Note to Self: Next Time Don't Start 5 Boxes at Once

NHGardener Sun May 01, 2011 9:08 am

I opened and blended 21 bags of compost the other day. (That was a little much, but it gets addicting, picking up every new type you see.) It took the entire tarp and was really heavy, so I had to mix equal shovels full of the 3 ingredients in the wheelbarrow and then dump the wheelbarrow loads into the boxes. To top it off, my boxes are staked to be level on the slope, so I estimate it took 1.5(?) times the amount of fill for each box. Even after all that compost and equal parts of verm and peat (which I ran out of), I only filled 4 boxes, and that's before settling, I don't know how much of it will settle after a rain.

It got to the point where I was shoveling at snail's pace, almost crawling the whole process thru, and my husband felt sorry for me, mixed the rest all together, and put it in the boxes... I would still be out there today working on it otherwise. (And maybe all summer)

Just to say: When they say start out small, it's for a reason. Wow.

Tril Sun May 01, 2011 9:15 am

LOL... thanks, I feel much better about starting with just ONE SFG. Smile

Bet you're sore today.

Old Hippie Sun May 01, 2011 9:18 am

LOL! I have SO been where you are many times........not with SFG but with other stuff. You are very lucky your husband helped you out. Aren't they awesome? Sometimes my DH wearies of rescuing his 'damsel in distress' when I take on projects and threatens to let me get out of the mess I get myself in by myself.

Are you going to plant today?

Gwynn

NHGardener Sun May 01, 2011 12:13 pm

Too early to plant yet really - last frost date isn't until May 13. I had taken my seedlings outside for a field trip on a nice hot sunny day and put them on the dark hot tub cover, but I don't think they appreciated that as much as I thought they would and they're pretty much in various stages of death right now.

Here's hoping direct seeding gives better results.

But about the husbands, yes. Mine grimaces whenever I take on a new project. Like my chicken idea. He spent 10 straight days building that coop, and every time he does something he says that's the LAST thing he's doing for those chickens... Then he ends up making the fence around my idea of SFG so the chickens can't get to it. Etc. etc.

I really can do these things, at least in my mind. But when rubber hits road, thank goodness he's there to bail me out.

Of course, I'm the only one who can pick up his dirty clothes and put his dishes in the dishwasher, so it does work both ways... rofl

Old Hippie Sun May 01, 2011 12:26 pm

Tell me about it! Rolling Eyes

I haven't let him starve to death over the past 40 years and he has bailed me out when I needed it so I guess we are even. LOL!

Gwynn

middlemamma Sun May 01, 2011 3:58 pm

This is so funny!

Obviously Joe helps me...but there have been times I need help and won't admit it. So he's wrestling whatever it is out of my hands screaming LET ME HELP YOU!!! LOL

Gotta love those men.

Smile

Suzy Sun May 01, 2011 7:32 pm

Gee, I'm so antsy... can't wait to get started. Will be purchasing the components this week - planned to do six boxes. Maybe I'll do them one at a time? Wink

Old Hippie Sun May 01, 2011 8:01 pm

Good idea! There is no way I could mix the stuff all at once. Muscle pain that I experience on a daily basis due to a thyroid condition limits what I am able to do at one time. Combine that with a very physical job, lifting lots of five gallon pails of paint every day and by the time I get home my energy level has taken a beating.

However, I have discovered that I can mix one wheelbarrow full every other evening and then store it in five gallon pails with lids so it is ready for when I need it. Then if I have a planter that I want to put some thing in my mix is all ready. Over the past couple of years I have been gradually switching all my planters over to Mel's Mix. By the end of this month or possibly the May long weekend my cucumber box should be ready and my mix is all waiting to put in. The up side of this is that I can keep checking it and adding more moisture to it so that it won't sink or have to be watered several times a day for the first couple of weeks.

Gwynn

**walshevak** Sun May 01, 2011 8:14 pm

Suzy wrote:Gee, I'm so antsy... can't wait to get started. Will be purchasing the components this week - planned to do six boxes. Maybe I'll do them one at a time?

Go for it. I mixed 60 cu ft of mels mix by myself over a period of 2 days and loaded 6 tabletops on the third. Did the blended compost on day one and added peat and vermiculite on the 2nd. Two weeks later I mixed another 60 cu ft all in one day at my son's house and loaded 2 beds. Wrapped the mix up in its tarp and left it for 2 weeks, came back for another visit and loaded 3 boxes. Headed to his house on Fri. to complete the last box.

**Furbalsmom** Mon May 02, 2011 1:30 am

She's also Wonder Woman. Laughing

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Note to Self: Next Time Don't Start 5 Boxes at Once

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