Easy Composting Bin from Garbage Can

It's something I've been doing my whole life. My Grandfather got me involved.  My mother and father were fans. Now it's just part of life - yup, that save the earth trend of composting.

We have always taken all grass clippings, leaves, and plant food scraps and put them into compost in our yard. Then each spring and fall it gets rototilled into the vegetable garden, and that soil also gets dispersed around the yard.  Over the years it's really helped improve the soil (and the crops!)  in addition to reducing the amount of trash.  Then, our village recently increased their attention to our "compost pile" and despite the best intentions, some neighbors were complaining that it was unsightly.  So rather than pay for yard waste bags and stickers, we sought a creative and frugal outlet. 

We already had one container and had previously tried a tumbler without success.  I never did tumble the materials - so that was not a good investment.  Some of the containers are so fancy and expensive.   I readily admit that I am not savvy in the ways of composting.  I just put stuff in, it rots, I use it ;)  My dad had a compost container made out of wire stretched around large cement blocks.  He never turned it or minded it much at all, and that worked just fine. I know that I'm not doing this the best way - but it gets the job done, and we don't have to get fancy.  Looking around for raw materials - we immediately thought of two large garbage container that the village had deemed too large for use.  Eureka - we made our own compost bins from recycled garbage cans!

Making Holes for Air Flow - July 2011

 One thing to keep in mind is that as the plant matter starts to decay it will generate heat and moisture.  Here you can see we are putting holes in the bottom of the container to allow moisture to drain out.  I think there is probably a balance between wanting it to drain and not to dry out.  I'll have to see how that goes.

Finished Garbage Can Compost Bin

This is the final garbage can compost bin - we ended up putting about 100 holes around all side and on the bottom.  I like that this container is on wheels, which will help us get the compost to the garden.  We also considered just cutting the bottom off the garbage can all together. I think if we do fill this up with compost it might be too darn heavy to tip over. We can always make that adjustment next year if we need to do so. 

Store bought Bin, and new re-purposed bin ready for duty.

We hid the second container on the side of our yard and will use that one exclusively for grass cuttings and other yard waste. It is tucked up behind some honeysuckle and big hostas, so I'm hoping that our neighbors of the city don't mind too much.

Today I'm singing something trashy! LOL

Any advice let me know!

Teresa Marie

Garfield Conservatory Devastated - Needs your help!

As many of you know I am a passionate supporter of the Garfield Park Conservatory, a historic landmark and pillar to landscape architecture in Chicago.   What you may not know is that this past week, the conservatory sustained significant damage to the oldest parts of the structure and is closed until further notice.  



Photo from Garfield Park Conservatory Website

I’ve talked with many of the staff and personally share their shock and sense of helplessness.  There is damage to over 60% of the glass roof.  The oldest parts of the conservatory, which had never been upgraded to tempered glass, were hardest hit including the Fern Room, the Show House, and the desert house.  All the propagation greenhouses were impacted as you can clearly see on the video on Fox news with aerial footage. 

While it’s helpful that the temperatures are not too cold so the collections won’t freeze, there are significant challenges. In several rooms the sun may burn and damage plants.   All the water from the rain which will now get into the conservatory  is also likely to overflow the ponds and create additional pest and plant cultivation problems.  Also with restrictions on staff and volunteer access until clean-up, programming and plant management is restricted. Luckily, the Chicago Park District has a disaster plan in place and teams are already mobilized to shore up the structure, clean out the glass, and protect the collections.  (Thank goodness they don’t need to wait for the city procurement process!)  However, it’s going to be a long and challenging road!

A letter from President Eunita Rushing to members called this a "major catastrophe." Other reports indicate that there is risk of loss of over 50% of the collection.

Extensive damage to Greenhouses - Garfield Conservatory July 2011

The Garfield Park Conservatory will be putting a capital campaign in place to cope with this emergency.  I imagine that page will show up on the site in the next day or so.  Until then, if you are so inclined please use the “donate now” button on their site to contribute.  Also anyone out there with a blog, facebook page or other social media connections - please help get the word out.

Today I'm singing the blues

Teresa Marie

Poison Ivy - my garden's hardiest perennial

I am very sensitive to and have severe reaction when exposed to poison ivy.  So avoiding them is critical to me - but I somehow get into it every year without fail.  I guess I could be 100% certain to avoid poison ivy if I never went into the garden, but that isn't going to happen.  Each year I'm spraying it and pulling it out (well someone else does that.) Then next year - there it is again! I guess that's all part of living next to the forest preserve.  But the seeds can get transported through birds - so it can end up everywhere.

So here's what I know - how to identify it in all seasons, where to look for it, how to prepare for avoidance, what to do when I get into it.

How do you know it's Poison Ivy?   It has three leaflets (groups of leaves on the same small stem coming off the larger main stem), but variations occur.  The leaves are bright green in spring, green in the summer, and red in the fall.  There are white berries. It can appear as a small plant, vine, shrub.  In my yard it also loves to dress up and put on costumes just to surprise me (LOL well it seems that way!)




Poison Ivy hiding in a bed of Vinca

Here you can see the bright light green color of new plants (and the spots from where I sprayed this with aggressive herbicide)

Clear leaves of three - let it be warning sign, plus note that the stem is red.


Where can you find it growing?  I find it frequently in shady moist places. It somehow grows under other plants in the garden. It hides places so that you get into when weeding!

How do you get the rash?  I seem to get the rash by just looking at Poisen Ivy or passing within 10 feet of it, but then I'm just blessed that way. I can also start with one little spot and it blooms into the craziest mess.  Case in point, look at this picture of my latest brush with Poisen Ivy... yuck!   A neighbor inadvertantly burned Poisen Ivy with some brush, wow what a mess and a trip to the ER. So don't do that.  The oil can get aeresoled and then get you inside and out. Also - any tool, towel, clothing that comes into contact with Poisen Ivy can be a source of contamination. Bad news - those tools can come back to bite you, even after several months!

Rash and blisters thanks to Mr. Poisen Ivy. :(

Damn Urishiol!  That's the name of the oil in Poison Ivy that causes the rash.
(also called Toxicodendron dermatitis and Rhus dermatitis).  This oil is contained in various plants, including the shell of the cashew nut).  That's why you cannot get a raw cashew - they have all been processed (heated) to change the nature of the urisiol.  All parts of Poison ivy contain this oil - some parts more than others. That's why they say that you have to break the leaf to get the rash - because there is more oil on the inside. But hey, that ain't a fact for some people like me. :(

So what do I do to avoid or treat? I always always wear gloves, long pants and long sleeve when working in the garden.  No surprise that this latest rash was from contact at that space between my glove and my sleeves.  I didn't even know it happened.  Immediately upon contact, that is when I know I've gotten into it, I wash my skin with a dilute solvent solution (generally alcohol and or acetone) and then follow with solution of soap and water (COLD water - warm water opens the pores and spreads the oil further!) This is because the oil is not water soluble, so the solvents help to remove the oil.  I have a bottle of solvent in the garage and ready to go - because I've read that the bonding of the oil to one's skin can occur in less than 10 minutes, so I don't want to waste time getting into the bathroom or medicine cabinet!  I also use this solution to periodically wash my garden tools.  I friend also just suggested a poison ivy preventative lotion.  There are over-the-counter creams that contain Bentoquatam, this chemical bonds to the Urisiol rather than your skin! So I'm excited to see if this works!

So I'll leave you with two jokes my boys used to think were so funny.
- What do you get when you cross Poison Ivy with a 4 leaf clover? A Rash of good luck!
- "I'm not afraid to walk through Poison Ivy!" said the fool rashly.

The song of the day is the Blues.
Keep singing

Teresa Marie

Propagating Succulents

One aspect that I appreciate about succulents is just how easy it is to propagate them! My friends get to share in the fruit of my labors (or enable my addiction!)  I have decades old jade, christmas cactus, and pencil tree cactus that were all started from cuttings.

There are a variety of propagation techniques - cuttings, leaf starts and offsets. Each of these is described below

Oh Dear - Damn Deer!

While I live in Chicago in the broadest sense of the word, technically I'm in the suburbs. I'm lucky to be situated near the forest preserve - so wildflowers naturally creep over into my yard.

However, so do the damn deer!

There is a path right through my yard. They sleep curled up by the driveway. The family walk around with the little babies. It's really very nice to see. On the other hand, they eat plants in my garden. DAMN DEER.

They munch on my: oaks, maples, pines, roses, Switchgrass, viburnums, ferns, hostas, iris, tulips, and lots of my perennials. They seem to especially favor the new shoots early in the spring and summer. They graze on the flower buds just before they bloom and new leaves when they soft and sweet.  Then during the summer they ignore my garden. They let it recoup for a few months. Then they start at it again in the fall and early winter. DAMN White-tailed Deer!.