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uck! snails.

Compost-someone recently said that it was scary. I have done a few piles and I can tell you of my experience.

Small farm - Huge heap, ignored for a year and made great compost. Mainly some old hay to start, then kitchen and garden items tossed on top. I just pulled off the weeds and easily dug it out for my garden.

In Town - A trash can. Mainly kitchen scraps. Stinky. I finally found out that it had too much kitchen scraps, not enough leaves and dirt.

Now - a small circle of fence with lots of dirt, some plant matter, some cardboard and paper strips. Now some kitchen scraps. Smells fine, only a few weeks old and not composting yet.

Snails - to kill them take a small can (cat food or tuna cans) dig a little hole so the lip is just about level. Add beer. Dump in the morning because warm beer and rotting snails smells terrible! They flock to it like college students.
Free beer appeals to all.

I would usually catch one big snail and lots of little ones.
Become the evil overlord of your garden and kill them all!

What do you do with compost if you don't have a yard to dump it in?

I like to eat snails. In butter with lots of herbs, garlic and shallots.

jooly- Living here in KC, there are several people that are composting with nothing to do with it. Either they don't want to garden or don't have the space.
They have been posting ads on Craigslist for people who need free compost, posting it to freecycle, things like that and from what I can tell, they have had a pretty big response from people who want to garden... but not compost!

Interesting. I never would have thought people would want compost. Shows how much I know.

I have an out of the blue question for everyone. For outdoor cushions, can they REALLY be left outside all the time (brought in during the winter months of course), or is it best to only bring them out when you are going to use them? I keep seeing them on sale and they often say they are mildew resistant, etc. I'm afraid I will ruin them if I leave them outside in the rain though. Any comments are much appreciated!

Outdoor fabric:

I plan to make cushions for a basement sofa from some outdoor fabric, and the instructions read "...made to withstand the rigors of outdoor life. However, to preserve its beauty it is recommendable to store it during the winter months."

I called the manufacturer re: washability, and customer service told me the fabric is washable, if that helps. It's Solarium outdoor fabric, which is Richloom's ver. of Sunbrella.

A few people in my family are sensitive to mold and mildew, I don't want to buy cushions if they are going to get moldy and make my family sick. :P With the filling/foam would they be ok to leave out?

Are you kidding- compost is like gold to gardeners!

For more city-ish composting, look into worm composting. They break down the food really quickly so it doesn't smell.

We made outdoor cushions for our concrete benches out of the water tight neoprene fabric.
We have really enjoyed it as it truly is all season ok. We hose it off with the power washer once a year, although if I wasn't so lazy I am sure a magic eraser would clean the winter grime right off.

And why in the Garden, if your french you maybe in the Kitchen. These are a charming delicasy in some parts of the world.
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