Compost!

It seems I am suppose to do a post about compost.

 Over a few days last week we worked over 2 garden boxes and I built two more.
 These two new boxes are 4' X 8'.  I raked a large pile of leaves and we filled the boxed and "tilled" in the leaves with the dirt. The plan had always been to add compost.  Going to the compost pile I was very surprised to see how dark and wet the compost was. Nice thick clumps very earthy spots some that look like it might have been store bought. And in just under a year!
I'm no expert. All I can say it we raked leaves added kitchen waste. Mostly egg shells and coffee grounds and any uncooked vegetable waste. We collected our grass clippings for the pile as well. The only other "elements" were wood ash, urine, providing nitrogen, and chicken " droppings" .
If anything we may not have kept the compost pile we enough. we hardly turned it.
To our surprise

16 Mar planting notes

A bit of planting before the rain hits sometime tonight.
Transplanted: mustard greens, one Golden Jubilee tomato, "twin" red bell and yellow bell peppers.

Seed planting: more Burpee "Snowbird" snow peas in the snow pea bed where some previous did not sprout, plus some of last year's Burpee "Kitchen King" garden beans in between the rows of snow peas, and also in blank spots between the fernleaf dill, marigolds, and various yet-unidentified peppers and tomatoes.  American Seed "Alaska" green pea planted in the box where the Green Arrow variety did not sprout.

Must do posts on the compost ...!  Or maybe hubby will post up on it, as he spent the week getting up close and personal with the main compost pile.

Also posts on the fruit trees, and the chickens.

Repairs and transplants

Hubby fixed the PVC pipes between the well pump and the storage tank last evening, and we did have water although the pump did not want to shut off.  We cut the circuit breaker, then turned it on this morning and noticed a small leak .... small leaks under such pressure never stay small.  Bah.  The problem seems to be the threads in the well pump hole, and by now the local hardware stores have closed for the day.  Guess we'll be going up the highway tomorrow to the big box stores.

While we were at the hardware store earlier this afternoon, I picked up some more cheater starts to transplant.  I have some Bonnie Red Sails lettuce and some Bonnie Georgia Hybrid collards.  The collards are mostly for the chickens, since the turnip greens I planted in the fall are just not keeping up with the birds' appetites.  The red lettuce will go into some salads, and probably some will go to the chickens as well.

I'll get pictures eventually.  I already missed the peach blossoms, but the Meyer lemon and the Persian lime have buds that should bloom soon.