Stepping up the compost pile

We've been building a small compost pile in the back woods for some time now. It's been slow-going as I had only been adding the "greens" kitchen scraps mostly in the form of kitchen scraps. So it's been more like feeding the woodland creatures than it has been like building a compost pile. This summer we started taking it more seriously and I started adding the "browns" as well and the pile of scraps is finally starting to look like real compost.

One of my vacation projects was to build some real compost bins for our slow-cook compost piles. Of course I chose to enlist the help of Max to do some serious building. I dragged my circular saw out to the backyard and sliced up some old pallets I had collected for just this kind of project. Max brought his hammer and the nails, and we pounded together a nice double-wide compost bin with a removable front wall. The next day Lauren and I went to hardware store and picked up some some hook & eye latches to secure the front wall and she helped me screw them in place.

Here's a picture of Lauren modeling the finished product. As you can see we have transferred the existing pile into one bin and moved the garden-scraps container into the other. Next spring I'm going to sift out some serious compost for the garden. :-) I'll have to post a picture of the sliding compost sifter I built when the time comes to use it. Until then, the piles have a comfy place to cook!

Apple picking at home

Apple picking is a regular annual event for many New England families. We've taken our kids to Westford's town-owned orchard every year since we moved here. This year, however, we picked apples in our own yard for the first time. There are four young apple trees in our yard that had not been cared for and were not producing any worthwhile fruit. Well, last year I read up on how to properly prune the apple trees and I cut them back by about 30%, though they still need plenty more care. Well, this year we saw a huge difference in the fruit! Now that the branches have more room and more light, two of the trees started producing real apples. The kids and I went out this weekend with a stepladder and a basket and we harvested what I estimate to be about 50 apples! (We don't know what varieties we have, but all four appear to be red apples, and a friend says one of them looks like the "red delicious" variety.) It was good fun picking the apples, and even better that we harvested from our very own apples trees! Mom helped the kids make some applesauce that afternoon, and I'm sure there will be apple pie, apple crisp, and lots of other apple goodness coming from that harvest. This fall I'll work on recovering the trees a bit more and we'll start planning on what we'll do with next year's harvest!

First Day of School! First Day of School!

If only Max had been ready as early and Nemo. lol

Today, both Max and Lauren had their first day of school, Max, kindergarten, and Lauren, preschool. Lauren was really excited, and insisted on picking out her own clothes (though at least she did let me guide her a bit). Max was looking forward to it, but not in a get up early and get yourself dressed and go sit in the car waiting for Mom way. Max's was only a short day to get the kids used to the class, but Lauren's was the full half day. It was a bit crazy for me as I had to drop Max off, drop Lauren off, pick Max up, run an errand, then pick up Lauren. I was exhausted by 11:30. But, they both had nice days.

I tried to get pictures of both of them, but Max wasn't dressed until we were supposed to already be in the car, so none of him before, and when I tried to get some afterwards, he ran from the camera yelling "no pictures!" so I didnt' exactly get a stellar picture. Lauren was more cooperative, but I somehow lost the ones I took outside the school. The most unfortunate thing is that when Max and I picked Lauren up (something that will only happen very rarely if at all), he was so excited to see her and she, him and they ran to each other and gave each other a huge hug, and the camera was in the car. The whole group of parents and teachers awwwed at it. Oh well, I have it in my memory bank. :)

Tomorrow, Max starts his normal schedule. Hopefully I will have this down after a week or two.

Monkey

Lauren loves the story "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and also loves to jump on the bed. Go figure. I have gotten into the habit of just saying "Monkey, no jumping!" when she does it. Monkey is actually a pretty fitting nickname for her. She is still our climber. Last weekend, we took the kids to the Middlesex County 4H Fair. Max loves the big air bouncy things, so he dragged us over to them. We give the kids the choice of two activities that cost money, and that was the first thing he chose. Lauren wanted a pony ride, which she enjoyed, but when she saw the obstacle course, she wanted to do that, too (which was fine, activity number two). She is still pretty tiny, and I am not sure if I would have let her go in, but luckily for her, I was off watching an Owl show with Max (the next time you see him, ask him to do his owl calls. He loved that show.) and you know how daddies are. She more than held her own and loved it. A climbing wall and things to slide down... what's not to love!