Among the muck!

Another fantastic day weather wise, I have even topped up my tan! Well I could not put it off any longer, it really needed doing, and it was far to hot to be doing this job. I emptied out the compost bins so I could turn over the contents and the refill the bins. It didn't half stink!

I was terrorized by a wasp, which I might add did not help! I do not like wasps and for the love of me don't know why the pesky things were ever born or made or whatever it is you believe in. They are a pest that have no purpose as far as I can see except to annoy and sting you, especially if you are a flapper like myself. Several times I came screaming down the garden into the house due to this blooming wasp! They have been out in force today as I also had several come to pester me in the kitchen.

Anyway back to the compost bins. Most of the stuff I put in my bins is from the chickens coop. This is mainly shredded paper and it seems to be taking a rather long time to break down. I also put in some kitchen waste, but now I have the girls they eat most of it. I do not have any lawn so I don't have much green waste going in. You need a good mixture of brown and green to get a good compost.

So I pondered on what I could do to get more green for the bins, when I heard the lawn mower being kicked into action next door. So I popped round to ask for his grass cuttings  and can I have any grass cuttings in the future. The problem of my green waste is now solved. Goodness knows what he thought when I was standing at his door in my mucky smelly clothes! I have posted a link in the Gardening websites page for lots of useful information on composting. Gardeners click and you farm.org also have lots of useful information regarding composting.

The girls have been cleaned out today, we had another four eggs, and a lot of clucking has been going on the last couple of days. Perdy my big hen who sadly passed away last year, clucked like mad every time she laid an egg. It always made me laugh to hear her clucking as you knew what she was clucking about.

Last autumn in the run I put down some paving slabs to make cleaning easier. However the only place they have to scratch and dig is inside the under cover part of the coop, hence the big holes they keep digging. I have decided to take up the slabs and put down some bark so they will have the whole run to dig and scratch in, which will put an end to these great big holes! Another job to add to the ever expanding to do list!

I had a wander around the garden to water and check on the plants, everything is growing well, that snail is still munching on my peas! I'll post some more photos at the weekend so you can see how much everything has grown due to this lovely warm weather we are having.

And finally..... I would like to welcome and thank my followers, it is great to have you on-board. I am going out tonight for a real tasty Italian pizza, so I'll bid you all a good evening or an enjoyable day x

Hair raising Idea

Well the nice weather did not last long, it has been rather chilly here today. I haven't been doing much in the garden today as I have been busy preparing for my trip. Today I was at the hairdressers when I saw all the hair on the floor I had one of those light bulb moments. About two weeks ago someone had posted on twitter about how good the human hair was for the garden,especially beans as a mulch to keep moisture in and as a fertilizer. I did a little bit of research and found that this was true. I said to myself next time I'm at the hairdressers I'll ask for the hair and of course as usual it had gone right out of my head until I saw the pile of hair. I know the saloon owner quite well and they all know I'm into gardening, however when I asked for the hair and explained they did give me a strange look! So I brought home my bag of hair and have turned it into the soil where I am going to grow my beans.

It is amazing what things are thrown away in to landfills that are in-fact excellent fertilizers for your garden. There's coffee grinds from the local coffee houses, and most will give it to you if you ask and we also have hair from the hairdressers if you can dare to ask. Horse manure from local stables are often happy for you to bag up and take away. Asking neighbor's who have garden pets like rabbits or guinea pigs will be happy for you to take the soiled bedding away. Put all this in your compost bin along with kitchen waste, grass clipping and any other garden vegetation will result in a great compost for your garden and the best bit of all is that it's free!

For further reading on using hair in the garden Human hair in the potting shed has a great article on hair and the garden.