The Great Rewards of Simple Planning: Composting

The first area I am going to address is the garden, since right now is the time to be making those preparations even if, like me, you have a couple of feet of snow on the ground. Today it is going to be about making compost.

Composting is the number one way to improve your soil. You can save a lot a money and have a healthy soil by harnessing this natural process. It may takes several months to make but the steps are very easy and can become a part of your daily routine, like taking out the garbage.

1. Set apart an out-of-the-way spot in your yard to be your compost corner. Now you don't want it to be to far from your back door though as you will need to access it every day or two. Your composting can be done in as a heap or you can build an enclosure for it out of pallets or chicken wire (for a cylinder). For simple instructions for several different home built models click here and for more complex here.

2. Begin keeping a compost bucket in your kitchen. The humble ice cream bucket works great and can be stored under the counter near where you normally chop up vegetables. Take it out as it gets to full. I have really been surprised how fast ours fills up. The number of things that can go into it are by no means limited to vegetable scraps. Be sure to also put your coffee grounds (w/filter), tea bags, moldy bread, stale crackers and chips, egg shells, freezer burnt vegetables, and several other non-meat and non-dairy products that have seen their better days.

3. Turn it, water it , leave it. Once it gets around 3 to 5 cubic feet start adding your new additions to a new pile. If it is really cold you just leave it. When it starts feeling like Spring you need to check it about every week or so to make sure it is moist and turn it. It should be ready in 2-4 months. If your in no hurry and can wait a year just put some dirt on top and leave it to do its job.

4. Get it ready for the soil. Compost is mature when it is dark brown. It should be crumbly with very few large particles and have an earthy smell. It will also be about 1/3 its original size. To test it place a small amount into a sealed bag and let it sit for 4 days. If it smells like ammonia or smells rotten it isn't ready. When it is ready sift it through a frame fitted with some hardware wire to remove anything to big. Now it is ready to use. You can either store it in some buckets or apply it straight to the garden as a manure or mulch.

The Great Rewards of Simple Planning Series: Introduction

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

Proverbs 30:24,25

We all have something in our mind that we want to become or accomplish yet it just seems so far out of our reach that we just lay it to rest and plunge through another day. But often they are just at our fingertips, we simply need to do a little planning ahead. So I want to share with you in a blog series some simple preparations that have helped me realize great rewards . I am not sure how long this series will be, but I plan to post on it at least once a week. It will include my gleanings about:

• Composting
• Garden Planning for Limited Space
• Seed Propagation
• Vegetable Ferments
• Sourdough
• Soaking Grains
• And More
  

I hope you can learn a little from my ramblings.

The Heart of Thanksgiving

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Proverbs 16:19

Many of us are busy in preparations for Thanksgiving, some to travel, others for the meal. I am happy to report that pies, potatoes, and cranberry sauce are all ready awaiting that feast at our house. Yet, even if the turkey is ready to cook, the pies made, or the car packed; are you ready to give thanks? In the midst of our making ready let us never forget that one thing needful, preparing our hearts for the true purpose of the day.

Thankfulness begins with a humble heart. True gratefulness of heart is never half-hearted, no, it is rather born of a deep sense of unworthiness and lowliness of mind. Who are some of the most grateful people you can think of? Would you ever in the same breath call them proud, arrogant or haughty? Never, because we can only be thankful when we realize that what we deserve we do not get, and what we don't deserve we receive. Those who believe they have earned what they have, or have some right to what they don't have, will never be thankful. Complaining comes from a wrong view of ourselves and of God.

Ah, did we but rightly understand what the demerit of sin is, we would rather admire the bounty of God than complain of the straithandedness of Providence. And if we did but consider that there lies upon God no obligation of justice or gratitude to reward any of our duties, it would cure our murmurs (Gen. 32:10).

-John Flavel

When we have a right view then we will say with the Psalmist:

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:10-12

The best way to prepare our hearts for thanksgiving is to soberly consider our own unworthiness and the great goodness our God has bestowed upon us. The blessing of mercy and grace that receive through our Lord Jesus is equal to the greatness of the punishment we deserve. Now what we receive is upon His merit, our praise can never be enough for such a gift. For most of us our earthly blessings also far surpass what we deserve. Do you have health, food, and clothing on your back? Then you are blessed far more than many in this world, all the rest we have is extraneous blessing. As we come to this holiday may it not just be one day of thanksgiving to God for us; may it renew in us a heart of continual gratitude, for this is the will of God.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I Thessalonians 5:18

May the Lord bless you with a thankful heart!

Free Sheet Music!

I just had to pass on this link to a beautiful piano arrangement of 'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus by LaShannon Hyder. It is a 4-page PDF file completely free.

'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus by LaShannon Hyder

~Enjoy

New Semi-Complementarians or Old Feminists?

Here is an article my Mom wrote for LAF that you may find interesting regarding Mrs. Palin and her supporters.

New Semi-Complementarians or Old Feminists?

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