Composting

Nearly a month ago, I started a little composting project: composting coffee grounds.  I know, nothing major or earth shattering.  I don't get a whole lot of time to tinker anymore with things that interest me.  However, this I could easily do without too much invested time.  Weeks before, I would get any coffee grounds I could from my favorite local Starbucks up the street from me and stock pile it.  I had a few from months earlier that were quite moldy by the time I got ready to use them.  After having built the box inside of the raised garden I have - that was so I could spread it out once it had finished -- I got down to layering the feedstock.  I bought several bales of straw for my carbon feedstock.  I had to look up what the C:N ratio for coffee grounds were and figured out that I would do a 5-gallon bucket to use a rough guildline per layer.  Of course, I added a few scoups from another active pile to get this one going.

I gave it a few days before I took the pile's temperature.  I wanted to see how fast it would heat up, if it would.  Much to my surprise, it re-acted very quickly, heating up in just two days time.  The pile's temperature will range between 140 to 155 degrees mainly because of night time temperatures I have concluded. Initially, I was waiting for the pile temp to dip tos signal me to rotate the pile, however, it is taking between 5 to 7 days between rotations.  I have never had a pile this hot needing so much time inbetween turns. This has me very interested in how long it will take to complete and how the quality of it will be as well.  

Since I still have so many coffee grounds available to me, free plywood from work from our old concrete forms, I decided to built another compost project.  This one is quite a bit bigger at 6-ft by 4-ft by 4-ft. It has a total of 3.56 cubic yards of possible compost activity.  I built it last week, started the composting earlier this week, but it has yet to heat up.  Not sure why, but I will have to tinker with it. I do plan on talking about this on here as well and posting my ideas, suggestions, and discoveries.  Just like I will be for this smaller guy too. Until then....

Still Alive!

I'm still alive and kicking! I'm a little bit more busy these days with my career and all the traffic I have to sit through. But I got stuff to say and will get to posting them shortly. Until then....

MNT's Rainwater Collection System with Manifold

I really like this guy's idea on a rain catchment system and how it finds it own level.  I am thinking of implementing something like this for my own needs.

My Business: Starting Out ....

My new WEEDEATER lawn mower.

The other day, I picked up a used lawn mower for only $20 dollars from a man out in Spanaway. It has a very nice bag that came with it and plenty of power to cut through grass. I admit, it's a Weedeater re-brand of a Poulson, however, it does what I need it to do.  It was a complete fluke that I found this on Craigslist when I did because I had just spent the last hour or so looking for lawn equipment.  I cleared the last search results I was looking through and typed back in "lawn mower" and here it was.  The guy was moving ASAP and it had to go that night, so I told him I was on my way.  He only wanted $20 dollars for it.

I have a Troy-Bilt TB575ES string trimmer that I bought several years ago for my own back yard. It is a "pro-sumer" grade 4-stroke straight shaft string trimmer that was just a trooper, until earlier this year.  I was cutting my Aunt's back 40 with it when it died on me.  I saw it was pretty darn low on fuel assuming that was the issue.  After having filled it up again, I pulled and pulled and pulled to no luck.  She was dead.  I let her sit for a few hours and I grabbed my Aunt's Troy-Bilt 2-stroke curved string trimmer.  I came back to mine to attempt to start it up again and it did eventually start but it just did not sound at all good.  I came to find out that the engine is shot and this particular model only had a 25-hour operating life span.  I have put at least double that on it since I bought it. It really pisses me off since it was a $200 dollar string trimmer that should still be working, otherwise I could have better spent my money on an ECHO or Stihl product.  A lesson learned, I guess.  With all of that now being said, I am trying to find a used ECHO, Husqvarna, or Stihl with any available money I have, which isn't to say very much.  A used Stihl 90R at a pawn shop or just on Craigslist still goes for $180 dollars or more easily.  The other two are not far behind, so I need to work more.  I just hope my Aunt's doesn't crap out on me before I buy another.  I like to fix what I break, unless it is one of my sisters'. ;-)

Isn't she dreamy?!
My future PJ Trailer Dual Dump.

Eventually I will get my PJ Trailers: one for my lawn business and the other for dumping dirt, beauty bark, or hauling trash.  I have been known to some pretty serious trailer envy when I see someone else using their PJ Trailer, although it is more of a joke than anything.  I want one, bad.  I will get one, someday.  I just wish I could have it now. :-P  Anyway, I can rent one from a company down in Olympia area for not too much.  So, if I can keep my costs down, my business up, I can rent a trailer until I can actually buy one.  There is just so much stuff I need to get that I will be buying over time that is kind of overwhelms me.  I do not want to look like I am a hack who just needs beer money, because that is not me.  I seriously want to do a great job and have returning customers even though this is not my ideal career.  Eventually I will get back to what I truly love and that is carpentry, which is also part of my current business.   Until then, baby steps.

A New Business Venture & Some Compost

Compost Pile & Garden Box of Potatoes. (June 12 2013)

Since I have been finding it down right impossible to find work since last September, I decided that I would re-start my own business. I already have a business license from my short-lived business in 2004 so all I need to do is change the business name and type with the State.  I am offering services for rental & foreclosure property clean-up as well as land clearing.  I have clearing the land of a neighbor of my aunt for the last several weeks with just a weed-whacker and a push mower since there is so much overgrowth not to mention all of the hazards hidden inside the grass.

I never really wanted to "own" a business after my last one failed, however that was entirely due to my poor management skills at the time. Right now, I don't think I really have a choice to do anything other than start my own business.  I made too much last year working for two and a half months for most companies to hire me.  Odd, I know, but its the truth.  I am an outdoor kind of guy and I prefer working with my hands.  Working indoors, I can do but I am not very happy about it.  I have plenty of retail experience since the family business as a kid was all retail and I worked for 8 years in retail before becoming a union carpenter.  Work for carpenters is picking up here in my area, although I really don't have the gas money to go from site-to-site hustling myself.  Although I live with my older sister, she is stretched as far as she can be without risking her own obligations.  Honestly, I don't like having to depend upon my family for such things, although I am incredibly grateful that I can if the need is there.  It kind of hurts my male ego.  I am definitely the kind to return the favor even  without expecting anything in return.  Given a chance, I would most certainly return to union carpentry, although unless something changes in the next five minutes I cannot rest my future on that.  So I started advertising my business and hopefully I can keep some much needed things like my truck, food, and fuel while something shake out.  If I can get enough business I will certainly go for my general contractor license so I can do remodels.  I have all the skills and the majority of the tools to do such work and most importantly, my current business has easily put it to work under its already stated mission statement.

Currently I have been clearning the overgrowth for a neighbor of my aunt who I will call Blonde.  I have been doing it for a bit of gas money so I could continue looking for work.  The job is... an incredible amount of work to say the least, but I have enjoyed it a bit.  The only thing I really have not enjoyed about it is running into snakes.  I hate snakes!  But not enough to chase me off since they are not poisonous.  Blonde owns about two acres of very overgrown and neglected land next door to my aunt's property.  The County has been telling her to clean-up her property or face some pretty hard fines and such.  The property is really nice and is begging to be used, but all she has done to it is store crap, more crap, and even more crap and let it get all overgrown with grass and stuff.  Even the house on the piece of property has turned to crap.  Even I would not remodel it, but roll a 55-gallon drum of fuel oil into the center of the house and set it aflame.  (No, I am not arsonist. It is just a statement of the condition of the house.)   The property is so overgrown her own horses didn't even want to venture over there.  Anyway, I have cleared a bit of the grass enough to go from the back of the property to the front and around the sides of the house.  It actually looks as if someone is taking care of the property.  It definitely has not been easy since I have to cut most of it down with a weed-whacker to first see if there isn't any crap hidden and then I can run a push mower through there.  It involves a lot of racking, hauling, and back & forth with the cutting implements just to get the grass to a 3-inch height.  It really is back breaking work.

My Mom helping to turn the pile. (June 22nd)

Speaking of raking, all of that grass isn't being left behind though.  I very much have an immediate use for it: compost pile.  Yes, this year's compost pile is bigger than ever.  No joke.  Right now it measures 6-feet wide by 15-feet long and stands about 7-feet tall.  Just last Saturday with the help of my Mom, it took us nearly two-hours to turn the whole damn thing.  I wish I had a bucket and a tractor to go with it but I don't.  I will have to add that to my wish list right next to chainsaw and woodchipper.  The funny thing is, I have enough to start a second pile with the grass that has yet to be harvested with Ms. Blonde's property.  I also have horse manure and wood chips available to be used, so I have at least one more pile to add for the summer.  Dear Lord, what did I get myself into. LOL!

Well, I have business to attend to so I will end this here for now.  Wish me luck!

Goodbye 2012, Welcome 2013!

Well, it is the end of another year with 2012 coming to an end.  I cannot say that 2012 flew by, but it kind of did too.  This year has felt like it was a hundred years long to me, but I could not say what all happened either. What did happen is that I bought a new truck for myself, which is freaking awesome! She's not new as in model year, but new to me. I am very appreciative that I was able to buy a fairly new truck instead of something twenty or so years old.  Although I originally did not want to buy a truck on loan, however, if I am going to buy a house I will need to show consistent payments to something. I have missed my diesel truck, even more so with driving a gas truck that only gets 12 MPG on the freeway. Obviously there are a few things I can do to increase that mileage, however, I will get to that at another time.  On a bright side, since I buy all of my gas at Costco, I get a percentage back at the end of my membership year.  That roughly equates to a big rebate check thanks to $85 average tank fills. Win-Win!

I Need A Break....

Another one of our cats suddenly fell ill and died yesterday.  Getting really tired of that.  He was not terribly old,  but never really well either.  Too many strays in the neighborhood that are sick too.  And they always feel the need to die in the yard or underneath the house. Luck for me, the last one did not.

Oh, ya ... lets not mention my dog.  Grr!!!!!!

Overdue Update

I was afraid this would happen when I returned to full-time work.  I went from having plenty of time to do all of my hobbies to no time except for eating and a small bit of sleeping.  So now that Summer is officially over and Fall has set its cool, wet teeth in asses I thought I should get back to doing my blog. Actually, I am off of work again thanks a lull between my old jobsite and my next jobsite.

Let there be light!

It works! The master bedroom now has lights and outlets. Well, minus two outlets but I will put those in shortly.  I am by far no where near done yet since I still have to reconnect power to most of the living room still. (Another long, sorted story.)  Just wanted to post an update. :)

An Electrifying Project

My how times flies…. I have been so damn busy with various projects that I have not had much of a free moment or two to put anything down, besides now obviously.  My main project right now is the electrical system in my house. The warm weather has allowed me to work on the electrical system and finish it up before my permit runs out.

First harvest of strawberries

My mom holding up one of the beauties.

Just a small sampling  of strawberries from my garden. They are sweet and very juicy, which means I need to use them damn soon.  Damn good haul I am going to have this year.

It Is Time For Doggy Porn!

Connor's long, sexy & furry back.
(Just look @ that sexy spine! lol)

Yes, dog porn. Connor typically hates cameras and usually attempts to photo-bomb his own photos, so getting him to actually do this with a camera on him is a miracle in itself, but not unheard of. Every now& then, on a blue moon, in a very distant solar system far unknown to us, he will ... do doggy softcore porn.  Yes, yes. I know, "porn is the of the Devil."  But that is neither here nor there.... It's not bad for such an aging pet of 12 or 13 years old.  Well, now I can feel the strange, heated, disgusted looks I am getting from people all across the interwebz, so I will just let you all get to the dirty, dirty pictures and let the Devil work his magic over you. Enjoy!

(Very Bandwidth Heavy!)

To Spreadsheet, Or Not To Spreadsheet?

This is quite the dilemma for me. I need to come up with either special program -- which I still have the skills for, or build a spreadsheet for some calculations. If I were to build an application for myself, I would need to sit down and plan it out thoroughly. On the other hand, spreadsheets require much less to nearly zero planning. They are all finished much sooner, quicker than an application.  I guess it really comes down to what my specific needs are and if a spreadsheet can meet that criteria. Hmm.... I must geek on this. Geek, I must....

Another Turning Day, Continued

Okay, so my Aunt’s pile is freshly turned & aerated.  It looks to have about another 1 to 1 ½ weeks till it is technically finished, barring any more heavy rains since I cannot really cover it.  That will be just in time for a garden project that my Aunt and a Friend of hers will be doing together.  Not to mention the one project I was have talking about earlier this year which is also a raised garden bed.  This project which be growing a variety of squash for a fall harvest, so I actually need to get on that sooner than later. Never enough time and resources. LOL!  Speaking of this specific project, I am going to do a mini-hugelkulture bed with some cottonwood trees that are around my Aunt’s property.  In combination with the fresh compost, I think it will make for some really large squash.  Something that I think she will get quite a kick out of.  Currently, she has several cottonwood trees that are too close to her property line and are in a very wet area. Regardless, they need to come down.  I am going to cut the smaller ones down, cut them into rounds, and place them in the garden bed.  I know that fresh cut logs could become a nitrogen-sink, but I can mitigate that with some horse manure, and place the compost soil on top of that.  Also, the cottonwood should help the garden soil from becoming too wet/saturated by groundwater and allows for proper drainage from rain water.  I am not sure how tall it will be just yet, but probably safe to bet around the 18-inch marker.  I might have to dig down into the soil a bit to make sure it does not exceed that height.   I will post some pictures when I get to building that project, so keep an eye out for it.

Another Turning Day

My Aunt and Mother have both told me with much excitement that her pile is steaming big time. With all of the passing showers we have had in the last few  days, hopefully it is not too saturated with water since I do not have a cover to put over it. To be  continued....

*EDIT* Continued at Another Turning Day, Continue

Ah, What The Horse Sh*t!

Turning the piles on the outside into the center. Grass & straw on the
left, horse manure & alfalfa hay on the right.

I have just returned from my Aunt's property where I turned her two compost piles into one massive one, again.  No, you read that correctly and now you are thinking, "Did you not just make her a new pile the other day?"  Yes, I did.  But now I have made it better: I have combined the two massive piles into one even more massive pile.  What is better than two piles? One massive one. LOL!

Russian Comfrey Is Up!

They're all up! All seven slips that I received three weeks ago and are growing pretty rapidly.  I am so stoked!  Enjoy some pics.

Comfrey Harvest

The other day I had posted about finding some in-wild Russian Comfrey in a development plot nearby.  I just harvested some earlier tonight on a walk with my dog.  I got a good five pounds worth which oddly enough, I harvested less than a fifth of the plant.  There are two so I will be back to grab some more tomorrow or so.  I am going to make a comfrey compost tea for my mom as well as a biomass for my compost.  My Aunt will be receiving some too.   It is a good find!

I shredded up some of what I got tonight and mulched it around my growing comfrey plants. My mom took some and mulched in around some of her plants.  We used all five pounds and added the thick stalks to my compost pile.

What a Bitch!

You heard me.  That huge compost pile I was talking about the other day... well I just turned it.  Damn, it was tiresome. Took me a good hour to turn it all with my forks, although very worth it.  I pulled off the plastic covering on it to see steam race towards the overcast sky.  You did not have to dig to feel the heat of the pile. It is an easily 150-degrees.  So I began to turn the outside inside -- new pile next to it, of course -- and inside to the outside.  Only had to add a tiny bit of water the pile, but otherwise it was fine.  In the center, it is so dark you could not tell the straw from the grass and weeds.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love composting? lol.

Another Pile Started

I spent the day with my Aunt mucking horse manure from one of her neighbor's barns.  Boy, was there some manure to harvest.  We are using it to start another pile next to her already large pile that we started a week or so ago. Sadly, I am fresh out of straw for the time being so I will be using shredded  cardboard and paper for my carbon. With that said, that is going to be a bitch to do.  Last year, the ill-informed voters of my beloved State voted out the State run liquor stores in-favor for every Tom, Dick, and Harry establishment with 10,000+ square feet to be able to sell it in their stores.  (Corporate greed, anyone?)