Off to the Ranch #40: Salvaging the compost & organizing stuff
Heeeyho Readers! More updates from our little ranch!
Got back to the ranch last weekend. Days are longer and summer rains eased a bit, which inspires me to cycle up there. Going by bus is kinda boring, and I need to exchange buses halfway through. Because it's so annoying to match bus times I prefer to take the bicycle with me on the first bus and finish the trip by bicycle — it's a pleasing two-hour ride on sinuous rural roads.
First task there is to inspect the compost box. This is my favorite task, although I often abandon it for several months, and dad seems not as excited in a box of dirt as I am. Too bad, because this time our compost does look pretty kaput. How not? It's been untouched since November.
Not looking good
Moisture is non-existent when I remove the tarp covering the compost. The compost should've been turned a long time ago to keep things alive. I try the hand squeeze test, but the mix is visually dry.
As dry as my bank account
Removing the straw
It is salvageable!
I removed that layer of straw from atop the compost to see what lays underneath (seen above). That straw went back in as a base layer below a load of uncomposed matter. It's inverted now, like turning the box upside down.
Re-organizing
Now we gotta add some greens to re-ignite the bomb. There's nothing much to add in terms of greens; we don't have any kitchen waste. Time to invade the Chickenian Army's headquarters in search of some fresh poopery.
It's about time to clean the poopery mess in our chicken poop coop. Plus, a load of manure is more than welcomed in the compost.
nasty shittery
fresh
The concrete floor is heaven. A few sweeps and a hose cleans all the shit, literally. I still want to paint the interior in lime to make it fresher, so fresh that I might sleep in there with the chickens. Anyways. Back to the compost.
Chicken poop on top
Chicken poopery goes on top. The compost on the right of the box is nearly done, so I decide to sift to re-use the bigger bits in the newly created mix on the left. Covering that chicken poop avoids flies, hence the extra work.
Glorious satisfaction
Isn't that beautiful?
A new batch of compost on the way. There's also another purpose to sifting the compost. Because I plan to use it to recover my mom's grassy yard, removing chunks of wood, little stones and other particles is really important. And because it's absolutely satisfying {laughs}.
Other than working on the compost, Dad and I began to move stuff out of the wooden shed, so it can be dismantled. Hard work indeed, but has to be done. We are also organizing the yard at the ranch.
Organizing
The red water storage drum is going closer to the chicken coop. We plan add a gutter to collect rainwater from the chicken coop's roof into the drum. If it works well, we'll build a proper base for the drum to sit atop; for now a few bricks will do it.
test fit
The blue drum is now collecting water from dad's house water tank overfill drain (we don't have an automatic water pump, hence, water often spills out whenever we forget to turn off the pump. Now we can collect that water in a drum to use in other applications).
It doesn't feel like a lot, but these cleaning/organizing tasks make everything look better.
A lot better
In the end, ranch life is all about moving stuff around until we get tired. Then we rest. And then do it over again. It never gets boring.
I hope you've enjoyed a day in our ranch.
Peace.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.