"enigma" wrote in message
. ..

(snipped)

did you know that there are no native earthworms in the US?
they're all imported.
lee

I used to think that too, but have changed my idea. Here's a quote from
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/action/FAQ_sheet.pdf.

There are over 100 species of native North American earthworms in
unglaciated areas such as the southeastern U.S. and the Pacific Northwest.
However, native species have either been too slow to move northwards on
their own or they are not able to survive Minnesota's harch climate.

In article ,
enigma wrote:

Billy wrote in

ct.net.au:


and another case of Guinness bites the dust.

Guiness isn't my favorite to drink,
You drink the draught, right, not the XX Export Stout?
but i did toss a bottle
into the corned beef & cabbage yesterday. it was pretty good.
the corned beef was eye of round instead of the standard
brisket.
i bought Tom a bottle of Bushnell's 21 year old Whisky for
St.Patrick's day
Oh my god, help me get back into my chair. Not to put too fine a point
on it, Bushnell Whisky (apologies to the Scots) is made in OCCUPIED
Northern Ireland. Jameson Irish Whiskey is made in the Republic of
Ireland. We finished our Jameson last night in a spectacle of
nationalist pride.
, but i didn't try any (yet). it smells really good though.
That would be the Devil himself, come to tempt you;-)

lee
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article ,
enigma wrote:

"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in
:


"enigma" wrote in message
. ..

(snipped)

did you know that there are no native earthworms in the
US? they're all imported.
lee

I used to think that too, but have changed my idea.
Here's a quote from
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/action/FAQ_sheet.pdf.

There are over 100 species of native North American
earthworms in unglaciated areas such as the southeastern
U.S. and the
**Pacific Northwest.**
However, native species
have either been too slow to move northwards on their own
or they are not able to survive Minnesota's harch climate.

ah, so it's only us
north easterners
that have no native worms
(due to glaciers)? and the southern worms choose not to adapt
to cold climate, so we have the imported European worms.
makes sense.
lee
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:22:21 -0700, Billy wrote:


Sliocht sleachta ar shliocht bhur sleachta
Charlie

and another case of Guinness bites the dust.

Top 'o the mawrnin' to ya, BillyBoyo!

Moderation, me old friend, all in moderation now.

Only three pints last night. One in the stew and two in me.

Fad saol agat ("Long life to you.")
I'll take you up on that;-)
Charlie

In life, there are only two things to worry about--
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, there is nothing to worry about,

But if you are sick, there are only two things to worry about--
Either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well, there is nothing to worry about,

But if you die, there are only two things to worry about--
Either you will go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about.

And if you go to hell, you'll be so busy shaking hands with all your old
friends and
You won't have time to worry!
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:24:53 -0700, Billy wrote:


Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.

That's a load of crap, Billy! ;-)

Charlie

What a shitty thing to say!;-)
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

Billy wrote in

ct.net.au:

In article ,
enigma wrote:

Billy wrote in

nne ct.net.au:


and another case of Guinness bites the dust.

Guiness isn't my favorite to drink,
You drink the draught, right, not the XX Export Stout?

well, rarely. bottled draught is just *wrong*
i don't think i've ever seen the XX Export Stout. it might
not be sold in NH. because we have state run liqour
stores/sales, it costs brewers/wineries $1000 per *label* to
get their product sold here. that eliminates a lot of
microbreweries & even limits what the larger places will sell
here.

i bought Tom a bottle of Bushnell's 21 year old Whisky
for St.Patrick's day

Oh my god, help me get back into my chair. Not to put too
fine a point on it, Bushnell Whisky (apologies to the
Scots) is made in OCCUPIED Northern Ireland. Jameson Irish
Whiskey is made in the Republic of Ireland. We finished our
Jameson last night in a spectacle of nationalist pride.

but Bushnell's has been around longer than the Troubles...
and Jameson is made with malted & unmalted barley and is part
of a large conglomerate. (that said, there's some Jameson's in
the basement too)

, but i didn't try any (yet). it smells really good
though.

That would be the Devil himself, come to tempt you;-)

ah, well, not being much of a drinker has saved my soul

lee wants a still
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:14:17 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:24:53 -0700, Billy wrote:


Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.

That's a load of crap, Billy! ;-)

Charlie

What a shitty thing to say!;-)

Please, evacuate this thread...g

Dark Energy

When it moves it good. When it don't it backs up.
Life moves.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Jonathan Ball wrote:
wrote:
Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.
3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

Thanks for your input!

I think too many people want to fetishize composting. I like doing it,

Composting, I mean; not fetishizing it.


and I don't mind working at it some, but I don't figure I need to learn
all that much about it.

If you don't like turning the whole pile, and I agree that can be a lot
of work, you should at least get a fork and mix up the new material and
a little bit of the top layer when you put new stuff in the pile. That's
sufficient to keep leaves and grass from clumping; when the stuff clumps
together, it really slows down the decomposition. After adding a lot of
new material, sprinkle a couple of shovelsful of soil over it, and stir
that up a little with your fork; lots of bacteria in soil to help with
the decomposition. Keep the stuff reasonably moist, and that should be
all you need to do.

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:52:03 -0600, "Andrew Ostrander"
wrote:


"enigma" wrote in message
...

(snipped)

did you know that there are no native earthworms in the US?
they're all imported.
lee

I used to think that too, but have changed my idea. Here's a quote from
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/action/FAQ_sheet.pdf.

There are over 100 species of native North American earthworms in
unglaciated areas such as the southeastern U.S. and the Pacific Northwest.
However, native species have either been too slow to move northwards on
their own or they are not able to survive Minnesota's harch climate.

Fortunately for the earthworms, once global warming* really gets
going,, conditions in Minnesota and northwards will be much
more benign for the little darlings, if not for us...

* Yes, Mr. President, I know it's only a fiction concocted by
those pinko commie environmentalists.

Dark Energy

We still have pinko commies? I thought it was those "terrorist jihadi"
environmentalists.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:14:17 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:24:53 -0700, Billy wrote:


Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.

That's a load of crap, Billy! ;-)

Charlie

What a shitty thing to say!;-)

Please, evacuate this thread...g

Dark Energy

You swallowed a thread Charlie? Can't you be more careful. Try to be a
little more excrete in the futu-)
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:31:32 -0700, Billy wrote:

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:14:17 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:24:53 -0700, Billy wrote:


Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's
back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.

That's a load of crap, Billy! ;-)

Charlie

What a shitty thing to say!;-)

Please, evacuate this thread...g

Dark Energy

You swallowed a thread Charlie? Can't you be more careful. Try to be a
little more excrete in the futu-)

What? Is everyone gettin' turd of the banter already? :-)

Charlie

So, we need to wait 120 days before we can use this on the crop, huh?
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:27:01 -0500, Charlie wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:31:32 -0700, Billy wrote:

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:14:17 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:24:53 -0700, Billy
wrote:


Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's
back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.

That's a load of crap, Billy! ;-)

Charlie

What a shitty thing to say!;-)

Please, evacuate this thread...g

Dark Energy

You swallowed a thread Charlie? Can't you be more careful. Try to be a
little more excrete in the futu-)

What? Is everyone gettin' turd of the banter already? :-)

Charlie

I perceive it empties into a descending colon...

Dark Energy

And you are Sigmoid Freud
:?
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

"Jonathan Ball" wrote in message
If you don't like turning the whole pile, and I agree that can be a lot of
work, you should at least get a fork and mix up the new material and a little
bit of the top layer when you put new stuff in the pile. That's sufficient to
keep leaves and grass from clumping; when the stuff clumps together, it really
slows down the decomposition. After adding a lot of new material, sprinkle a
couple of shovelsful of soil over it, and stir that up a little with your
fork; lots of bacteria in soil to help with the decomposition. Keep the stuff
reasonably moist, and that should be all you need to do.

I quit getting uncomposted clumps when I started always sprinkling some dirt
over each layer.

In article ,
"Bob F" wrote:

"Jonathan Ball" wrote in message
If you don't like turning the whole pile, and I agree that can be a lot of
work, you should at least get a fork and mix up the new material and a
little
bit of the top layer when you put new stuff in the pile. That's sufficient
to
keep leaves and grass from clumping; when the stuff clumps together, it
really
slows down the decomposition. After adding a lot of new material, sprinkle
a
couple of shovelsful of soil over it, and stir that up a little with your
fork; lots of bacteria in soil to help with the decomposition. Keep the
stuff
reasonably moist, and that should be all you need to do.

I quit getting uncomposted clumps when I started always sprinkling some dirt
over each layer.

For what it's worth, a few yarrow leaves are supposed to speed up the
decomposition process.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?

Not really - you've hit the nail on the head, as they say. Grass and
leaves will EVENTUALLY rot up into humus. However, a compost pile works
best if you have lots of active, hungry redworms, and you regularly go back
and put apple cores, banana peels, etc. on it.

We have found a balance by using a 5 gallon bucket for our compost under
the kitchen sink. 5 gallons is enough so that we don't have to make trips
out to the compost pile more than once every 7 to 10 days. The lid fits
tightly, so we rarely get unpleasant odors indoors.

It may help to have an actual enclosure for your compost. I used some
wood pallets that a business had discarded, 4 to be exact. I then bought a
half gallon of copper napthenate at Lowe's, and proceeded to use an old
paint brush to treat all of the wood against rot and fungus. I let the wood
air out in the sun for a week. Treating the wood allows the pallets to last
for about 10 years instead of just 3 or 4.

Then I turned the pallets on their sides to form a simple box. Next I
used wire to bind them together. You can put some chicken wire on the
inside if you want. Today as a big bonus, we have lots of active redworms,
so I can always get some free fishing bait, too.