I made a bit of time this morning to trim some of the raspberries and improve the soil with free used coffee grounds.
If you look at the photos below, you’ll see that all fall and winter, blowing leaves have collected and begun to break down around our raspberries. This required no work on my part (it actually required that I do no work) but it protected the soil, provided amendments as it broke down, and more. Continue reading
Coffee and old friends go together beautifully.
The recent warm winter weather provided a good opportunity to do my simple and free winter fertilization of the raspberries with coffee, and a favorite raspberry coffee cake recipe.
A few years ago, the area where these raspberries grow was little more than gravel and rubble (literally, piles of bricks and rocks). At this point the rubble was removed, the gravel is still there if you dig, but there is beautifully rich soil on top and the raspberries are thriving.
Continue reading
Thermometer is frosty, but inside the bin it is a cozy 140 F.
There are two important things to know about winter composting in places like Massachusetts:
1. Winter composting is possible and requires little more than frequent additions.
2. If your compost freezes over, which is normal, that is NOT A PROBLEM! The pile will restart once the weather warms. Continue reading
Started in the coldest weather, it took three weeks for this pile to heat up.
This has been a very cold, very snowy (snowiest on record, more falling as I type this, on March 28, 2015) winter. Even in these toughest conditions you can successfully start a compost and get it cooking.
I took this photo March 23, about one month after starting a new compost pile. Despite outdoor temperatures reaching above freezing only a few times, the pile was up over 100°. A week later the compost temperatures have been hovering between 110-120°.
Thermometer is frosty, but inside the bin it is a cozy 140 F.
Winter composting always seems to confuse people, which is understandable.
So what is the secret to successful winter composting: Do the same things you do when composting the rest of the year, only faster. Continue reading
THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE – THREE TYPES OF COMPOST
NOTE: Each year Arlington holds an EcoFest where people gather to learn about various environmentally related issues. This year I was asked to discuss compost with people. Below is a version of what I will distribute at the event.
Beautiful black gold – finished and screened compost
“The beauty of compost is that it only needs to be as much of an art or science as we wish it to be. It’s like walking. You can train for a marathon or you can simply put one foot in front of the other, and eventually you will get where you need to be.” – Wayne Morris of Bloomingdale, N.Y. Continue reading
This guy makes sure the edibles grow.
This Saturday, March 31, Sustainable Arlington will host its annual EcoFest. This year the focus is on local food. Local in the sense of buying from a local farmer, and in the sense of growing it in your yard.
Heaping bowl of cherry tomatoes from the back yard? Yes please!
I’ve been asked to present on compost – not just my fast urban compost but for people who don’t want to spend the same time/effort I do to create three cubic yards over the winter. I’ve drafted a piece for “Good Citizen” and “Garden” composters that I’ll put online soon is online now. I’ll answer questions and provide tips. Please visit and hang out for a while.
The featured speaker this year is Charlie Radosolovich, also known as the Rad Urban Farmer. Some may also know him as the guy who had a plot in my yard for three years as part of his CSA, which uses land in people’s yards to grow food which gets distributed among the CSA members. Continue reading
My insulated, air tight coffee mug
If you’ve ever met me you’ve likely seen my coffee mug. If you’ve been to an A-HEET event you’ve likely seen me use that coffee mug as an example of insulation vs. weatherization.
The two are very different, but go hand in hand. Continue reading