Compost clearance

Compost bin clearance day yesterday, with the result illustrated, after the first half dustbin of the new season had been tipped in. Stray honeysuckle box (see reference 2) visible top right, with the rest of it making access a bit tricky.

I was able to take out about a dozen barrows of good brown compost, half of which is now feeding the back of the new daffodil bed, with the other half on the adjacent (peace) roses.

Compost about a foot thick. Top third recent and needed to be scraped aside. Middle third live and reasonably well stocked with worms. Bottom third well rotted down and apart from fibrous roots from neighbouring bushes and trees, sterile. With the further exception of the odd bone and the odd cork, neither of which seem to be in the rotting down business. But the bones will diminish as such bones as we now generate on our senior diet go to the council digester (see reference 1).

Clearance required five implements: wheelbarrow, shovel, small spade, small fork and a chillington hoe. This last I think from the good old style hardware store which used to be at the corner of Haycroft and Hook Road (gmaps 51.375822, -0.303683) and which is now a double glazing shop. Good for dragging the compost with the right hand onto the shovel in the left when one is an otherwise awkward position. Nothing quite like having the right tools for the job. Plus gloves for my now soft hands, not to mention the warfarin which can make small cuts a bit messy.

The back seems to have survived the effort, but forearms a bit stiff.

PS: sharp frost this morning, although perhaps not much by Ottawa standards, where it looks to be around -10C as I type. Around 0230 there.

Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/digesters.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=lonicera.