Compost

I make compost all year round from kitchen waste, grass clippings and any other plants/cuttings that stand still long enough but there are two problems: some weed seeds manage to sneak into the pile; and adding a little every week means that the compost decomposes slowly. But, in the fall, you get large amounts of material at once as you harvest crops and plants start to die back and then you can make a big, hot compost pile which decomposes faster and cooks all those weed seeds so you don't spread weeds as you spread compost.

A couple of days ago, our neighbor Basil cut down his runner beans and dropped the remains over the fence for me. There must have been 10-15 cubic feet of stalks and leaves in the pile so I moved the existing compost pile aside and rebuilt the pile alternating layers of fresh material, cardboard and old compost and then watered the pile. The old compost is there to act as a starter but why the cardboard? It seems that decomposition needs a mix of nitrogen (fresh green stuff) and carbon (woody stalks, dead leaves and cardboard). Once it gets nice and wet, the cardboard also provides bedding material for worms and gives them somewhere to flee to if the compost gets too hot for comfort. The worms, of course, come from the old compost which was absolutely crawling with them (as well as beetles, bacteria and other soil-friendly organisms) and will do a great job of breaking down all the fresh material.

A few days later, I have added an insulating layer of fresh grass clippings (which worms don't really like - c'est la vie) and some more top layers of cardboard and the compost is getting quite warm to the touch. I'm hoping that it will get hot enough to cook any seeds that snuck into the compost. Those worms had better dive into the bedding layer in case they cook too!

We do have one wee problem with the compost though - it's been attracting fruit flies which have then flown into the house and are driving us nuts. I guess they must be attracted by the kitchen waste (did we suddenly start eating/tossing more fruit in the last month??) so I'm trying to find a way to keep the flies away from the compost in future. Top of the list is switching to vermicomposting (worm-powered composting) for kitchen waste. I already have lots of worms in the compost so what's different about vermicomposting? It turns out not much: I have to add a lot more bedding material and I need to bury fresh kitchen waste under bedding material (which I'm hoping will keep the fruit flies out). Most important though is I have to pay some attention to the worm's diet. It seems they like to be fed every day or two (so the food doesn't mould before they can eat it), they don't like acidic food, citrus peel, garlic or onions (which Edye doesn't eat either) and they don't like grass clippings (so I'll keep kitchen waste in a separate pile from garden waste). A bit more hassle than normal compost but all the reports I've read say they produce beautiful rich compost that improves soil structure, encourages earthworms to pull material down deep into the soil and fertilizes the plants.

Best Laid Plans of ...

Camping, Fowlmere

Well, our vacation plans were foiled by trains, illness and weather. After postponing our vacation because Squeak was sick, Alastair brought home a cold from Belgium... ooh, how exotic!... gave it to me ...I would have preferred chocolates!... and it showed itself on what would have been the first day of our trip. The colds shouldn't have posed a problem except that our vacation was meant to be a 100-mile cycling journey along the Norfolk coast which commenced and ended with train rides from and to Cambridge (100 miles each way) but neither train was running that week and bicycles were not allowed on the alternate bus option, on top of that Autumn/Winter reared its head offering a week-long weather forecast of wind from the North (brrrrr) and rain. Not keen to tour 300 miles in five days under those circumstances and call it a 'holiday', we scrubbed our original plans, saving the mid-week reservation we had at Morston Hall, more on that in a later post.

Above are photos (if you click on the photo, it will open up a small photo album) from our mini-camping/cycling adventure. Since everything was packed and loaded AND Alastair and I have never camped together ever. On principal, we mounted our bicycles for an overnight in a village not far from home. We cycled a mild and pleasant 10 miles to Fowlmere where I experienced my British camping site. Camping in England is a bit like staying at a KOA. Our tent was nestled between two caravans (trailers) on an old apple orchard. There was hot water to wash dishes and showers for a 50 pence piece. Alastair called it our Shakedown Tour. We almagamated our camping equipment, discovered that we're still cold even in our three-season equipment. But the important things worked: tea and coffee. Dinner and breakfast were enjoyable although arrangements will be necessary in order to eat off the wet grass and outside the tent... there wasn't a rock to spare.

Harvest Time: El Tiempo de la Cosecha

At long last, it's time to cook! Since we've returned from our mini-camping trip, we've been feasting on tomatillo treats: chilaquiles, stewed fish burritos, and just plain salsa. It's been worth the wait.

The best part is that world domination is imminent. The seedlings I passed along to my nutritionist friend, Marie-Ann, are now producing their own yield and she is loving the recipes shared thus far. Exponentially speaking, the world is not my oyster but my tomatillo.

Romanesque

 

What do you suppose I should do with this?

Found in our little green grocer in the village, it insisted that I take it home. Frankly, all I could think of to do with it is to frame it. It's a cross between a broccoli and a cauliflower... so apparently known to its friends as broccoflower, which I don't think does it justice. The sign on the basket said Romanesque.

I suppose it will be eaten raw with a dip, but I'll keep you posted (pun intended).

Day in Town.

Trinity College


Alastair and I headed into the centre of Cambridge on Saturday to do a bit of shopping and have dinner. If you've heard from Alastair his views on Cambridge on a Saturday, you'll appreciate that this is especially brave. Fortunately, it wasn't as crowded as one would expect. I imagine most of the tourists with families have headed home by now and all the mums had shopped themselves to exhaustion preparing for school to start this week.

I pocketed our camera since I've grown tired of arriving in town only to curse not having it. Perhaps this is me growing, learning. We took advantage of the summer sales a bit, revived at Starbucks in Borders, then recuperated over bento boxes and Kirin beer at Teri-Aki. Not a bad day.

Brass Flowers along Bridge Street