browns to greens

BROWNS TO GREENS
im the leaf buster
my old black truck is always ready to go
all you have to do is call
and
ill come running

yesterday thats what i did
got a call
hey doc my neighbor just scalped and raked his lawn
do you want the bags of stuff he collected
its full of dried dead grass leaves twigs and other debris

yes i said
ill be there tomorrow

so off i went in my trusty old black truck
knowing that this would be a load of stuff
i knew exactly where it would go
those country n chicken they gonna love this stuff

so drove up to this house
there they were
15 bags of ecstasy for those hens
i could see eggs and more eggs
veggies and more veggies
in my dreams

i loaded them up after briefly inspecting them
then off i went
on the trip back home
all i could think of was those hens are gonna be happy

ill put them here
this is the spot the chickens like the most
between the fence and the 3 ft horse panels
heck at the bottom of that pile i have old paperwork
that will compost down with all the other stuff
i throw in

this is also where we throw our kitchen scraps
the chickens attack it like sharks after chum

when its all over with and we grow stuff
it all turns green

like this crockpot of greens i cooked last week
pot liquor was good
if you dont know what that is then you aint from the south
its not alcohol
but its better

i also recently trimmed my asparagus bed down to the ground
since all the fronds i guess thats what you call them
had frozen to the ground
then i added my compost from my compost pile that the
chickens prepared for me
then i covered it with leaves mostly live oaks that i
obtained from many of you last year
it acts as a mulch to keep the beds warm and moist
now we need to wait a couple months


and those asparagus spears will start popping out of
the ground
more greens
from the browns

my version of garden artistry

the organicgreen doctor

monsters of the earth

MONSTERS OF THE EARTH


we have all seen these little grub worms that get in our
grass
well your grass since i dont have lawn grass i have to
worry about
buffalo and thunderturf dont get the damage from these
varmints like st augustine bermuda and other lawn grasses do

if i do find one of these guys i usually just leave it along
or
i fling it over the fence to our country n chickens
and
the shark frenzy that occurs when the flock goes after
it
the winner chicken doesnt share is what i noticed

yesterday i got my bed where i will put my onions
in february
ready for the winter rest

i removed all weeds and cut off at the ground my peas
that were growing as a cover crop
leaving the roots in the ground to provide nutrition to the
soil as it breaks down
the pea fixed nitrogen to the soil as it grew
a natural fertilizer

then i raked the bed removing the mulch i had added
i always use mulch to hold moisture in the ground
and
to keep the soil cooler in the summer and warmer
in the winter
the mulch will also breakdown into compost
and
eventually into soil
good stuff mulch

i use pine straw if i can get it since its acid and allows
rain to get down to the soil but still keeps the soil
cool or warm
or
i use your leaves you gave me

then i applied 4 inches of my compost which is from
my chicken run area
its made up of newspapers paper shreddings cardboard
lots of your leaves and grass clippings you gave me
the chickens have been digging and shredding this stuff
and mixing it all up for me for over 6 months
they are my compost workers
of course they made frequent deposits in all this to
add lots of nitrogen to it

its not a finished product but its close

i rake it out even
i dont even work it into the soil
i added a thick dusting of pure composted chicken manure
i get from under the roosting area
its full of feathers poop and leaves
its a real high nitrogen compost
so im careful how much i use of this stuff

then i add handfuls of an organic fertilizer
i used ladybug brand 8-2-4
then
i soaked the whole bed with a mixture of humates and molasses
this provides energy sources for the good bacteria and fungi
that are needed to improve the soil

i then took some more of those leaves that you gave me
thanks again
and covered the area with about 3 inches of them



now i am ready to plant my 300+ onions in late janurary

note
we are about half way through the ones we harvested
in late may

they are hanging as onion chimes in our garage

when i was shoveling the compost from the chicken run
i threw a shovel load onto my garden bed
wow
is what i said
when is saw these guys



these are monsters of the earth
grubworms on steroids is what they looked like

in the past i use to throw them to the chickens
man talk about a chicken frenzy when the ladies saw
these guys

now i know better not to do that anymore
these monsters are the larva stage of the giant biggo
rhinoceros beetle

which does a great job making compost
they chew up plant materials breaking it up
and pooping out good fertilizer material

so i gently dug a hole in my garden bed
buried the guy
gave him a pet
thanking him for the job well done

the organicgreen doctor

the life blood

THE LIFE BLOOD
its the life blood of your garden
thats what compost is

the best compost is the compost you make yourself
thats what i do
made almost 3 cubic yards of country n compost this year

compost can be as simple as dumping leaves in the corner
of your yard and just leaving them alone
gradually over time they will compost down to a rich
nutritious compost
like nature does

yesterday i was showing a student that was helping me
doing some landscaping at habitat for humanity
as i was talking about compost to her

yes i get in a compost lecture when i can

i showed her how those leaves had sat on the lot for months
down under the top layers
there was this rich compost there

 you can all do that

if you cant make your own
there are a lot of commercially available organic composts
readily available at most garden centers
especially here in the austin area there are several good ones
ladybug brand gardenville medina just to mention a few
i always use ladybug brand on my garden if i need compost

please oh please dont use the solid waste compost in your garden
it aint safe to use

so here again is how i do my country n compost
the kiss method
keep it simply simple

my chickens do all the work
they provide me with compost eggs and insect contol

you the ones that give me your leaves provide the carbon source
the chickens provide the nitrogen source with all that pooping
they do
then
the chickens dig through the leaves removing the seeds and
gradually over weeks shred the leaves to smithereens

i make three strengths of country n  compost
strongest
stronger
strong

the strongest starts here

this is where the chickens roost at night
their poops falls down below the roost area
i have leaves as a base
then every so often i throw in some leaves to cover it up
and to control ammonia buildup
the coop is open to the outside so it has good ventilation

that white stuff you see is diatamaceous earth
i dusted the area well with it
after i power washed the coop with an oranges oil water mixture

the diatamaceous earth will kill any insects in there and mites

every 6 months i clean this out
this year i got 3 full wheelbarrows full
of poop feathers leaves

and pile it up in a area layering each wheelbarrow load with leaves
then i let this sit for months
letting it all compost down all that poop feathers and leaves
what is left is a rich compost
i use it like you would use an organic fertilizer

the stronger compost

i make or i should say the chickens make this

inside their coop is an enclosed area of about 300+ square feet
this is the area where they are locked up at night and when we are
not around
they spend well over half their day there even when we are around
as they feel safer in there
they have food and water in there also

i have put in bags and bag of leaves yes those that you gave me
they over time have shredded the smithereens out of the leaves
leaving a rich rich compost not as strong as that mentioned earlier

i clean this out every 6 months
this year i got about 15  5 gallon buckets of this compost

which i placed in this 4 ft x 4 ft area to sit for several months
ill use this in my fall garden
yum yum my peppers eggplants okra tomatoes i have planted now
i heard them say this i did
they cant wait

the strong compost

there is a chicken run around my garden where they have access
all day long
thats about 90 ft x 3-4 ft

i have placed down a layer of leaves about 2 feet deep
yes they really work this stuff
digging dusting shredding eating seeds for a year
whats left is pure compost
is smells like fresh dirt
i get about 2-3 cubic yards of compost from this area
this ill use next spring in my garden

so this is the three country n compost that i er should i say these
girls make each year
i almost feel guilty using all this free labor
but heck they sure seem happy

its the best compost that can be used
since i made it myself

reduced that footprint some didnt i

start you a compost pile
and
maybe add a chicken to keep it all stirred up

the organicgreen doctor