Last summer I built a compost bin. It is a large 55 gallon barrel that sits in a stand and can be rolled by hand. It did not look like there was much in it, but I decided to give it another spin or two before emptying it and starting the process all over again.
Unfortunately, when I tried to spin it, the lid came open and I had to scoop most of it off the ground, but, to my delight, I ended up with almost ten gallons of fabulous looking, homegrown compost. I can hardly wait to mix it into my homegrown potting soil recipe and fill the flower pots. I usually get a little carried away with my flowers.....springtime has that affect on me. After a long cold winter, most folks are ready to see some color, and it just wouldn't feel right if I didn't get to hear my husband say "Don't you get tired of watering all those?", every year.
With several days of rain in the forecast, I decided the garden needed cleaned, the yard mowed, the compost bin filled and to "getter' done" in one day. When I woke up this morning, I felt as if I had been run over by a Mack truck.
The compost bin is supposed to be filled with layers. Browns, leaves, small twigs and greens, self explanatory. It is also a good idea to add some cow manure to the greens. This helps to make a nourishing finished product. I had plenty of browns and a large pile of greens but was missing what I felt like was the key ingredient. I sent my son-in-law a text asking if he would inquire of his cousin, a farmer, if I could gather some cow patties. The response I received was, "Sure, but he said if you take one, you have to take them all!"
This small town I call home sits in the middle of farm country. The cow patties were less than three blocks from my house. Since it was Sunday and the traffic is nearly zero, Runtly, the Jack Russell Terrier (aka terrorist) had spent the better part of the day outside with me without a leash. He was being a pretty good dog, other than falling in the garden pond.....again.....which was par for the course. The night before I had given him a bath....the first bath he'd had in over two weeks.....at least he was clean for about eight hours. I told my husband that Runtly and I were off in search of cow patties and would return shortly. I thought too, this would be the perfect opportunity for Runtly to run full bore through an open field.
As I drove down the lane, I realized the cattle had been moved to another location and figured that was probably a good thing. I did not know who would be more traumatized by their presence, them or the dog. The farmer keeps a couple of his hunting dogs at this place and they looked up lazily as I parked, but never made a sound. I opened the car door and immediately lost one of my plastic shopping bags to the wind, surely two bags would be enough.
Runtly bounded out, nose to the ground and ran up and down the fence line while I opened the gate. I had no more walked through the gate and called to him when one of the dogs bayed. With a look of terror in his eyes, Runtly took off in the opposite direction. I'm standing there in the gold mine of cow patties, hanging on to the flapping shopping bags, with a small scoop in one hand and now the dog is MIA. Thinking he surely would not go too far, I began the search for the perfect patty. It did not take me long to realize the sun baked patties were much easier to pick up than the slightly fresh ones. Not only that, it is really difficult to maneuver manure into a flapping plastic bag.
With the bags full, I headed back to the car and still no Runtly in sight. As I reached in to pop the trunk, there he was, hiding in the back seat. His open field jaunt had consisted of about fifty feet. We returned home and I started filling the compost bin. When I turned to get one of the bags, Runtly was happily gnawing on one of the fresher patties. Great, I thought, I'll get to see that again, and......... so I did.
Planting and growing season, one of my favorite times of the year.
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