Did not get a whole lot done outdoors yesterday because I'm really swamped with projects in the office, but I did take an hour to drive up to PH and get some of that compost. I decided to fill up two 50 lb bags left empty from chicken feed with compost and store those in the basement. It's pretty nice stuff and works well as seed starting/potting soil. Tends to be a little "clumpy," so to start seeds, I usually just put it in the bottom 1/3 of the pot/cell and then top it with commercial mix. Saves some $$$. Where it will really come in handy is as potting soil when I'm ready to move my dahlias, and other tender plants from dormant storage to "wake up" in March. Hopefully, if all goes well, I should have quite a few big pots to fill!
I also loaded up about 2 wheelbarrow loads of compost just for the garden. I think that I'm going to replant that small entrance bed to the woodland. About a month ago, I popped in some mini-comfrey and hosta "Blue Mouse Ears" but seriously...that soil is so thin and dry...what was I thinking? I think I'll lift everything back out, put in the compost and some leaf mulch and replant it.
The soil on this place is so varied.....down there in the woods, its sandy and "light," lacking both fertility and "tilth". That area was a worn out cornfield when we came here...no nutrients, no organic matter in the soil. (I sent a sample to the lab for testing---this is back like 25 years ago---and they said it was 0% organic matter...how, I ask you, how, can soil have NOTHING in it? The answer apparently is decades of overcropping using nothing but chemical fertilizers and taking everything (even the corn stalks) off the land.) It was basically a flat dead layer. Now of course, after a couple decades of work, it's much better, but there are still areas where I need to really work at it before I plant (like the above mentioned little bed). I suppose it's amazing when you think about it....I've been putting so much compost on that area that I would think that it's the equivalent to maybe 40-50 years worth of natural accumulation....instead of pale yellow sandy soil, the top inch or two in most areas is a rich spongy black, just like in a natural woodland. In the planting areas, where I've concentrated a lot of compost, it's even thicker. That whole woodland has been one gigantic compost pile for me for years. I've noticed that, now that it's getting more and more like a "real" woodland, anything I put down there for composting decays much faster... I suppose that's because the microbes in the soil have really proliferated. And there's much much more in the way of "wildlife" in the soil and piles too...the place is alive with bugs, worms, mice, frogs, etc. All happily munching away on what I deposit down there. (I always try to put down a lot of old apples and some ears of dry corn to help the mice and other little ones get thru the winter)
Well, better get to it. it is an absolutely gorgeous day here today...mild, sunny, with that thin milky haze in the air that is so lovely....the few trees and shrubs that still have their leaves are really putting on a colorful show too.
Speaking of mice...had a delightful dream about mice...millions of mice, living happily in this huge basement warehouse. I was invited in to visit them and we had a lovely time.
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