dirty mind

i've got dirt on the mind.  well, actually i've got spring on the mind.  the weather here in slc has taken a lovely turn towards blustery, lovely spring. and though i know more snow will fall, this is the point in winter we all anticipate--the first thaw.  from here on in, winter is just so much more manageable. 

with the sunshine and mild temperatures, we've been out in the yard a lot this week.  all my garden beds were in need of some massive attention and it felt so good to rake and dig and tidy.  signs of spring were everywhere.  we had a nice little grouping of crocus pop up and i discovered lots of daffodil pips creeping up to find the sun. cleo and i even found an errant bird egg nestled deep in a plant.  cleo cradled it and wrapped it in a warm scarf hoping it would hatch, but so far nothing.   i like to think that i have a green thumb, but really what i have is the enjoyment of sitting in the dirt and watching nature on that tiny scale.  i get over-stimulated out hiking and camping. i still love it, but i find it hard to take that much nature in. i always get a sensation that the incredible vista i'm seeing or the glistening lake in the distance is fake.  it looks like "scenery" to me on that grand a scale and that has always been bewildering and a bit frustrating to me.  but sitting on my own little 2x2 square, i can really appreciate the action before me...the tiny ants going about their work, the worms happily digging in and out, the drops of dew on the fringe of my lady's mantle leaves, the mottled dusty trunks of the tall, straight aspens,  flecks in the granite pebbles....so much beauty and it is in my very own yard!  

in fact i think one of the biggest boons of moving away from new york was coming back to a place where i could claim my own land. i missed having a garden so much when i lived the big city life and it still thrills me to be able to walk out my door and grow stuff.   and this year i'm even more pumped than normal about my garden because i am really committed to creating a better food producing garden than i've ever had. flowers, and a couple tomato plants, have always been my primary interest, so this will be a shift to dedicate energy to growing my own food.    i hope to share my garden plan once i formulate it!

i think one of the best things i can do to ensure my garden's success is to make sure my soil is healthy.  every spring i buy big bags of compost and add them to my soil but this year we have taken matters into our own hands and started a compost pile!  we are able to do it pretty painlessly thanks to this nifty little machine we got for christmas (thanks mom!)  made by a company called naturemill.

it is basically an automatic composter that we keep in our kitchen. you just add food scraps and it automatically turns it, creates the correct conditions (heat, cultures, etc.) to break down the waste, and every two weeks we get a new batch of rich looking compost.  it is relatively odorless, though whenever i open it up to throw something in, cleo says "eww, earth muffins!" so to say there isn't a smell would be lying. you can buy the naturemill online or i just learned williams sonoma is now selling them.  this little device is pretty spendy, but i've seen links about how to make your own composter with just a plastic garbage can, or you can always do the old pile in the corner of the yard trick as long as you turn it occasionally.  check out different composting options here: http://www.recycle.slco.org/html/compost.html

not only will composting make my garden more productive and beautiful, it is also a major way to help meet my goal to go more green this year.  composting is a big step towards taking ownership of the waste my family creates.  it helps turn it into something productive and useful (why was i paying for compost again?), and by keeping it out of the landfill, i am doing my part to help stop global warming.   i read some pretty compelling facts on this subject: 

the average american generates about 4 lbs of garbage each day. 60% of household waste consists of biodegradeable food, garden and paper waste. 

composting organic waste saves 30% of our trash from going to the landfill 

in 1998,  the us generated 22 millions tons of food residuals and composted only 2% of that waste

in the landfill, organic waste decomposes without oxygen which causes it to give off methane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the impact of carbon dioxide. composting averts this problem and creates a natural soil fertilizer and conditioner.

(all factoids courtesy of how to reduce your carbon footprint by joanna yarrow.)

SHOCKING aren't they?  and definitely as shocking was realizing that our garbage can is literally half as full each week.  we were throwing that much useable garbage away.   i love thinking that from this point forward, my yard will be the beneficiary of all that lovely, lovely waste.