Lol annpat, you getting in trouble again?

I'm just bored, and you know what happens when I get bored.

Yeah, you start shoveling... compost. Your beds must need turning if you bored here. Take thee forth and find some fish heads!

It's zilch composting here right now. Just the crock o scraps going out the the current cage. I'm thinking about moving to a new spot for the upcoming year, this one is just about the level I want it for now. The main beds also need some serious cleanup after a good fallow, I'm thinking of unpinning my first cage to finish off that corner of the bed area. Still too wet and soft to run the lawn tractor around to do stuff yet.

No composting or gardening or any joy at all to be had here in Maine right now. At least it's the first of April, so there's that. I could feel the compost bursting out when you said you were going to remove the pins. Mine wouldn't move an inch in its frozen state.

annpat - Glad you posted here so I could comment. I tried to do a post 12 days ago but it never showed up. Still don't know what I did wrong.

So now there is no "name calling" here? Dang I hate rules, that's why I compost everything from bread to road kill.

Below is what I tried to post.

old_dirt 6a12 days ago

"Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, wonder where the flowers is?" (Jughead)

What's happening with y'alls compost piles, thawed out and ready to use? My one is definitely thawed and spreading its odoriferous trait of decaying fish all over the neighborhood.

I have retaining wall blocks for bins and which ones haven't fallen over are leaning more than the tower of pisa. Time to tear them all down and start over, now to find the energy and gumption.

So what's up with yours?

OH!! I can't believe it wouldn't post. I bet that was the day that I really, really wanted to talk about compost, and no one was here!

My compost is frozen solid and my yard looks pretty awful with the leaf bags I didn't get to last fall. Some days I get realistic vision and the piles of stuff don't look like a gardener's impressive work in progress, but more like bags of trash all over the yard. I have compost ready to spread, but it's frozen and my garden is mostly frozen. I have tulips and alliums up about three inches.

I do not envy you the rebuilding of the bins. Jobs that were fun thirty years ago can still be accomplished, but they're not fun now.

It kills me that you mentioned bread, because I just thought to myself this morning, "You know, I think I'm going to take those stale English muffins out of the trash and put them in the compost bin. Why not? What makes you think you always have to be such a stickler for decency, so meticulous, so darned refined?" and I took the English Muffins outdoors and put them in the compost bin where by morning I expect to see them swollen, white and pasty, unsightly, their surface spongy with the rain water we're supposed to get tonight.

GAK!! Of course I didn't put English Muffins in my compost!! That was painful to even type. My word! Of course we can still call Klem names! (Happy April Second Day.)

Man, rebuild retaining wall makes me tired to read about it. We did a project last summer of moving the firepit from by the pond to behind the house. It's made of big landscape bricks. It was a few tractor loads. So pooped, but it was worth it.

My compost cages are just 2x4" animal fence pinned in with 4' rods. The one I'm thinking of unpinning this year is the first one. 2016 I think. It's been filled and sit several times. Grew a nice year or two of summer squash in it. Last year was fallow. But now the wormwood corner on the outside of the cage is grown in. The bed has had it's fallow. The willow I coppiced out has been hanging for a year and ready to use in a new wattle fence around the garden.

The crap I clear out with this reset? That goes into the cage on the far end of this row.

GAK" Is right! I thought you saw the light and quit being such a stickler, meticulous and darned refined, then I realized you posted on April 1. The only thing I shouldn't compost is weed seeds but then again I'm not much of them derogatory traits mentiioned., so everything goes in.

My entire compost area is a real mess, fallen walls, rotten logs, hanging pots and a few bags of leaves and old soil. Hardly have the energy or ambitiion to get out there. Maybe soon when the weather cooperates.

You all have a great day too...I'm usually here.

We are in the 70s and occasionally reach 80F.

It was all I could muster in shredding my own leaves into bins so if someone else didn't patrol the streets, my neighbors' leaves went to the burn pile. That;s right,burn pile. Can you believe my town burns all limbs,leaves and other yard waste? I've had no luck getting them to shred or compost like the cities in two adjoining counties that I told you about couple years ago.

I saw footage last week of #399 in Great Teton out of hibernation with 4 cubs and thought surely you folks would be out as well. Sounds like y'all became like Snuffy Smith during Winter.

Those were beautiful set-ups. Tell kids that you'll give them a beer or a joint for every bag of leaves they bring you from the neighbors' curb. It might be expensive, but maybe worth it. We, regretfully , need to ask for help as we get older.

Speaking of that... Snuffy Smith?!! What are you? 102? I'm going to have to explain that reference to the youngsters,

My front yard right now--April 4th

View of your front yard prompts me to ask if loons are common in your area? I once spent two weeks at a lakefront cabin in Minnesota where I grew to love loon calls.

Ever since floral explained their allotments it has haunted me that something similar isn't common in USA. Activities where all generations harmoniously come together are simply too rare. Perhaps my focus is in the wrong direction. I wonder if people would turn out if allotments were divided in sections strictly for Presbyterians , Methodists (1 for UMC and another for Global ) , Church Of Christ and right on down the line. The incentive being that you are allowed to hurl what you grow at those you disagree with. Old and young alike routinely gather to strategize quaintly vs size of tomatoes as well as green,ripe or rotten for throwing. Turn-coats are not only allowed, they are encouraged. My gosh that sounds like congress and members of SC&M. (: Before lines are drawn,let me join Old Dirt and get entrenched,,,,,not litterly dug into the compost for obvious reason, more so girded for battle. Reserve compost for weapons of mass destruction.

I'm going to throw the little white eggs that I dried over 15 years ago wiithout blowing the contents out.

My young Blue Andalusians kept laying pretty little pearly white eggs, so I started saving them for the future when I would learn to paint elaborate Ukrainian Folkart eggs or something. I have about a dozen of them. For the first several yearss, I had to turn the eggs peiodically and wipe off an oily sheen that would develop every six months or so.. Eventually the contents of the eggs turned hard and something rolls around inside that I imagine is like a hard orange marble of concentrated salmonella. I often think if that carton of eggs fell off the shelf while we slept, the dog and I would probably perish. .What makes them so neat, you see, is that when I paint my folk art eggs someday, there won't be any evacuation holes in the top of the eggs to mar my perfect design.

Yes, a pretty large population of loons. They will be here in the next week or two, within an hour of Ice Out. How they know, I do not know. Then they stay until the last second. We had one not leave in time last January. There are almost no people here from Sept. until June so it's very quiet. 5 places before mine are unoccupied right now and three after mine. The cowards all head to wamer zones. It gets quiet and the animals get brave.

10 days ago:

Oh, you know when I first started hanging out here, there were allotment gardens---a fairly famous one in Seattle that Garden Gal might know about called Pea Patch?? Two people "met" here on SCM and they ended up getting married in the Pea Patch compost area and inviting us all to send compost contributions for the wedding bouquet made of refuse. I sent lobster shells. Julia Child (yes, that Julia Child) sent a banana peel. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/08/13/will-you-mulch-me 

I just saw a neighborhood on TV where all the front yards were just a continuous stretch of connected vegetable beds---the neighbors all agreeing to participate. Someone managed them and the neighbors all received pounds and pounds of fresh varied produce weekly.

I wasn't aware loons moved seasonally but I found many things I didn't know when I looked into them. I liked them so well I checked laws regulating to wildlife relocation in hopes of acquiring eggs or a pair for a nearby lake. They can't survive other than in certain environmental conditions. As I recall they are dependent on a certain fish which lives at depth in frigid water. That might explain why they come and go so closely to timing of ice. If you ever notice another that misses the bus, name it Klem and cut a fishing hole through ice specifically for him.

While you was learning food prep with Julia I was taking in Justin Wilson.

We have a few community gardens around here. They tend to be church gardens, but I know one is not. I'm not sure if they are like allotment, in that everyone gets their own lot to do whatever with. Or if the garden owner plans it, and the community shares in it.

And gosh annpat, that front yard. Nope. Hehehe. We have ponds, but not buildings on the water. Water is too unstable in the earth in the yard for that. But I bet you could grow impressive baskets of cress there :)

And oh compost... I need to empty out the scrap bucket today. It's about one coffee filter away from the lid not seating right. It's been rainy, and I've been lazy.

Love the loons, we (son & grandsons) spend a week in Michigan's UP backpacking. There is a small lake we camp at and always has a pair of loons.

annpat - Per klem1's suggestion if you cut a fishing hole through the ice for the loons, drop a line down there. Good in the frying pan and the compost pile. :)

beesneeds - I lost the lid to my compost bucket a couple years ago. Now I just let it run over until it's a mess. :(

" It's been rainy, and I've been lazy. "

" Now I just let it run over until it's a mess"

Regardless what people might say about us, we have solidarity. If gardening has that effect on folks there's reason to hope my allotment idea might cause harmony instead of a cucumber war.

I feel terrible Ann , you really was extending an olive branch and the fact it was April Fool day was just happenstance. It's my turn to say I'm sorry.

So now that we are on better terms I need to speak with as only a friend can without it sounding rude. You and your poodle dog should annually come out with loons and neighbors to civilization. The dog looks to be undergoing feralization from continuously being in the wild. We are studying hogs in Texas as we speak to determine why this happens and if humans have the same propensity.

I accept your apology, Klem..

Now you owe one to my dog.. Poodle! snort! Hannah's a mutt from Mississippi.

She's basically a black Golden Retriever. I can't ask her, because she can barely speak English. She talks like you---y'all, howdy, fixin' to---that kind of thing. I'm constantly having to turn on Google Translater.

Justin Wilson. I bet I've seen him. His catch phrase, "I guar run tee it" sounds familiar.

beesneeds, Our soil here covers granite, but I do worry about my "grandfathered" boathouse where I spend 80% of my time in the summer. I had it lifted once and got the DEP to allow me to pour some concrete footers. Lots of lakes here. There are three lakes and a few ponds in my tiny town of 600 with 8 or 9 lakes in neighboring towns. Lots of lucky Mainers had seasonal summer cottages, which, if they're on a lake, are called 'camps'. My grandfather bought three side by side camps in 1948 and made it hard for his adult children and 14 grandchildren to want to spend their summers anywhere but with him and Nannie, which was his plan. Consequently I grew up with cousins who were like siblings. My little cousin Mark, 68, was where we drew the line, keeping him from hanging out with we five older cousins. He is my next door summertime neighbor here now, and is just starting to get over his childhood. Big baby!!

Look at us all slowing down together! Looking out our windows at projects instead of bulling through them. I keep thinking there's a cure and that I should mention to my doctor that I don't have as much gumption as I used to and what can I do for that?

Everyone knows of the loon's lovely songs. You hear them when you wake in the night to get up to go to the bathroom, which is something I do now. They will call to each other from one end of the lake to the other, and then they all call out. In the fall when they're starting to think about going to Mt. Desert on the ocean (pronounced like the best part of the meal), they will gather more closely together, which we call rafting up.

This is a sad story. Don't read if you don't want to get sad.

Regarding the loon. It was forever this year before the lake froze (120' deep at its deepest) It was below freezing day after day, but wind or a few warmer days kept it wide open. We were finally forecast cold weather. I looked outside that afternoon and there was a loon going by the boathouse! I had a sense of foreboding, but dismissed it. I woke to the lake frozen from shore to shore. It had snowed and it was freezing cold outdoors. Knock knock. A new neighbor, walking to the mailboxes, was in a panic, and told me there was a loon trapped in the lake and she could hear an eagle in the trees above. We didn't see or hear the eagle again.

We tramped down to the shoreline several camps up from me to find the loon in a 20' circle of water he kept open during the night. The young male dived and found no escape and surfaced continually. Loons can't walk on land like ducks do and loons can't take off without a long runway of open water. Between the two of us, we called every game warden and bird rescue we could think of. Ordinarily that would get a big response, but it was a weekend.. We heard later that a game warden did come with a kayak and attempted unsucessfully to cut an escape path for the loon. I could have assisted if anyone had returned our calls. I have a wet suit and a kayak that could have helped break the ice and another one we could have dragged between us. I thought of cutting a path, but it would have been foolhardy to do it alone. I went home and later could see the sad little circle that froze during the night. I hope that the eagle got it.

Oh Hannah, you are a southern belle and look stunning with sun setting behind you. Please forgive me for associating you with French culture.

Hi. A fan here from the golden days of GardenWeb (let us all take a moment of silence to reflect upon our collective loss and happy memories), am so happy to find you all and thrilled to see that Katherine Hepburn - I mean, annpat - and her vinegary sense of humor remains in fine form!

Oh, I'm so glad you're here! I'm starting to wear on some nerves, I'm afraid. Nice to have a friend.

Lexi, my best friends in real life are people I met on Soil, Compost and Mulch on Garden Web in 1997. We still group chat daily; meet each other in groups or solo; 8 or 9 of us vacationed together in the Keys the last three years. We've stayed in state parks in Maryland together; kayaked to, and camped on, ocean islands in Maine together; some of us (not me) met in Toronto a few times; I got stuck completely humiliating myself when we all met in Philadelphia once and ended up at a contra dance. I've had a few Garden Web gatherings here, and one Garden Webber from N.J. fell in love with my lake, and now owns the last place on my dead end road. She and I have hosted gatherings together. We range in age from 55 to 78 and come from Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, California, South Carolina, PA, N.J. and Delaware and Maine. We've lost three, and had our hearts broken. We're surprised when we remember that we never met Sara the Brit or Dave52, because our grief was so keen and we miss them like one would a brother and sister.

Seven of us all met in the flesh for the first time here at my camp in 2002, the summer following some of us getting "Disneyed" from Garden Web for breaking a rule about discussing politics. We'd never seen pictures of each other; we had no idea of each other's ages. We ended up really liking each other.

That would’ve been so cool to have taken part in the group’s dirty devilry. I’m recently retired (and divorced - double bonus!) so finally have time to look around and dig up some fun of my own.

By the way, Lexi is just a nickname. I’m JayeLynn.

Hello Lexie, idk whether to say welcome aboard or welcome back so I'll just say it's good to see you. You are just in time for returning loons and brighter outlook that always come with Ice Out.

Hello, Klem. I’ll take any kind of welcome, willkommen, bienvenue or what-have-you! And thanks! By any chance, are you the guy who built the most amazing (and huge!) compost bins out of concrete blocks?

I wont lie to you Lexi, that was lego blocks photoshoped in hopes of earning admiration. It didn't work and I only succeeded in earning pity.

No, what was his name? Maybe from Oregon?

Hhahaahha Klem - kinda like the Brits’ inflatable tanks in WWII or the Soviet fake missles later. Annpat - I do think his name began with a K, hence my once-a-blonde-always-a-blonde confusion. S or more likely SE OR sounds about right. Those bins were huge and would take the kind of solar energy not likely to be found in say, the Willamette Valley.

Jon?

Was it Bill?

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/1688301/compost-bin-concret-block#n=9

tj

I don't think it was a Bill. Was he religious? Did he have compost he could drive his muscled arm up to the elbow in?

Bill’s project per the link sounds about right but I couldn‘t see any pics of it to be sure and his name rings no bell. ”Jon” sounds famiIiar (and its alphabetically adjacent to “K”, so that makes me feel like I can claim it’s close at least if the name I’m struggling to remember is a horseshoe or a hand grenade). Is/was “Kimmsr” a frequent poster?

Jon Hughs Maybe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc9uU2xJKxY

Yes, kimmsr was a longtime poster---a favorite of mine---who has passed. His wife posted his obituary for us here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1_JKRIOS4Y

Yes! Jon H. - From his postings, I was under the impression (that expession always makes me imagine being laid out and laid low by the undercarriage of a vehicle, maybe a Honda) that he built those compost bins his own hurking self. The video indicates he had a crew. Sigh.

Hah! Now I will always think of someone getting pressed into the groiund by an undercarriage. No, Jon had a big crew and they got a lot done. He was pretty religious and he often waxed about his wife.

Mystery solved! Thank you, AnnHolmes. Now, the only question remaining is.. where do I find a crew? 😆