Potassium?

The first of my monthly garden columns hit the Gazette this morning and I immediately spotted a mistake. Healthy soil, I said, provides lots of nutrients like nitrogen and potassium to plants. Plants do need potassium, but I meant to say phosphurous. I think, as a trail runner, I was getting me dirt confused with me. Anyway, there's a great new book on building healthy soil called The Complete Compost Gardening Guide by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah Martin. It's set up for wetter climes, so doesn't fully address watering your compost, but it's still a great read.

Coffee gets my compost steaming

After adding approximately four big bags of wet coffee grounds to my compost pile a week ago, I went out to stir it yesterday and saw something I'd never seen before: steam. That's a good thing, it means the micro biotic community in my bin is chugging along at a speed that is creating its own heat.

I've never seen that happen before. Usually my compost is very slow. I have a tendency to let it dry out, which essentially mummifies the yard waste instead of letting it break down.

Why did coffee grounds do such amazing things: two reasons.
1. They're loaded with nitrogen which is rare in the compost pile at this time of year. (Green things generally have nitrogen.)
2. They're loaded with moisture, and since the tiny particles can be easily mixed in, they spread the moisture around.

So, if you want to start composting with grounds, here's a recipe. You want to mix "green" and "brown" material. You want a 1 to five ratio of green to brown.
Green is any fresh material (such as grass clippings) that can provide nitrogen to the pile. Brown is any old material (especially dead leaves) that can provide food for the micro organisms to break down. Coffee counts as a "green" material, even though it is brown in color.

Either layer the materials or mix them up. Make sure the pile is loose so it has plenty of air. Turn it every few weeks with a pitch fork.

For more composting advice, click here.

Turning up the dirt

I should have turned up my dirt and added lots of organics (leaves, grass clippings, etc) last fall, but I didn't. Instead, I have to do it now. Saturday I turned over all my dirt, making sure to loosen any clumps. Last year I had problems with the dirt compacting too much -- not enough organic material in there. I want to use my own compost to revive it, but I'm not sure I have enough so I think I'll add my compost to one garden and sphagnum moss from the garden store to the other. Then I'll see which works better.

First spring buds

Friday, Feb. 29 I saw my first robin of the year, singing high in a ponderosa pine on a warm, sunny afternoon. I knew the bulbs wouldn't be far behind. March 1 was 70 degrees. The first warm day of the year. The tulips on the south side of my house thrust a good three inches out of the ground. The crocus and daffodils are on their way up too. I covered them in leaves to protect from the 18 degree overnight lows we had the next day.