The summer growing season is quickly coming to an end and the scrub oak on the nearby mountain side are changing colors.  Each morning now there is a chill in the air, yet the afternoons offer the most pleasant temperatures.  Today was spectacular and I spent the afternoon creating a compost pile out back.  My wife and I have been creating a sizable dirt pile this summer from the yard space that we dug up to create the deep beds that we built this spring.  It was necessary to complete this project before the frost arrives and the snow starts to pile up.

The compost pile that we now have is 4′ x 10′ and 2′ high, I created this pile by layering dirt, dried chopped up leaves, grass clippings (we don’t use fertilizer), and freshly chopped fruit and vegetable matter.  Several slightly moistened layers of each component were needed to build the height up to 2′.

I grew up in a medium sized city in Nebraska in the 60’s and 70’s.  My grand parents worked a 360 acre farm where I spent many weekends and summer vacations over a ten year period of my childhood.  The lessons that I learned during that time still influence my actions.  As this compost pile was rising I remembered my grand fathers instructions to me as we put up hay at the end of one season.  “Davey, your crowning the stack to fast spread each layer wider”, so as I created this compost pile I was following these same instructions.  The end result I am certain would have met his approval.

C’est notre chien, nous appelons Scout.

This is my companion Scout, she and I periodically took breaks to get in a couple throws with the tennis balls that she eagerly chased down.  Retrieving her catch she drops it with a smile and waits for the next throw.  This project required 4 hours of our time today, now it is late afternoon and we are both exhausted.  It is time to clean up the tools and call it a day.

Le compost est composé de les dechets vert de le maison and du jardin:  des pelures de fruits et de légumes, le marc de café, and des coquilles d’oeuf.  Aussi, après avoir tondu la pelouse, j’ajouterai l’herbe que j’ai ramassé.

The compost consists of the waste from the kitchen and the garden; the peels from fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and egg shells.  Also, after I mow the yard, I add the grass clippings that I picked up.

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