The Spampyre
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The Spampyre is now up to his 46th reply.
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Rules
I moderate all comments and reserve the right to remove any post
that I deem inappropriate.
Since I support free speech, I do not intend to remove
any posts except for spam, which contributes nothing to a discussion.
GreenMachine compost tumbler
So, we have been using our GreenMachine compost tumbler for almost a week and it definitely seems to be working. We have been turning it about every two days and there seems to be less mass now; also, it looks as if many of the things that we threw in have started decomposing nicely.
We made the mistake of collecting fruit and vegetable waste about a week before the composter arrived and did not vent the storage container. By the time we opened it to put the matter in the composter, it had started to break down anaerobically and smelled awful. But, as of yesterday, the smell in the GreenMachine had changed to something more akin to a yard that had been mowed a couple of days prior - or what I suppose hay smells like, but I'm from the city, so I really wouldn't know. I am assuming that this is a good sign.
I am worried, though, that our mixture might be too acidic - we did put a crushed TUMS in the other day as I heard that that helps, but I do not know of a reliable and reusable way to test the acidity. There are kits that will tell the PH of a soil sample, however I don't want to fork out money for every batch of compost. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Labels: compost, environment, gardening, review
Rules
I moderate all comments and reserve the right to remove any post
that I deem inappropriate.
Since I support free speech, I do not intend to remove
any posts except for spam, which contributes nothing to a discussion.
Earthquakes in Illinois
Its not very often that we get earthquakes in Illinois; in fact, I believe the last time it happened was in the late 1980's. You can imagine my surprise then at being woken up at 4:37 in the morning to the bed shaking.
I heard some rumbling outside for about a half minute, and after looking out the window to make sure that my fence didn't have any slats missing, I went back to sleep. I found out after arriving at work the next day that going back to sleep was the general consensus and it generated very little conversation...until we had another one later in the morning. This second quake (or aftershock, or foreshock, not really sure) lasted longer than the first, but apparently was less powerful - being only a 4.5 instead of a 5.2.
Now if we only had the weather of California.
Rules
I moderate all comments and reserve the right to remove any post
that I deem inappropriate.
Since I support free speech, I do not intend to remove
any posts except for spam, which contributes nothing to a discussion.
Composting II
The Green Machine compost tumble that we ordered arrived on Friday, and I started to assemble it on Saturday (in the snow and freezing rain). The diagrams in the instructions could have been better, but the verbiage was understandable and the assembly followed a common-sense approach. There was a slight issue though, we were missing a bolt - we had an extra nut though; after making a quick trip to Home Depot and buying a pack of four bolts for $1.06 after sales tax I couldn't bring myself to go back in the freezing rain to finish assembling it.
Today (Monday) the weather was better and Katherine and I put the last of the bolts in. We have now filled the barrel about a quarter of the way with old salad, fruit salad, pine needles, leaves, and some brown cardboard. I will check on the progress in a couple of days when I turn the composter and post the results here.
Rules
I moderate all comments and reserve the right to remove any post
that I deem inappropriate.
Since I support free speech, I do not intend to remove
any posts except for spam, which contributes nothing to a discussion.
Composting
Friday I ordered the Green Machine compost tumbler from GreenCulture.com. I will post about my experiences with it after it arrives, but from the descriptions of about 20 similar models that I have looked at, this seemed to be the best one in its price range.
I do have a couple of comments on GreenCulture's order process though. They do not tell you the shipping cost at the time of ordering (at least not on large or heavy items); they provide an estimate and e-mail you with the exact cost later. This process makes it difficult to budget since you do not know the exact cost for a day or two.
Also, there is nowhere on the site to check the status of a package. I double-checked with their customer service to make sure that I just didn't miss the status form. Their customer service department responded to my e-mail in less than an hour and assured me that my order would be shipped later in the week and that a tracking number would be e-mailed to me.
For a one item order, this is not a big issue. However, if I had ordered three or four items and wanted to keep tabs on the order (to see which items were ready for shipping, which had not been packaged yet, which are still out of stock, etc.) I would have no way to do this.
GreenCulture seems to be a reputable company from all of the reviews I have read, but addressing these two features would make their site much more user-friendly.
Rules
I moderate all comments and reserve the right to remove any post
that I deem inappropriate.
Since I support free speech, I do not intend to remove
any posts except for spam, which contributes nothing to a discussion.
