I did some testing in the kitchen this week because apparently, and who knew, there's a new trend in dehydrated orange slices. I had to confirm or deny the trend as soon as I found out about it.
I can confirm that it's messy. I'm not going to tell you anymore about this experiment and how it worked out, that information will be coming later this week.
While I was doing this I suddenly had the urge to do a lot more with dried orange slices this year so now I'm on the hunt for a lot of on sale oranges. I'd either like to do a stained glass window with them or a wreath.
Amaryllis
If you remember all the talk about what to do with your amaryllis bulbs last winter you know that now is the time to pot them up if you haven't already. I took my 2 bulbs out of the fridge where I had them chilling in paper bags in the crisper.
Today I'll figure out how I want to plant them. I'm considering doing a Kokedama ball around them this year. Or a low ceramic container with twigs. It's up in the air at this point.
Much like Philip
Instead of bagging my leaves this year I dragged all the leaves from the sidewalk and along my fence into the backyard and mounded them into a pile to decompose over the winter.
Also - it would give Philip a massive leaf pile to play in. He loses his mind with leaves.
And then I noticed him poop in the leaves the next day, which is not ideal for compost. Or turning a compost pile. Dog poop isn't ideal for anything other than revenge.
I cleaned up the poop, re-mounded the leaves and will add them to my closed compost pile later this week once I finish sifting what's already in there.
Dahlias
The dahlias have been dug up and washed. The clumps sit outside so they don't dry out. As I get a chance to split them, I bring a clump or two inside and work on them in the kitchen or in front of the fire while waiting for the stupidest boxing match in the world to air at some time around 4 in the morning.
So ya, that's how I do it.
I found cutting the stalks back and leaving them for a couple of weeks was really helpful for splitting them. The eyes are definitely more visible.
And the pruners might look like a bit of a mess but I sharpened and oiled them just before I started splitting. Today I adjusted them as well to tighten them up a bit, because I am a grown up adult who can maintain her own pruners. Mostly.
That's it for me and my doings.
Have a good remainder of your weekend.
I’m as excited about dried leaves as Philip, though I’m frolic-free. They are compost gold, adding a carbon balance to the high nitrogen ingredients. Lots of leaves and an occasional mix-up with a hay fork will keep compost sweet and pesky little fermentation flies free. Worms love this compost! Then you enter worm casting richness territory.
If the orange thing has something to do with powdered sugar, that may be what I tried out with a bag of lemons someone gave me. Whatever happened was apparently so traumatic that I blocked the memory. 😂
Good thing you make videos.
You can re-experience the trauma over and over again. 😁😆
Poop-containing compost MUST be heated to at least 160 Fahrenheit, or ...
uhhhhhhh .. uhhhhhhhh ... carry the thirteen ...
72 Celsius, and kept there for a minimum of 40 minutes. or you could DIE when you eat food grown in that compost later.
It happened to a bunch of buyers of Spinach in California a few years ago for example. It did happen. They did die.
This tiny job is actually easy:
Wait until you're SURE the compost is COMPLETELY broken down. Now take:
A big metal container ... (No lid? Use cookie sheets sized so they serve as lids) 8 bricks,
A long, long-stemmed compost thermometer (about $10-20),
and a hot plate.
1) In an area where you WON'T start a forest fire, place the hot plate so the heating element is ALMOST touching the bottom of the container, and your BRICKS are holding the container up.
3) Plunge your long, long compost thermomenter into the center of the potful, but not too close to the bottom.
4) Turn the hot plate onto high and fill the metal container with your COMPLETELY broken down, but still-germy compost.
5) Go do something else for at least 60 minutes. It will take a long time to heat it up. Me, I let it get 20% hotter than the minimum specified temps above, then I shut off the hot plate. I find that the compost stays at germ-killing temperature for hours.
There. Your germs are dead.
(Pic shows example of completely-broken compost. It used to be the scraps you see at the right. And completely-broken-down compost does not smell bad. At ALL!)
Well I was pretty sure there was just the one poop but now I'm not 100% certain and you've gone and ruined my day long state of peace Scotty. ~ karen
By the way ... just in case anyone might take my comments as negative criticisms ... I'm just so glad that you do all that you do for us. I mean really, thank you, Karen. The world ... could be better ... and you brighten it up, and you turn us into better people.
THANK YOU !!!!!
Your hands look so frosty and festive!!🤩 added bonus I’m sure..
Can’t wait to see more about the oranges, I bet your house smells awesome.
Didn't know that about dog poop - mine just never climbed into the compost to do their business. You've got me hooked on your experiment - thanks!
Oh Philip! What a happy boy! I love it when our fur babies get to do something they absolutely love and we get to see it.
The hard part is he has the most fun when I'm kicking the leaves so today maybe I'll get out the mini blower and see if that works for him, lol. ~ karen!
Dehydrating oranges? You're the one who started that trend a while back! LOL!
Well suddenly there's something new and improved about dehydrating citrus! Or is there? ;) ~ karen!
So... yer sayin; that you basically just lounged around all week doin' nuthin'? Good Onya kiddo! p.s. Netflix needs netter servers if it ever tries to do another live stream of a boring over-hyped boxing match. My stream spent too much time buffering and I have 1GB internet.
It was ridiculous. Everything about that fight was ridiculous and I am ridiculous for having any interest in watching it. ~ karen!
I'm 75 and I feel bad for poor old Mike Tyson. How on Earth is any soon to be senior citizen expected to survive on a paltry $20 million dollars USD for their 16 minutes of grueling labours?