Great blogs, backyard composting 101

backyard wisteria, early spring

I am having so much fun looking at all the great blogs and then finding lists of more blogs in the great blogs I'm seeing! I've found some real treasures and great resources, ideas, free patterns, good writing and just plain fun. I've listed some of my favorite finds in my blog list in the sidebar.

Today is a beautiful Northern California day - sunny, 74 degrees and a great day for being outside. This morning I decided to take on the task of starting a small composting space in our backyard, something I've wanted to do for awhile. I looked online for some guidelines, and then spoke to our neighbor whose backyard faces ours (only a cyclone fence with ivy, honeysuckle and wisteria separating the yards) and open up to each other via a little gate at the end of the fence. His backyard is a huge organic garden and it is a pleasure to watch it grow and blossom. He gave us a little seasonal tour, showed us the new ground for soon-to-be-planted veggies, let us pick some snow and snap peas, and gave a little advice on starting a compost.

After our foray, or perhaps I should say our forage, my son and I reached into the nether corners of our shed and pulled out two shovels and our aerator - I think that's what it is called - the four-pined ground breaker-upper might be a better description! Anyway, I got to work watering the ground and breaking up the dirt, then Tristan and I shoveled the dirt in a pile next to the hole. We dug about 6 inches down into dirt I thought was dry as a desert - and found 3 worms!! That took about 45 minutes and my little guy was a great helper - he loves dirt! Still have a ways to go. I will post more about this when there is more to tell.