Winter Projects

For some of you, Winter doesn't look much different than Spring,
Summer or Fall. No ice to contend with, no howling blizzards, no
brown, white, black landscape. Its still green and will remain so.
You even have fertilizer that you put down for the part of the plant's
growth cycle that occurs at this time of year. Then, there's the rest
of us.
If we aren't already, we will soon be ass-deep in snow (and not the
kind you use to finance your DeLorien). You can only tie so many
flies before the dog gets a feather allergy from inhaling all the
clippings. Going out to get the mail is a half an hour program as you
don your Carhart insulated bib overalls, Thinsulate jacket, bomber
hat, insulated mittens, snow boots and cleats. Time for other indoor
pursuits. Since I've got a lot of extra time on my hands after
quitting smoking (again), I needed a new project.
Currently, I'm rehabilitating (not restoring, don't have that much
energy) a 1947 International Harvester manure spreader or IH 100.
(http://preview.tinyurl.com/2d9p9xh). Okay, what is a suave and
debonair urbanite like me doing with a manure spreader? Well, I'll
tell you.
We have a place nearby that composts all the leaves and grass for the
metro area. Its 15-month compost and is awesome. Great non-burning
fertilizer and top dressing. I have 2 1/2 acres, my partner has 6+
acres and the neighbors have a lot more. One neighbor used it (the
compost) on his yard (shoveling it out of a trailer by hand) and his
grass is so thick, there is no chance for a weed.
We needed a way to spread this stuff. Its incredibly cheap (a pick up
truck load is about 6 dollars US). We have a dump truck available, a
tractor, but nothing to spread it except muscle. Bought the spreader
for scrap value and am going to clean it all up, sand blast it, weld
in some plates where the rust has gotten to it, paint it IH red, put
some new oak boards in the bottom until it eventually looks like
this. http://preview.tinyurl.com/23qxblc We will then get truck-
loads of this compost and top-dress about 10, and probably 50 acres of
property.
So, now you know WAY more about manure spreaders, but hey, I got lots
of energy now that I wouldn't have had before I quit.
Cheers
Frank Reid
(Who's thinking that it would be a great prop for a James Bond film.
A belt that pushes the contents of the trailer toward two rollers with
3" teeth and an auger blade turned sideways. Its better than Fargo
'cause the guts that chew everything up are not hidden.)

On Dec 6, 10:46*am, Frank Reid © 2010 wrote:
For some of you, Winter doesn't look much different than Spring,
Summer or Fall. *No ice to contend with, no howling blizzards, no
brown, white, black landscape. *Its still green and will remain so.
You even have fertilizer that you put down for the part of the plant's
growth cycle that occurs at this time of year. *Then, there's the rest
of us.
If we aren't already, we will soon be ass-deep in snow (and not the
kind you use to finance your DeLorien). *You can only tie so many
flies before the dog gets a feather allergy from inhaling all the
clippings. *Going out to get the mail is a half an hour program as you
don your Carhart insulated bib overalls, Thinsulate jacket, bomber
hat, insulated mittens, snow boots and cleats. *Time for other indoor
pursuits. *Since I've got a lot of extra time on my hands after
quitting smoking (again), I needed a new project.
Currently, I'm rehabilitating (not restoring, don't have that much
energy) a 1947 International Harvester manure spreader or IH 100.
(http://preview.tinyurl.com/2d9p9xh). *Okay, what is a suave and
debonair urbanite like me doing with a manure spreader? Well, I'll
tell you.
We have a place nearby that composts all the leaves and grass for the
metro area. *Its 15-month compost and is awesome. *Great non-burning
fertilizer and top dressing. *I have 2 1/2 acres, my partner has 6+
acres and the neighbors have a lot more. *One neighbor used it (the
compost) on his yard (shoveling it out of a trailer by hand) and his
grass is so thick, there is no chance for a weed.
We needed a way to spread this stuff. *Its incredibly cheap (a pick up
truck load is about 6 dollars US). *We have a dump truck available, a
tractor, but nothing to spread it except muscle. *Bought the spreader
for scrap value and am going to clean it all up, sand blast it, weld
in some plates where the rust has gotten to it, paint it IH red, put
some new oak boards in the bottom until it eventually looks like
this. *http://preview.tinyurl.com/23qxblc*We will then get truck-
loads of this compost and top-dress about 10, and probably 50 acres of
property.
So, now you know WAY more about manure spreaders, but hey, I got lots
of energy now that I wouldn't have had before I quit.
Cheers
Frank Reid
(Who's thinking that it would be a great prop for a James Bond film.
A belt that pushes the contents of the trailer toward two rollers with
3" teeth and an auger blade turned sideways. Its better than Fargo
'cause the guts that chew everything up are not hidden.)

Compost can do wonders. I don't have practical access to a muni scale
supply like you do but I use every bit of yard and kitchen waste. My
wetside place is a bit less than 2a and I don't like to grind up
stuff. instead I have a series of large piles, screened in tree
copses, and I casually layer different stuff. 3-4 years later the pile
is ready for spreading. So every year i am using up one pile and it
becomes the primary piling place for the next year. Our soils is
largely low fertility glacial till, so to have any effect on tilth etc
i need to concentrate the compost and do other things to compensate
for the clayes. We grow corn 10-11 feet high. However, at least here,
I still need to pay careful attention to the NPK analysis, because
wood wastes in particular can throw off the balances as the tannic
acid pushes the N into insolubility. Breaking the cation bond with
lime can help but is hard to control.

On my dryside place Ive a few acres that I believe could be restored
to pre-flood usefulness if I could get someone to start dumping
organic wastes. Its hard to understand why we waste so much of this
material in the USA.

Dave

On Dec 6, 10:46*am, Frank Reid © 2010 wrote:
For some of you, Winter doesn't look much different than Spring,
Summer or Fall. *



I just came in from an hour of shirt-sleeved reading on our deck,
sunny with temps in mid-60s. Very pleasant.

Now I WAS looking at snow, mind you, but it was about 45 "crow flies"
miles from here and .... important pointG ....10,000 feet higher up
the mountain. We have a view of the Yosemite high country that isn't
postcard quality but is still very nice.

Compost can do wonders.


Before my deck enjoying session, I spent the morning raking leaves and
putting them in our compost pile. I wife gardens on a limited scale,
summer and winter veggies as well as flowers, and we use our home
brewed compost for that. I'm not too active a partner in the garden
but can testify that the veggies are damn good, had some broccoli from
it last night .... yum.

Playing in the dirt and water and mud is, I think, an important sanity
protection tool for many humans ... and takes many forms .... just a
thought that popped into my otherwise empty head.