Looking Back At April's Posts
5/09/2007
April was a fun month for garden blogging here on the Compost Bin Blog. Spring weather finally arrived even though my daffodils didn't think so. It's a good thing the crocus didn't take any blooming advice from the daffodils.
The month started and ended with my bird feeders being harassed by squirrels. But at least a big fat cardinal got in there too.
My Porterhouse Tomato Seedlings didn't do that great but the rest of my tomato plants will more than make up for those underachievers.
And I can finally park my car back in the driveway again now that my 20 yards of mulch has been spread out. Unfortunately my order was a little short, so I'll probably need another 20 yards or so to finish my beds.
Finally I learned the differences between Poblano and Ancho Peppers.
May should be a busy month in the vegetable garden. Beds need to be amended, plants need to be planted and I need more mulch.
Posted by Anthony 6:57 AM 6 comments
Labels: Year In Review
2007 Goals
3/21/2007
Do you set crazy goals for yourself on December 31st? Resolutions like quitting smoking, losing weight, getting that big promotion and other goals that you’ve been dreaming about for a while? Before that clock strikes twelve it's still possible that this could be your year. The big one that changes everything. The sky's the limit. Well here’s a secret for you, New Year's Eve is for suckers.
It's cold and dark out. The garden is shut down and the compost bin is frozen. It's too cold for the kids to get outside and burn off some of their limitless energy so they drive me and my wife up the wall. There's really nothing special going on.
Now the day that makes me reflect on the past and set goals for the future is May 21st, the first day of spring. I'm thinking what vegetables worked well last season and which ones do I want to try this year. Am I going to split those hostas or let them get even bigger? Do I want to expand the garden again or should I put in a drip irrigation system?
For a gardener, the sky's the limit on the first day of spring. 
This year, I'm making it easy on myself. I'm setting one goal. I want to make my own pickles. Not a life changing event for sure but it's something that I've wanted to do all my life.
You see, I tried to make pickles once when I was a kid. The results were scary at best. I put a cucumber in a jar of vinegar with a couple of dill leaves from the garden. Obviously not the best recipe but there was no internet in the 80ies and we didn't have a copy of Pickling For Dummies laying around the house either.
Well, I lost interest as I often did back then and my parents ignored it too. I think it actually scared them. No one touched "the pickle jar" for years. Seriously it was at least 5 years that we had a bloated cucumber in a jar on top of the fridge. We joked about "the pickle jar" all the time but there it remained like a shrine to great cucumbers of the past.
Years later, I wound up throwing the whole thing out, jar and all before I moved out. If I had left it behind, my parents might have wrapped it up and given it to me for a birthday present. Don’t laugh, that's something they'd do.
It's about 20 years later now and I still haven't made my own pickles. I think it's time.
2007 will be the year of the pickle. I vow that this will be the year that I grow cucumbers, dill and garlic in the garden. I promise that they those ingredients will make it into a container full of brine and they will ferment like the wind. So it shall be written, so it shall be done.
What are your gardening goals for 2007? Post them on your blog and send me the link. Compostman [at] gmail [dot] com
I'll compile them in a future post so and we can all compare notes. 2007 could be your year too. Happy Spring!
Posted by Anthony 12:43 AM 7 comments
Labels: vegetable garden, Year In Review
What’s Decomposing - 2006
12/21/2006
Usually my What’s Decomposing posts are about all the things that I put in my compost bin. I’ve composted beer, champagne, 5 gallons of peanut oil, leaves, hot peppers and even a 75 pound pumpkin. But the year 2006 is coming to a close and it’s about time I tossed it in my compost bin along with the outdated attitudes towards blogging that I started the year with. This post is a look back at some of the conversations I had with myself along the way.
January 2006:
Who would want to become a blogger anyway? I mean blogs are for kids who write about how lame their teachers are and who they have a crush on, right? But I read somewhere there's bloggers out there making six figures. I'll give it a try. How hard could it be? I've decided to do a gardening blog called Compost Bin. All I need is a Google News Alert about compost and I'll be rolling in the AdSense bucks.
Blogging is a joke.
February 2006:
Still haven't gotten any AdSense clicks. My traffic is next to nothing. I guess I should actually start writing stuff that people might want to read. I really like gardening and making compost so I guess I write about my experiences in the garden. Even I don't like reading most of those News Alert posts that I've been making. I wonder if I'm the only farmer wannabe with a blog. I'm going to try and make this fun.
Blogging is hard.
March 2006:
The blog is looking a lot better now that I've been adding photos. My Mavica actually takes pretty good pictures, so I'm going to post them. I'm always in the yard with my camera so now I can blog this stuff instead of pestering my wife to look at pictures of my compost bin.
Blogging involves a lot of skills.
April 2006:
I love Garden Blogging. I just got accepted into a reblog called Garden Voices. My traffic has tripled and people are actually posting comments. AdSense is still barely enough for a cup of coffee but this is exciting to know that there's people out there like me walking around their gardens with camera in hand. I know what to post about next. I’ll talk about all the crazy animals that are constantly visiting my yard. There was that giant snapping turtle, the bunny, the squirrels, the butterfly, the dragon fly and those wild turkeys.
Blogging is awesome!
May 2006:
Wow, my pool renovation has turned into a nightmare. My wife is sick of hearing about it so I’m going to blog about it. Some of my fellow Garden Bloggers have been through rough rennovations too. I'm glad they were there to offer advice and listen to me gripe.
Blogging is all about community.
June 2006:My one and only guest blogger, my dad, knocked one out of the park with his how to make dandelion wine post. Who would have thought he’d become such a wine expert after I bought him that wine making kit for his birthday. He should blog about making wine now that he's retired. His post still draws traffic from people searching for odd things like fermentation traps and food grade plastic pails.
Blogging brings families closer together.
July 2006:
How to grow a Musa Basjoo (hardy banana plant) is definitely something I should blog about. It was hard for me to find information about how to do it so maybe I can help some other banana novices out there.
Blogging is about sharing.
August - September 2006:
My Colocasia gigantea and my Musa Basjoo have turned into giant jurassic plants. I'm glad that I kept my readers up to date on their growth. Who would have thought that those tiny little mail order plants could have gotten so big over the summer.
Blogging takes time.
October - November 2006:
I learned a lot doing The Compost Bin Blog this year. Sure there was some times throughout the year that I didn't post too often but I'm glad I've found a way to fit blogging into my life. Now it's time to take what I've learned and branch out into new niches and start some new blogs.
Blogging is a great learning experience.
December 2006:I may not be the greatest writer or photographer and I certainly don't make enough money to do this full-time but it's a lot of fun. I wonder what 2007 will bring.
I am a Blogger!
(this post has been submitted to the Problogger Group Writing Project)
Posted by Anthony 8:56 PM 8 comments
Labels: Year In Review
