well, after a long, dangerously hot summer so far...it's a pleasure, indeed, to have anything blooming, especially on its own accord.
right now, the sweet autumn clematis and cypress vine
are blooming their little heads off!
and i just love it!!how adorable is this sweet smelling vine of little white clusters...
and i just love how it has scrambled along the chicken wire fence, which hides my
compost pile from the neighbors.
here is the other side of my compost pile...not bad looking either.quite beautiful actually.
ahhh...
composting.
so easy to do.
good for the environment.
reduces landfill waste.
and a fantastic soil conditioner.
basically you add brown and green stuff into a pile and let it cook.
done.
that's it.
brown = carbon (fall leaves, shredded newspaper, small sticks...)
+
green =nitrogen (grass clippings, food scraps...)
2/3 brown + 1/3 green = the most ideal ratio
occasionally stirring and keeping moist is great,
but here's the deal folks...don't make a big deal over this!
quite frankly, i have better things to do than monkey around with a compost pile (apparently, i have been known to monkey around with monkey grass though...see previous 2 posts)
have you ever seen a forest floor? perfectly composted every year without measuring and stirring and all that fussing. my compost pile is... leaves and grass and garden waste, etc. thrown in a pile and basically left on its own for a year and every year i have wonderful, fluffy, sweet smelling compost.
the end.
this sweet autumn clematis showed up on its own, on the other side of my deck. so i coaxed it over onto the bench. i just love those little surprises in the garden!
this gem is growing in my friends back garden...in fact, i think she gave me my vine, or it may have been our other neighbor who gave it to me. i can't quite remember.......that's cool about us gardeners............we love to share.
my friend
ahhh...composting.
so easy to do.
good for the environment.
reduces landfill waste.
and a fantastic soil conditioner.
basically you add brown and green stuff into a pile and let it cook.done.
that's it.
brown = carbon (fall leaves, shredded newspaper, small sticks...)
+
green =nitrogen (grass clippings, food scraps...)
2/3 brown + 1/3 green = the most ideal ratio
occasionally stirring and keeping moist is great,
but here's the deal folks...don't make a big deal over this!
quite frankly, i have better things to do than monkey around with a compost pile (apparently, i have been known to monkey around with monkey grass though...see previous 2 posts)
have you ever seen a forest floor? perfectly composted every year without measuring and stirring and all that fussing. my compost pile is... leaves and grass and garden waste, etc. thrown in a pile and basically left on its own for a year and every year i have wonderful, fluffy, sweet smelling compost.
the end.
this sweet autumn clematis showed up on its own, on the other side of my deck. so i coaxed it over onto the bench. i just love those little surprises in the garden!
this gem is growing in my friends back garden...in fact, i think she gave me my vine, or it may have been our other neighbor who gave it to me. i can't quite remember.......that's cool about us gardeners............we love to share.
my friend is having a blog party called
where other bloggers are sharing ideas of how we can make small changes to better our world.
please check her out.
and here is a good site with more composting info for you, if you are interested
one thing you should never, EVER put into a compost pile is bermuda grass!!
Compost is such a natural thing but everyone seems to try to make it so complicated. Again making excuses.My Dad used to go get it naturally out in the far woods around fallen trees. He always made sure to take just a little from each area though.
ReplyDeleteYou and Susie have certainly convinced everyone to try it. No excuses folks. Let's all give this a try with our fall clippings.I will have to build a small wooden fenced in area however or Howie will root through it all and then traipse through the house. A simple structure even I can build will my trusty drill.
...and Erin,,,your gardens should convince EVERYONE the benefits of doing it the natural way....it is all just beautiful.
xxx
z
The benefit of being on the West Coast, is that I'm up later than the rest of the country. Well, possibly. I get to be first to comment! I don't really have room to compost any more. I need to find an eensy weensy compost bin. That might work. I do have a bucket in my kitchen where I save all the kitchen waste and put it into my green garbage can. What I want to know is do you say CLEMatis or clemATIS. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Karen
You are so right about the sweet smell of compost. I was completely surprised when my first pile was done. Awesome stuff!
ReplyDeleteOh, and your garden looks good too!
Excellent information, Erin! And I so loved looking at the pictures of your beautiful garden...:)
ReplyDeleteGreat post and your gardens are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Erin!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos as usual.. and great ideas for feeding our gardens and our soul!!! You certainly make compost look easy.. and pretty!!!
Have a lovely week xxx Julie
Useful info...thank you! I am overwhelmed by too much information, this is easy and simple.
ReplyDeleteI'm inspired to see if our condo corp can have it's own compost heap. Thanks again!
And why no bermuda grass?
You make composting look so beautiful! Your gardens are so full and gorgeous. I'm watering the plants on my balcony every day just trying to keep them alive. Dry heat for the past few days have meant extremely high temps. Have a great rest of the week. :) Tammy
ReplyDeleteHi Erin, how funny that we both hit on the ease of composting. So glad you visited, and I love your blog. You live in one of my favorite places..I used to visit Franklin quite often. I also love your beautiful pics of clematis (which unfortunately will not grow in FL). I do; however, grow the cypress vine and this year planted seeds for a white variety...
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to future posts,
Susie
Hi Erin...wishing you a happy wednesday.......love Ria,.......
ReplyDeleteSeems great minds do think alike! Easy composting on two posts today, this should get everyone's attention, lol.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous garden!
Beautiful photos, as usual, my friend.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, this is the best idea ever =))!
Have a nice day.
Hugs/
Luiza
Inspiring as always Erin. If looking at your results doesn't get ppl to compost nothing will.
ReplyDeleteYour making me wish I had an autumn clematis myself...shame on me and I really have no excuse....but at least I do compost.
I find it funny that so many don't do it. I think a lot of them don't because their yards are like postage stamps along the beach areas......and lets face it their just plain too lazy!!! there I said it!
Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my post btw!!!
xxx
Carole
Singing the praises of the humble compost heap is time well spent in my books!
ReplyDeleteThe pictures of your garden are stunning, thank you
Sharon
My French Country Home
I always save leaves in the fall for our veggie garden.
ReplyDeleteYour clematis is gorgeous! You have such a green thumb.
Hugs,
Donna
I love fall and the sweet smell of decay and the magic it provides.
ReplyDeleteYour clematis is huge and beautiful!
I, too love the surprises the garden holds. We bought a rose once and planted it, in honor of a deceased relative. My Mom chose white, when it bloomed it was red. When I think of the person it was for...it suited the occasion of surprise!
I agree gardeners love to share~
Thank you so much for the stroll through your garden...I could sit out there all day!
ReplyDeleteLuLu♥
love your art, your photography, your garden, your style and thanks for the compost info
ReplyDelete♥ஐ
From my compost pile to yours- great post! But then, I love pretty much everything you do.
ReplyDeleteOh Erin! I want a garden!!!! How incredibly amazingly beautiful! Sigh ... some day ...
ReplyDelete