Our seedlings are going on five weeks old now, so it’s about time for an update. They all looked the same at first, but now they’re each developing their own characteristics.
The biggest bummer so far is our tray of hot peppers. We planted jalapeno, habanero, cayenne and several other varieties, but so far there is little action from the seeds. I’ve been told that peppers take awhile to sprout.
I wouldn’t normally blog about a house meeting, but our meeting today was really enjoyable and I wanted to explain how we organize ourselves and stay informed. We set aside an hour each week to discuss things of importance related to the house. An agenda is made up on the spot as we begin by proposing what things need to be addressed. We depend on whiteboard and dry erase technology to keep track of the meeting, and notes are taken with someone’s computer. All notes get posted to our internal house wiki that contains a variety of things no one will ever see but us.
Today’s meeting was beautiful. Food was prepared and we ate outside on the pic-nic table. Fresh eggs served from cast-iron, mmm, mmm, mmm. We were short one housemate, Jacob, who was at a cybernetics conference in Washington. We had a lot to talk about but the meeting went quickly and we were soon done and working in the garden. With the warm weather and time-change I can sense that we no longer need to worry about seasonal depression. I have a bit of a sunburn to prove it, too.
I am smiling because cooking is one of my favorite things to do at La Casa, and tonight was my night to cook! Potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, wheat flour, soy butter, bouillon, curry, and nutritional yeast in a pot equals… moon soup! Over dinner, we decided that the soup resembled the surface of our lovely luna (which is one more word that rhymes with tuna and Unah, woohoo!) Although it’s not the most photogenic pot of soup I’ve ever made, it hit the spot on this cold night along with Maria’s mother’s recipes for egg tuna and tuna salad on fresh bread. Between these two entrees, and some delicious leftovers from Ronna and Andrew’s feast last night, we accommodated the vegans, vegetarians, and fish eaters of the house in one meal.
photos by JP
There are two general approaches to compost: cold and hot. The cold compost method is slow, doesn’t need turning, and will happen naturally if you pile food scraps in your yard. This method is known as anaerobic digestion and its being explored by industry because it retains more energy within the system and produces usable methane. The drawbacks of cold compost are 1) smells like death when it is outside 2) doesn’t sanitize the materials and 3) takes months to occur. Hot compost on the other hand doesn’t smell, generates a lot of heat which kills harmful microbes, and breaks down fast. In a Hot Compost pile, much of the energy is released as heat by the thermophilic bacteria. To get Hot Compost, you need to balance the ingredients and turn the pile regularly. For the first time since I moved in our compost pile was steaming yesterday indicating aerobic breakdown was taking place.
Hot Compost requires 4 inputs. Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and Water. The Nitrogen comes mostly from the food scraps and is the main input. We add Carbon in the form of straw and yard trimmings. Balancing the C:N ratio is the biggest trick to getting a good pile going. I’ve recently begun adding chicken poop from the coop which should add a lot of Nitrogen to the mix. Getting Oxygen into the center of the pile requires turning the pile. Turning the pile is bane of the composter’s existence, but it’s needed to get air to the aerobic micro-organisms doing all the real work.
Hot compost will let off lots of steam.
Keeping our chickens in mind, we separate out coffee grounds and eggshells from the main compost pile.
links:
Comparison of anaerobic and aerobic digestion wikipedia
Composting wikipedia
Composting for the Homeowner Illinois Extension
Tips on Composting http://www.composters.com
Along with fuel efficiency, water conservation, and reduction in meat consumption, home composting is one of the most environmentally beneficial activities of modern society. Yard and food wastes make up approximately 30% of the waste stream in the US. – http://www.composters.com
La Casa Grande Colectiva 