The Wonderful World Of Composting

Our first house in Peterborough was in the city's green waste pilot project neighbourhood. When we moved this past fall, we realized how spoiled we had been in our waste collection. I recently emailed my two city councilors and our mayor to ask why Peterborough hasn't jumped on the green waste bandwagon. They explained that it was due to a lack of appropriate sites for the green waste area. But I've heard through the grape vine that they didn't want to shell out the money to outfit every household with a green waste bin...
So, since I don't really want city hall to know me (and my illegal chicken grow-op), I decided to forgo the fight with city hall (for now) and get my own composter.
I read through the "Composting for Canada" book (see previous post). It has information on every type of composting option available. From vermiscomposting to anaerobic and aerobic, cold passive and hot active, etc, etc. I had no idea that composting was quite the science. Did you know there was a carbon:nitrogen ratio??? (I'll save that for another time).

I went to Peterborough Green Up and bought myself an Earth Machine composter.
 It is an aeration composter that can be used by filling it and waiting for the whole pile to decompose or as an ever-producing compost, as it has a door on the bottom where you can collect the finished compost.
I picked a spot in the yard, next to where the garden will be. Put it together, secured it to the ground and off to the composting races we go!
Oh...and at Peterborough Green Up, I also signed up for their vermicomposting class where we get a bin + worms and learn how to not kill them. Gage will love it!

Impatience

It's about this time of year, every year, where I feel winter has over stayed it's welcome. I am a Canadian and have never experienced a winter anywhere else so before you all remind me, I know it's only March 9th and that we typically see snow in April. But yet, every March Break I still feel a little jilted and start to really, strongly dislike the white stuff. Bring on the April showers and the random days of 10*C. Bring on the May flowers, and at this point, I'm even looking forward to the sweltering, humid days that I detest every summer. (I'm a 18*C-25*C kinda girl).
So with all this winter still ahead of us I've been keeping myself busy. I'm still baking bread. It's still delicious. I'm still researching about chickens and veggie gardens, and more recently composting.

I have yet to decide what type(s) of composter I will use but I can tell you that my three year old would LOVE a vermicomposter. Thats worms...in your kitchen. I haven't run that by Eric yet...







On a more exciting note. My Eglu Cube is in the country! Great friends of ours, that we owe big time went across the border and picked up the five huge boxes that it ships in. The next challenge is getting it here from Cornwall. I'm so excited that I tell anyone and everyone that will listen. And perhaps even those the don't care.
Besides composting and chicken coups, I've been knitting away the nights. Here are a couple things I've been working on recently.

The "Faverolle". Hoping to finish this BEFORE the warm weather.



These are the "Fiddlehead Mittens". They will be blocked later today and then I can start on the knit liners that go in them to make them extra smooshy and warm.

As I look out the window, watching the sky prepare for the 10-15 cm of forecasted snow fall, I remind myself that spring is....just...around...the...corner (at least, that's what the glass half full people say).