Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

I thought I’d list the things I compost. Most people think of manure, grass clippings and leaves, but there’s so much more you can put in that pile!

• A leather purse that was past its prime. I cut it up into pieces, and it’s long gone.
• The canvas part of old tennis shoes. And the strings, minus the plastic tips.
• My cotton underwear; I cut this up, too.
• Old T shirts I never wear (check to make sure they’re all cotton). I used to save them for cleaning rags, but I really don’t need that many.
• Cat clumps: the cats use one box just for urinating, and I use World’s Best cat litter, 100 percent corn. I come and go with this, because it’s a pain to collect it in a bucket (lidded!) and then take it out to the pile. But as long as the cats are healthy (i.e. no UTIs) and you use that cat litter, it’s a fabulous source of nitrogen. It can really heat up the pile.
• My own urine when I really need some nitrogen. Urine is safe (unless you have a UTI or some other urinary tract problem) and sterile. Remember, human poop is not unless you really know what you’re doing. It has to be composted just right to kill any pathogens. In general, any animal that eats meat, don’t use the manure. If they eat grain, it’s okay, but should be put through the compost pile.

And then of course I compost the usual: many bags of leaves I’ve run through the chopper/sucker machine (Leaf Hog with the handy trash can attachment); kitchen waste, including juice gone bad, pasta (as long as it’s uncooked or has no sauce), water from canned vegetables, wine I didn’t like, bread and rolls – all the better if they’re moldy. If you have no trees and leaves, many avid composters ask neighbors for their leaves, or even drive down alleys on leaf collection day and steal them.

My neighbors used to have pet rabbits, and I had a wonderful source of poop! They loved it because about once a week I was over shoveling it into a bucket. Unfortunately, the rabbits died and they decided to not get anymore. (Probably a good idea….rabbits need a lot of love and care. I had rabbits as a child.)

I’ll add to the list as I think of things. My favorite so far was my leather purse. It was a favorite purse and I had a hard time letting go. But when I realized I could compost it, I felt better about it.

Tags: composting
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I was turning the compost pile today and saw several centipedes scurry around. Surprisingly, I only saw my first centipede this year, under some wood out by the fence in back.

I think I heard a horror story about giant centipedes when I was little; some cousins lived in south Florida and I believe that’s where the story came from. Maybe it’s imagined or maybe I saw something on tv when I was a tot, but there’s something that scares me about them.

Anyway, they apparently feed on the pillbugs that inhabit the pile during part of the composting process. It has heated and cooled and probably ready to spread somewhere. I’m thinking I may get out tomorrow and put out a crop of romaine lettuce and use some of that compost. Plus I still need to get the hairy vetch planted. I actually have several things that need to be done.

I usually sniff the compost a lot. Instead of a shoe fetish, I guess I have a compost fetish. I like to smell it because it reminds me of living in the forest, which I greatly miss. Now I probably won’t sniff as closely, afraid I’ll get my nose snipped off by a centipede.

I’m not afraid of snakes, but those centipedes freak me out.

Tags: composting
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