Day 797 (Daily Post)
Day 797. It is another super bright but chilly day here and I am really not feeling like getting out and facing the cold wind but since I have been getting more active now that the seasons are changing I can't help but to feel like 'daylight is burning' and that I need to make the most of it even if that 'most of it' consists of piddling around in the yard. Just doing anything is rather nice actually and I often get excited over doing some rather mundane tasks like picking up tree branches, pruning trees and even shoveling dog poop into the compost. None of that stuff is really all that fantastic in and of itself but pruned trees are healthier, the tree branches I collect get burned so I have ash and charcoal for my compost and the dog poop itself adds to my ever-growing compost.
The other day I planted some potatoes and after filling my potato box I had several left over and decided to plant them in my compost pile which meant breaking through the 'encasement' layer and digging into it to bury the potatoes. This particular compost is primarily made of plant matter (mostly grass clippings), dog poop, charcoal, ash, dirt and an exterior layer of clay. It might sound like a strange method but it's actually a very old Chinese method of composting dog feces. Anyway when I dug into it to bury the potatoes I was delighted by all the earthworms I saw, and the dark rich soil that I found. The potatoes I planted in there mainly because they were extras but I also figured that if they grew and made more potatoes that they would be excellent worm food.
Compost made with dog feces should not be used for growing food in for three years when it then becomes biologically safe to do so and although I have no plans of ever really using it for food I do hope to eventually use it for enriching the soil that I use when I grow black locust trees in flower pots. I don't really mind shoveling the dog poop because the way I see it I already paid for the stuff (in it's original form of dog food) and I may as well get my damn money's worth out of it by turning it into compost which sure beats the hell out of it either being wasted or sending it to a landfill like so many folks do with the stuff.
I might eventually experiment making methane with it but for now I think the compost is a lot more practical because I have a use for it whereas I wouldn't know what to do with the methane. I could probably eventually produce, store and use the methane in place of the propane that I use now but to be blunt I am not all that into experimenting with flammable gases especially inside my living space. If I ever do start experimenting with the stuff I think I would start with something like an on demand outdoor propane water heater or perhaps even a small electric generator designed to operate on propane.
All that stuff aside my new utility water system has not frozen up the last several nights that the temperature has gotten into the twenties so that is pretty awesome and it gives me hope that perhaps I can leave it all connected throughout next winter. I just gave it the same treatment that I gave the drinking water and buried everything under a thick layer of leaves and small twigs which has proven to be one hell of a low tech (and easy) method of insulating water against the freezing temperatures.
Anyway I need to get all this edited and posted. I am already feeling a bit sluggish today because I ate a big breakfast which I generally don't do but I woke up feeling rather hungry and having gotten supplies yesterday I figured I would treat my belly to something good this morning.
Yal be well and I will undoubtedly do the same.
