February 4, 2010: At My Disposal

My daughter, Amy, manages a large mobile home community. Look what the owners bought last week!





They have several dead sycamore trees on the property, and it was less expensive for them to buy the machinery for tree removal than to hire someone to remove all the trees. Bryan, my son-in-law, will be operating this big rig. Now, it's not the lift that will benefit me directly, it will be the trees he cuts down. They are also purchasing a large commercial chipper! Guess who can have all the wood chips she wants for her garden paths. Moi!

Besides getting free wood chips, we have decided to stay in Washington next winter. If our Arizona property doesn't sell, we will have to come back down...but not until January! That means I'll be home when the leaves fall this year. Which means I'll have all the chopped leaves I need for my garden! I've also found a source for free llama poo, which is supposed to be great garden fertilizer. A layer of leaves and poo in the fall, turned under in early spring, should make a wonderful 2011 garden! I've heard llama poo is terribly stinky though, so I may end up buying composted horse manure. My dogs, Annie and Otto, just love to bring stinky stuff inside through their doggy door.

It makes Annie smile just to think of rolling in that lovely, stinky poo.





19 comments:

  1. It sounds like you have all your composting needs all set up. Well except for the doggie issue. They do love smelly stuff.

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  2. God, i'd love to have access to that lift. Several trees on the property need trimming, and I could build even crazier things than I currently do! I know nothing about llama poo, but it should be pretty good.

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  3. I can see the puppy grinning as she rubs her back back and forth on the ground saying, "Sinky poo, stinky poo, stinky poo."

    Awesome for the wood chips. Hey, maybe you could set up some hoop houses for the Washington winter garden

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  4. Daphne, I sure hope so. As to the smelly stuff, I have, on more than one occasion, found remnants of a cow pie under my dining room table. Luckily, they are already well composted.

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  5. EG, isn't that cool? My son John has access to one, and he had to come over to my house with it one day to retrieve grandson Kevin's model plane from the top of the neighbor's sycamore tree. I think he said it went up 40 feet. I googled llama poo, and it's supposed to be really good for the garden.

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  6. Ribbit, Annie is a real smiler! She can often be found belly up with a grin on her funny little face. The more I laugh at her, the bigger the grin gets.

    I already have plans for a shade structure over the lettuce bed, so that will be easy to cover with plastic. The potato bed would be empty for other winter veggies, and it would be another easy one to "hoop".

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  7. Oh wow! How excited are you to be able to stay in Washington next winter? Christmas will be so much fun!

    Hooray for wood chips, fall leaves, and llama poo!

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  8. I can totally feel your excitement about the woodchip mulch -- and share it, albeit in lesser form. My landlord recently gave me a small pile for my pathways, and although it won't do the entire job, it'll get me more than halfway there. How exciting for you that you'll stay put and develop your garden longer term, and get to see the fall leaf paintings, to boot!

    Never heard of lama poo. It sounds a bit exotic, but I suppose it'll do the trick. ;)

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  9. Rachel, pretty excited, although I worry about leaving this place from Feb 28 until next January. I'll be using a battery controlled timer for the watering, and at best that will be iffy. But wood chips, fall leaves and llama poo rock!

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    Meredith, when our maple tree blew over in the big windstorm of 2008, I used all the wood chips on my garden paths. By this past fall, hardly any were left, they had all composted into the soil. Soon my pathways will be more fertile than my garden beds!

    Compared to the other barnyard animals, the nitrogen and potassium content of llama droppings is comparatively high--an indication of good fertilizer value. Phosphorus is relatively low--but it is low in most other livestock manure as well Calcium and magnesium content is about average. Overall, llama manure is a great organic fertilizer. http://www.hidog.info/LlamaManure.html

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  10. It sounds like good news all around! I'm guessing you'll be getting a LOT of wood chips...Maybe you can use some of it to grow wine cap mushrooms! I heard they are delicious and grow very easily in wood chips. Just something to think about! :)

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  11. That looks like a fun toy. Are you going to take it for a spin? Had to laugh at Annie! She so reminds me of the dog we used to have.

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  12. Thomas, I (mumble-mumble). I said, I (mumble-mumble). OK, I said I hate mushrooms. Sorry, but to me they are like chewing on rubber bands!

    Those wood chips do grow some interesting yellow fungus that looks like dog barf, though!

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    LOL, Dan...heck, no! I'll ride up in the basket while Bryan drives ;-) Actually, it only goes about 3 MPH, so I don't expect to ever see it at my house. The one John has access to tools down the highway real fast! It has been at my house on more than one occasion.

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  13. I definitely could use access to that lift. I have several trees I would dearly love to take out. Limited access to them, expense to remove, and my husbands bitter complaints that I want to "kill all our trees" - prevents me from doing so. (sigh - I think he is the Lorax because he speaks for the trees!).

    Annie is such a cutie pie! Our dogs used to roll in the piles of cow and horse poop and any dead carcass they came upon and then came inside coated of gunk and smelling to high heaven - but oh were they happy with themselves! :D

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  14. Kitsap, tree removal is sooooo expensive! It cost us over $2000 to have our wind damaged maple tree removed. We have three pine trees in our WA front yard that we'd love to remove, they are so messy. Unfortunately, if we removed ours it would expose the neighbor's trees which would have a dead side where they abut ours.

    Stinky dogs...our old golden Lab rolled in a dead fish once, I think that had to be the worst.

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  15. Oh, Granny - you gave me a good laugh on a day when I really needed it!! Thanks and congrats on the wonderful news. I'm totally jealous of your compost.. (That's one phrase I never thought I'd utter..)

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  16. Awww, Caffeinated Mom, I'm sorry you've had a hard week. Annie sends you one of her special smiles! Hey, it's better than sending you a llama poop ;-)

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  17. Just had to post again and tell you I love your new pic!

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  18. LOL, I only changed it to show The Idiot Gardener that I have a garden hat, too! And why I never wear it, because it makes me look like an idiot gardener. I actually had to change the pink sweet peas, on the brim, to sunflowers. Bumblebees kept landing in them! The photo is also a few years old, I have a lot more wrinkles now. Wisdom causes them, you know *wink-wink*.

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  19. Sounds great. I'd love to see you stay with the garden all year round.

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