The latest poop...

I mentioned that I scored some manure in an earlier post. Well, that was in late November. It's been aging in a pile since then. When I brought it home, I laid out a weed barrier of newspaper and brown paper bags first. I did this to prevent anything from growing from the ground up through the manure pile. I also wanted to make my pile easy to manage. If there was nothing below acting like a mat, it would be harder for me to stir.

Then I placed a layer of horse manure on top of the paper.

I spread a layer of goat manure atop the horsey poo, and then I continued to alternate goat and horse manure. The finished pile is below.

It's important to stir the pile occasionally. This helps the manure age and dry out. If it's not stirred, the innermost droppings could remain moist, or worse, "hot." "Hot" manure is very rich in nitrogen, and will burn plant roots if the soil contains too much of it. Aging is the easiest way to prevent this. Most manure is considered aged if it's at least 6 to 8 weeks old. Generally speaking, manure that is dry and crumbly is considered safe to use. For the record, I'd much prefer cow or steer manure to horse. That's just my own personal preference. Here in Arizona we have a lot more horses that we do cows, so I'm using "green" principles to guide me. Locally produced manure!

Oh, and if you noticed, I also put some egg cartons in there. I was originally thinking I'd till this manure into the ground to create a garden bed. The fiber from the cardboard egg cartons would help attract worms and build some additional volume and aerate the soil. I've since decided to go with a raised bed, so the egg cartons are unnecessary.

(By the way, the eggs are from local grown farms. When possible, I try to buy organic, local produce and meats. I can't always afford the local choice, but when the price difference isn't too great, that's the choice I make. It just makes sense to support your local businesses. If there were enough interest in local produce and meat, we'd have a wider selection at all our markets. I like local because the meats, fruits, and veggies I consume are brought to me with a smaller carbon footprint, and also because I like to believe that they are fresher. They may not really be fresher, but they do spend less miles--but not necessarily less time--getting from farm to market.)

Working on my wood!

I just had to say that!

But really...I was working on it! Since I came across this wood in used condition, I need to remove the paint from it. If I leave the paint on the wood, it could leech potentially harmful chemicals into the soil of my garden, and that would get taken up by the roots of my plants. That would be bad. So this is how I'll make the wood ready for use.

I acquired an angle grinder to strip the paint off the reclaimed wood, and I got to work on it today. Here is the pile of the wood I'll be working on. (Remember, this wood was free!)

The project of stripping the wood is very slow. I think I'll buy a different attachment for the grinder. I'm currently using a 4" angle grinder equipped with a 120-grit flap wheel. I think the grit count is too high, since this is going far too slowly. The wood is coming out real smooth, but I'm sacrificing time to get such a nice finish. I'll buy a 40- and 80-grit set and see which works better.

The wood is looking fantastic, though. Check out the before, during, and after pics!

How to be cheap

One of my biggest goals in creating this garden is to do it as cheaply as I can. Like everyone else, my funds are limited. And I just don't see the point in spending more money than I need to. So I look for ways to save money on things I need all the time. But in working on my garden project, I took this to a whole new level.

I've discovered that there are some great resources for anyone interested in previously used materials. Check out how I've taken advantage of what these groups have to offer:

Stardust Building Supplies has two locations in the Valley. They are a non-profit organization that accepts donations of used building material, and resells them at a fraction of the original cost. I scored some 2x6 and 2x10 timbers there to frame out a raised garden bed, and it only cost me about $14. They even let me come back with my saw to cut the wood down so it would fit in my truck bed!

The Freecycle Network is another non-profit group that consists entirely of people willing to reuse and/or donate items for reuse. There are many groups throughout the country. There are even some regions that have more than one group you can join. I was able to donate some pallets that I had acquired to someone else. Funny thing was, I grabbed the pallets so I could build a nice big composting bin. When I realized I'd be better off using the bins from the city, I read Tanja's request for pallets. I asked her what she was using them for when she came to get them, and it turned out that she wanted to build a big composting bin! Great minds think alike!

And a resource that would be silly to overlook is Craigslist. If you go to the craigslist homepage and select your city, you can browse through listings of stuff that people are giving away under the "free" link under the "for sale" section header. This has been an enormous resource for me. I've scored goat and cow manure, bales of straw, and even the wood I'll be using to construct my big raised garden bed! The manure has been aging for 6 weeks now, in a pile. I stir the pile every week or so. The manure will be well mixed with compost to become my soil. The straw will be my mulch. Straw makes an excellent mulch here in the desert because it is hollow. Since it's hollow, it's got a better insulating property than hay does, so it will help my plants and beds hold onto their moisture and also reduce the crazy fluctuations in temperature througout the day. And the wood came from a family in Tempe who removed a shade structure from their backyard. The 2x4's are all made of white cedar, and I'll need to do a little work to get them ready for my project. The boards are painted and they still have nails in them. I'll need to remove as much paint as I can, since I don't want the chemicals to leech back into my soil. I also have to pull the nails out. The price was right, and I don't mind putting in a little elbow grease to save a buck or two!

This is by no means a complete list. I've only scratched the surface. I'm sure there are plenty other ways to reuse/recycle that I'm not aware of. I'd love to hear about more ways to get involved in groups like this.

Becoming involved in these reuse/recycle organizations has helped me become aware of how we can reclaim many of the items we'd normally just place in the trash. It has inspired me to think twice before tossing anything in the big black can. In fact, I've found several things around my home that I will be donating shortly! It's going to be really cool to give back to the groups that have given me so much!

I think that working so hard to save money made this project more enjoyable for me. For one, I think it makes my garden itself even more environmentally responsible, since I'm not expanding my carbon footprint in acquiring these materials. Also, it's been fun searching for these items. I've been able to do it like this because I wasn't in a rush to get my project done in a specified amount of time. If I had a time constraint, I would have had to either sacrifice my principles of using organic materials or I'd have needed to spend money. Things worked out pretty well for me in my search. If I've figured this out as well as I think I have, the only things I'll need to purchase will be some 4x4 pieces of wood, screws, some more compost, and hoses. Oh, and the seeds and seedlings! I'll tally the cost of these and post here as I buy them.