Compost pile update for first part of August

The compost pile is growing bigger with each passing day. I can't belive how much we were throwing away before building our compost pile!

This picture shows the alfalfa hay we threw on the top. To date we have thrown in everything from newspapers, junk mail (not the shiny paper or envolopes), egg cartons, veggies, egg shells, grass, mesquite leaves...you name it and I bet I have some of it in my compost pile, lol.

We give the pile a good soak with the hose about 2-3 times a day now that it's been 105+ all the time. I turn the pile about once a week when I remember to, lol! It's so cool to see how everything is turning into a rich soil. The best part is that there is absolutley zero bad smell! This gardening thing is pretty great :)

- A side note on the alfalfa hay and straw; eventhough I had mentioned how horrible the alfalfa tea smell was, I must report the not long after I had poured someon my myers lemon did nearly 10 brand new flowers grew and opend up for the bee's!...coincidence? You deciede :) but I think I'll try it again, maybe lol.

Fast update before I foliar spray

Waiting fo it to get a little cooler outside befoe using the hose end sprayer to foliar feed the yard. I thought that since I had a few extra minutes I'd share my alfalfa hay tea experience with you...let me tell you that this tea has to be the wost smelling thing I've used since I started going oganic! At first the smell  seems nice, sot of like when your at a petting zoo. Then all of  a sudden you'll get a horrible wiff of something almost undescribable...it's the alfalfa hay fom the alfalfa tea mixture!

Let me also tell you that the receipe calls for stuffing asmuch alfalfa hay into a 5 gallon bucket, filling it with water and waiting fou days until you pour the mixture on your plants, (you can strain the water if you already have mulch around yourplants, or let the hay fall as mulch.). So what went wrong with my batch of alfalfa tea??? It could be that insteadof sitting for four days  in the 110+ heat, our tea sat for almost 9 days. Could that be why the odor is so strong? I have no idea at this point since it'smy first time making the alfalfa tea. I'll try another time and only let it brew for the called for  four days and find out if the same horrible smell occurs.

I suppose if you had grown up on or around a farm the smell would be bearable, and I'm sure I will get used to it like I have with the fish emulsion, but this alfalfa hay tea is really tough to take :)

Working on getting somemore photos up soon! Now it's time to go foliar feed the plants and trees. See ya!

Back from out of town

A bit of a delay in posting to the garden blog I know. We have been out of town recenlty which hasn't allowed me to post some of the images of what we wereup to before leaving. We are getting ready to pour some alfalfa tea on our plants and trees tomorrow. I have a few images of how to make the alfalfa tea which is supposed to be a great fertilizer!

We had what looks to be a lot of rain while we were gone. This is a great thing, however it hasd made the alfalfa hay and straw smell a bit ripe if oyu know what I mean, lol. It's almost time to put the alfalfa hay into the raised garden beds! I have a lot to add just as soon as we get caught up from our travels :)