The days I get pulled into the poli-forums and debates leave me feeling burnt out, angry, unresolved and questioning what is the purpose of it. In my short life as a gardener I do not feel that way. My sense of purpose and contentment have been at levels I choose to gloat about. I FEEL FUCKING FULL OF LIFE. Gardening might be the easiest way for me to change my levels of dependence. This first year of gardening I hope to substitute ten percent of my total food budget with the vegetables I personally grow. I am going to keep a strict inventory and compare it to a handful of receipts I have. Ten percent is a low number but I am new to this, and cannot rule out completely misunderstanding the research I have done and killing my crops.
Today I began a compost heap to try to buttress the first of the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle). I have been doing a fantastic job of re-purposing spent materials for these projects, but acquiring a used trash can was not as easy as I hoped it to be. I went to the local mom and pop hardware store, they didn't have one to my needs. So I had to go to one of the mega hardware stores (not the the most evil one a the lesser one. Ugh it was painful and I thought about having an anxiety attack just for emphasis on how much I hate that giant orange store).
I needed to drill holes in the can for aeration, collect a form of carbon in the form of fallen leaves and dried grasses (the forest provides). Next I will be adding a source of nitrogen in the form of bio-degradable garbage, coffee grounds, fruit peals, basically anything that hasn't been processed. I just started separating these yesterday so I will have to save up for a week or so before I can add those to the compost mix.
I am new to this practice, and the only way to make up for lost time is through due diligence. My roommate and I pay for refuse removal by the can. Between the two of us we usually have to put the can on the curb every other week. New 3R goal : One can every four weeks out on the curb.
I have read great results through the use of compost in the garden I hope my next year's garden has this year's compost. Thanks for reading, the next post will probably be more connected to the perils of capitalism, but for today the taste of waste is refreshing. Like Capitalism Canary on facebook for more.
No comments:
Post a Comment