EComposting

Gardening 2010

2010-03-29T21:20:00.014-04:00

I've been on a hiatus from blogging lately. Actually, I wrote this blog several months ago and never got around to posting it. With work, moving, and my presidential duties at the Hoosier Chapter SWCS it's been busy around here. Now with spring starting up (actually summer now), it's time to have that garden Steph and I have always wanted. We have a master plan, thanks to Steph's uncanny ability to use Microsoft Excel as a layout map. Each cell is equal to one square foot, so that the layout is to known scale. We're really ambitious for our first year with the plan to plant 16 different types of vegetables. If you're interested in checking it out, go to our Google Spreadsheet by clicking here. With our master plan we visited Cox's Plant Farm outside of Clayton to purchase all the seeds. The only seed they didn't have was Sweet Potatoes. We had planned to grow both Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes, but we'll just try regular Potatoes this year.

So with the master plan and all the vegetable seeds, it was time to prepare the ground. Being an advocate of no-till farming, it was hard 'tilling' up the garden. The best part about the location of our garden is it is located about 50 feet from the creek with a grass buffer in-between. You will notice in the picture below, the garden is located in at the back corner of our back yard. We purchase prefabricated fence panels and posts at Menard's (half-priced). It was required to have the garden fenced, since my dogs would love running around in all that loose soil.

Garden Layout

Compost Bin
(full of yummy veggie goodness)

First Plantings - Lettuce and Spinach

Lettuce and Spinach Coming Up

Seedling Plantings Setup

Growing Seedlings

Of course the summer is among us now and the garden is past full bloom. In the coming weeks I will continue the saga of the Wagner garden.

Taco Bell Turning Green

2009-07-26T22:20:00.002-04:00

If you like The Onion news, care about the environment, and eat taco bell you've gotta check this out. It's great!

Taco Bell's New Green Menu Takes No Ingredients From Nature

Worm Composting

2009-07-07T21:39:00.006-04:00

I came across a wonderful way to compost your unused veggie scraps and other organic wastes. Use worms! Yeah, that's right those slimy little annelids, aka earthworms. I'm planning on making a worm composting bin soon just like the following video. They sale bins for worm composting, but they aren't cheap. I've tried to grow worms back when I was a Purdue, but failed because they all drowned. I'll update you soon on how the worms are doing.

Miscellaneous Post

2009-05-20T19:30:00.007-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while, so why not start out with a little fun.

Below is a picture I found on IndyStar.com. This guy caught an 8 pound, 10 ounces Largemouth bass in Morse Lake on May 11th. It could possibly the largest bass caught in Hamilton County. Doesn't this make you want to go fishing...

Came across this website while watching the weird news videos on MSNBC.com. It is awkwardfamilyphotos.com. There are several hilarious photos on this site. By far the funniest is the picture I attached below. What were they thinking when taking this family photo?

Guess that Photo - Answer

2009-04-07T17:33:00.002-04:00

Thanks for everyone who guessed! The winner is, Amy. She must really know her deer turds. While taking nature photos a few weeks ago, I stumbled onto this pile. Steph enjoyed this photo, because some day she's going to open up a poop museum (don't ask).

Guess that Photo

2009-02-25T20:51:00.004-05:00

I want to start a little photo game. It's called "Guess that Photo". To start it off I've included the following photo. Good Luck!

Brownie's by Sara

2009-02-25T20:24:00.003-05:00

For Steph's birthday, Sara made some premixed brownies. I hated seeing them just sitting on the counter, so the past week I made them. They were unbelievable! And the best thing is they were home made, so they didn't have all those mystery ingredients. Now only if she would share the recipe on her blog (hint, hint)...

Yum, yum!

Nature Hike

2009-02-16T20:18:00.004-05:00

For Presidents Day I took the dogs for a walk at Strawtown Koteewi Park, east of Cicero. The park was closed due to the recent flooding, but I slipped around the barricade. Enjoy!

Thorn Tree

Ash Tree Identification

Warm Season Grass Prairie

Wood Pecker Nest (can you see the face?)

Conservation Day

2009-01-27T17:10:00.004-05:00

I attended the 5th annual Conservation Day at the Indiana State House today. It was an eye opening experience into Indiana politics. I attended as a member of the Hoosier Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, for which I'm currently president-elect. I've really never been political guy, and don't plan on it. The Nature Conservancy hosted Conservation Day with the agenda to ask lawmakers to continue funding the Indiana Heritage Trust, increase funding for Clean Water Indiana, and passage of the Renewable Electricity Standard.

Indiana Heritage Trust buys land to protect Indiana's natural heritage for wildlife habitat and recreation. 100% of Indiana's environmental license plates help fund this cause. Some of the land that has been purchased by the IHT is wetlands that I've personally worked on. If you don't mind spending a little more money on your license plate, make it a environmental plate. You'll help provide a habitat for wildlife and have a place for you and your future grandchildren to enjoy.

Clean Water Indiana helps fund all 92 conservation districts in the state of Indiana. They offer local assistance to all your natural resource assistance and education. Contact your local office for more information.

Passage of the Renewable Electricity Standard - Greener Jobs Development Act. This law will require electrical utilities to have 20% of their energy from a renewable source by 2020 and expand net metering. This standard may be modified depending on what the Obama administration does towards renewable energy.

FOR SALE!!

2009-01-20T21:42:00.005-05:00

So we've finally done it. Our house is on the market. It's not the best time to sale a house, but we live in a great neighborhood. If you know of anyone looking for a great home, close to the many attractions, have them check out our house blog or email us at 1010morselanding@gmail.com.

Photo Weekend

2008-12-14T18:46:00.005-05:00

Steph wanted a quick photo week, so why not make it a photo weekend. Great idea! Here's my go at it.

Spirit and Sparkle

Classic Red and Green

Guerrilla Gardening

2008-12-08T20:31:00.007-05:00

Have you ever wanted to conquer abandoned, neglected public spaces. Well there is a way. I came across this great activity being used all over the world. What you do is find a piece of green space (abandoned lot, road side ditch, any place that could use some sprucing up). Once you have your target acquired, it's time to act.

Round up the troops. Get a group of friends, family, the guy next door to help. You can also get strangers by listing your dig on the guerrilla gardening forum. I'm starting to rallying some troops for this spring. So you have your help.

Now you go to your local green house and pick up some beautiful perennials or annuals. Perennials are better because they'll come back the next year. The clearance rack is a good place to hit. Those plants are like the cute puppies at the shelter. They need a home too...

Alright, so you have your spot acquired, the troops, and your plants. This business should occur in the dark. You don't want the police stopping your dig do you. So you meet everyone at your "spot" and do some planting.

There you have it, you've made the world a little more of a beautiful place.

Here's the link to where it all started.
http://www.guerrillagardening.org

I've also included this video from the father of guerrilla gardening. It's a long video, but it gives you a insight into this form of gardening. Enjoy!

Photo Week - Community

2008-11-13T21:49:00.004-05:00

What is a better community than Lebanon...

Photo Week - Gratitude

2008-11-13T07:17:00.004-05:00

I owe Gratitude to all the people that nominated me for this years Civil Riths Achievement Award at my work. I told everyone that I was just doing my job.

Photo Week - Exploration

2008-11-11T19:32:00.003-05:00

To celebrate Veteran's Day we visited the Indiana State Museum. Steph wanted to see the Chocolate exhibit and I wanted to see the IMAX Grand Canyon Adventure 3D: River at Risk. Both were pretty cool. So a day of exploring in downtown resulted in a great time. Ask Steph...

Photo Week - Peaceful Thoughts

2008-11-10T20:44:00.005-05:00

I'm finally back for photo week. I've missed several weeks, due to vacation and being over worked. Sara's really bringing it this week. She has chosen the theme "Peaceful Thoughts". What's tough, is getting a thought into a photo. Without further delay, Monday is Acceptance.

What are Coach's thoughts... "That girl (Lexi) needs to learn how to go on walks, she's totally slowing my roll" All I can say is it wasn't a very good day at the park today, but Coach has been very accepting of his new sister.

Photo Week - Smell

2008-10-09T20:50:00.003-04:00

What is a smell that brings back great memories? Memories of the beach, maybe a hot summer day. Something you shouldn't leave home without, unless you're Steph. This smell is so recognizable, it can't be confused with any other smell (unless of course it is oder free). It's Sunscreen!

Photo Week - Sound

2008-10-09T20:42:00.004-04:00

I'm a little late on this post. I picked a sound that I hear every morning and evening. Yep, it's the door hinge to my garage. It's a sound the dogs have associated with happiness because it means that Steph or myself have arrived home.

Photo Week - Taste

2008-10-07T20:18:00.006-04:00

So I have to admit, I didn't really have a lot of time today to take pictures. So for taste, I'm going to share something I love to enjoy in the evening. Frozen Yogurt!

Photo Week - Sence of Sight

2008-10-06T20:21:00.007-04:00

It's finally here, Photo Week!! Thanks to Jen for this weeks inspirations. The theme this week is Senses. To start it off, one of the senses that I think would be worst to be without. It is the sense of Sight. The world in darkness would be a horrific thing...

Kitter Bug

Sampy. I used my hand to cover the flash, and it put off this crazy red hue.

Lexi. The flash was defused through a white plastic 35-mm film case. You'll have to ask Steph about how to build one. She's awesome!

Coach. The flash for this picture was also defused as mentioned above. Side note about this picture, Coach is being persuaded with a treat.

My wonderful wife. She has beautiful blue eyes.

Myself.

Photo Week - Action

2008-09-18T00:48:00.006-04:00

So once again, I've covered Spokane. Here are a couple of pictures from the 'action' I had today in Riverfront Park, between training classes.

Neato fountain in the park.

Morning sunrise through a water sprinkler.

Looff Carousel going about a million miles an hours. Check it out, this carousel has 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, and 2 Chinese dragon chairs. Who would have thought?

So this technically isn't a picture (hundreds a pictures?), but it's some sweet falls in downtown Spokane. The locals tell me this falls is a trickle right now. Hard to imagine it flowing full.

Photo Week - Portrait

2008-09-17T00:50:00.009-04:00

All of my portraits didn't move very much, so it made it easy to capture. Most of them came from this antique place just up the road from my hotel in Spokane.

Gonzaga is just down the road. Go Bulldogs!!

Enjoyed this earthly creature.

"He's looking at you, kid!"

So there's an Elk on the roof of the antique place, with this awesome eagle.

This guy was along the Spokane River. Don't know the story behind him, other than it's going to take him a long time, moving one block at a time.

Photo Week - Macro

2008-09-15T23:14:00.006-04:00

The macro pictures this week were pretty easy. I visited the Manito Gardens, just south of downtown Spokane, Washington. The weather was unbelievable. There were thousands of flowers in the park, but I concentrated on the Dahlias, since it was the flower of my wedding. And my three year anniversary is this Wednesday, the 17th. Enjoy.

Close to the color and style of the flower used in my wedding.

This plant was nearly 4 feet tall.

The blooms were everywhere. What a beautiful plant!

A different style of dahlia. It is equally as beautiful.

One of the largest dahlias I've ever seen.

Notice the color change towards the center of the flower. This one is also humongous!

Photo Week - Landscape

2008-09-14T22:51:00.009-04:00

Color Week is here again! This time my wife Stephanie is in charge of moderating. She has chosen Auto-inspiration as the subject. I'm actually in Spokane, Washington this week for some engineer training. So all of my posts will be chosen from the beautiful state of Washington. Without further ado...

This is from Palouse Falls State Park. It was formed only 15,000 years ago by the great Missoula floods. Can you imagine a 1,000 feet tall body of water cutting this vast canyon? This is what Geologist's have concluded.

This is also at the Palouse Falls State Park. The waterfall is nearly 200 feet high.

This sign cracked me up. Note the "CAN". I would have to say that "Falling WILL be deadly"

This is from Steptoe Butte State Park. At 3,613 feet, this is one big hill. The mountains you see in the background are the Blue Mountains. All the hills have wheat stuble or are fallow.

Color Week - Friday (Blue)

2008-08-29T20:32:00.001-04:00

It's the last day of color week (tear). I would like to thank Amy and Steph for initiating this wonderfully creative week. It was unbelievable how many new objects that I noticed in my life that I ignored. This week was a challenge, but the since of achievement is great!

Water is good, thanks Cicero Municipal Utilities

The name of the golf course is Bear Slide. Kind of makes you
wonder if there is actually bears on slides around Cicero?

This dove was just hanging out on the fence. It didn't
even fly away then Coach decided to scare it off.

This is hole 4 at bear slide. It only has a little
blue, but I loved the reflection on the pond.

Color Week - Thursday (Green)

2008-08-28T22:02:00.001-04:00

Color Week - Wednesday (Yellow)

2008-08-27T17:49:00.000-04:00

Color Week - Tuesday (Orange)

2008-08-26T18:00:00.001-04:00

Color Week - Monday (Red)

2008-08-25T20:41:00.000-04:00