Up as a weed killer. Then they made Round-Up-Ready corn, wheat, canola, alfalfa, and cotton seed. (This means the plants that bare your food get sprayed with Round-Up, don't die, and go on to produce your food). Upwards of 200 million tons of Round-Up are applied in the US annually, and it doesn't decompose. We all need clean water to drink....

• As of 2012, Monsanto is associated with 11 active Superfund sites and 20 archived sites in the US

• They have been/are involved in countless legal battles over pollution and gene patenting 

• They are responsible for all the rBHT (and artificial growth hormone) in our milk.

• They are the makers of genetically modified corn, soy, and who knows what else. These products are widespread and are not labeled in the US, so if you're not buying organic, you're eating GMO. What's the big deal about GMO? It hasn't been tested, so we don't know if it's safe. See the above track record and wonder if Monsanto cares if GMO is safe. 

 Here is a list of companies who have dumped $$ into the anti-labeling campaign. Do your health and the planet a favor and boycott them!

Did you know our government subsidizes corn, Monsanto's major seed crop, which needs tons of Monsanto's pesticides? 2011 saw upwards of $4.6 billion in corn subsidies! This subsidy in turn makes cheap corn-based animal feed and processed foods. So here our tax $$ are working in two ways:

1. They help corn farmers afford Monsanto's GMO seeds and pesticides, and 
2. They help consumers pay less for their burgers, corn chips, and corn-syrup drinks. 

My thoughts on this:

1. Monsanto has enough $$
2. Considering the obesity levels in our country, I think it would be wiser to subsidize fruits and veggies.

Many produce items in the grocery store are from foreign countries because they are cheaper than US-grown produce. Why not subsidize the healthy food instead of the processed food and keep diversified fruit and veggie farmers in business? Producers and consumers would win. The way things are now, only Monsanto wins.


Which brings us back to organic. Defeated by the bureaucratic nonsense of big-agribusiness in the government, I can vote for sustainable farming methods by choosing to spend our grocery dollars on organic food to support organic farmers. Even more than that, it shows conventional farmers that I don't support their farming methods.

I also think of the extra money I spend on organic food as a form of health insurance. By eating organic I can bypass the chemical residues that remain on/in non-organic foods. Think about it this way:

If you were getting ready to spray Round-Up on the lawn and your son dropped his apple into your mixing bucket, would you let him eat it? When you buy non-organic from the store, essentially the same thing happened, but you just didn't see it. Seriously, would you let him eat it?!

The food system in our country is quite the out-of-site-out-of-mind phenomenon for most people. It's infuriating to think about what we are being fed, both literally, mentally, and subconsciously. Most of us aren't buying our food directly from farmers who can tell us about their practices. It's a scary food world out there right now, and the organic label is something we can rely on.....and even that is a statement I don't fully believe. With a large chemical company running the agricultural system of this country I wonder how easy it is for them to makes changes to the USDA organic certification standards. With organic gaining such popularity I often wonder if more farmers are switching to organic production or if standards are lowered so the label includes more farms. Ensuring that large farms are operating within the guidelines is also a fine line.

Huck's first potato harvest

So in the end it seems like the best message is: GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!  You won't be able to grow it all, but every step counts.  If you gather, hunt, fish, and preserve, in addition to 4-season gardening, and you pare your food selection down, you'll be shocked at what you can provide!

I first heard of all this back in 2001 in a sustainable agriculture class at UMaine. I never thought it would get this bad. For more info on GMO, Monsanto, and the corruption of the EPA, check out the internet--there's tons of information out there. A good start would be watching a few of the many food documentaries, including Food Inc. and  King  Corn. Get appalled,disgusted, and inspired to feed yourself!

The Fertility Facility

It started with one small bin. I built it out of the heaviest, ugliest pallets you've ever seen. It was my first pallet project, and at the time I didn't know there was a patient art to pallet scrounging. Armed with a skill saw, hammer, and crow bar, I used a full pallet for the back and cut another pallet into pieces for the sides. It measures 18x41x48 inches. I rested a scrap piece of tin roofing over the top to keep the rain out. Surprisingly, it took my family of 3 and flock of 9 chickens almost two years to fill it! It looked like it was full after about a year, but when the contents got to the lid, you could actually see the magic of composting: One week you think you've poured your last bucket of slop in as the lid teeters over the mound. The next week the pile has settled a few inches allowing for another addition. This happens from week to week as the pile is continuously breaking down. It's feels like such a magic show to keep adding to the pile, and it's a wonderful confirmation that your pile of scraps is indeed a compost pile. 

Bin #2

The Fertility Facility began out of necessity. The two sheep and two goats I was raising in 2010 made for a lot of dirty bedding to take care of. I built bin #2 and started adding our food, garden, and barn scraps to it. It soon became "full" as it was mostly barn litter (poopy straw) and didn't quite have enough green to keep it composting quickly. So I built bin #3, which became a holding tank for barn litter. I continued to add greens to bin 2 for about a year. Eventually, I came up with the composting co-op idea, but I was working full time, had a two year old, and was milking the animals twice a day. It just didn't pan out to put more on my plate. In mid-2011 I became a bona fide stay-at-home mom and starting drawing out the plans for mass composting. In January 2012 the program started and I gradually expanded from composting for nine households to composting for 23 households, a preschool, a bread bakery, a bistro, a grocery store/deli, and a food bank. So I did some more building:

 

#4, the first co-op bin, & #5

 

 #6 & #7

 

#8 & #9, which form the northern fence around my garden

 

 

#10 & #11, continuing the fence

#12 & #3, which are a separate experiment

#13 & #14, waiting to be needed and completing the north fence.

 The storage bin, packed full of leaves for future use as biofilter

Some Numbers:

Now, February 2013, just over a year after beginning, I have filled (to ultimate capacity,) 10 bins.

• Two bins are actively getting added to.  
• Three bins are starting to cool, meaning they're about half way done. 
• Two bins are mostly done and are getting finished by worms (who just show up when it's time)
• Five bins are completely composted and are awaiting spring use.   

     Spreadsheet Totals

• 220 hours (not counting building, turning piles, and record keeping) on the project.
• 5269 gallons of material collected 
• 19,661 pounds of material collected
• ~11,500 pounds of additional material from my barn
• ~600 pounds of cover material (collected leaves, garden debris, straw)

Surprisingly, this doesn't take up much space in my yard, considering how much material has gone in. Volume wise, the break down of the material is astounding. The first round of breakdown has a shrink rate of about 50%. The reheat and final breakdown shrinks by another 33%. 

So I started by piling up 1188 cubic feet of material and ended up with 392 cubic feet of compost. 

Last summer I saw bags of 1.5 cubic feet (~2 5-gallon buckets) of compost selling at a store downtown for $20. That means I created about $7920 worth of compost. In other words, if the market was there and I could sell everything I produce, I actually could make a fair wage! Collection fees could also boost the $$ potential. 

So after it all, I've got a huge accumulation of greatness just waiting to grow something delicious. It's been fun, and I don't see reason to stop! If I could just get my paperwork act together to get the license/permit, I could "open" for official business and make some $$. For now, I'll just keep composting!

Recycling Projects

I'm obsessed with not throwing things away. I always look to pass unwanted items on to others, repair the damaged ones, and re-purpose the things that don't fit into the first two. Here are a few recent projects:

Worn Out Socks

When we wear a hole in a sock, I simply tie a knot in it and throw it to the dogs. They love to play tug with it and throw it around. Not only do you get to keep your spent sock out of the landfill, but you also bypass having to buy faraway-made toys for your dogs! If you wear natural fibered socks (pure cotton, wool, or bamboo), you're in extra luck. After your dogs have demolished the sock, you can just throw it in the compost pile!  If you don't have a dog, simply cut the sock into pieces for easier decomposition by your hard-working microbes.

Nappy Pot Holders

So I've had the same pot holders for about 7 years. They had a ridiculous amount of stains and burn holes. Most First World people would have thrown them in a landfill long ago and purchased new ones. Most Third World people would be grateful to simply have pot holders, ratty or not . At my place in the Fourth World, I can use a few scraps of fabric to revamp the old into new:

 1.  Wash potholders, measure dimensions, cut fabric, and make a pouch.

 2. Add loop of ribbon, sew pouch shut with old potholder inside. Quilt stitch an X across the square. Voila!

This one is made from an old wool sweater. I used the bottom of the body to make a couple of potholders, the top of the body to make a purse, and the arms to make some awesome volcano leg warmers. Scraps went into the compost. 

The result of some old potholders, a few cotton scraps of cloth, a holey sweater, some ribbon, a sewing machine, and 30 minutes of my day. What can you save from the landfill with a simple upcycle?