One Alaskans greenhouse

[Alasgun]

Gotta new toy headed North!
I do Compost pretty well but in an effort to “upgrade” that portion of the operation; i bought a skookum Hammer-mill today!

A couple years ago i built a trammel to screen the finished Compost, removing what-ever didn’t completely break down that year. The trammel worked very well and the finished product was super; however i found that i was kicking back a good bit, Avocado seed / hulls, some of the garden root balls etc. this amounted to roughly 20% of that years production plus i had to screw with it again.

That should be a thing of the past now and the way this machine is configured i believe it will blow the finished product right into a little pull behind trailer i made for such a thing? We’ll see when it arrives.

The real reason i bought it was to conduct a little experiment.
With 24 rotary hammers this thing will do a far better job of “pulverizing” organic matter than a conventional chipper / shredder AND i believe it will also “pulverize” any remaining fungus knat eggs, larva or hapless adults that happen to be lurking in the Compost.
Yea it will do the same to any number of other little critters but that doesn’t matter to me. I wanna kill me some knats!!

 

[Alasgun]

More and bigger Raspberry’s than ever before, in the years we’ve been here. Very good looking “new canes” too, which is exciting for next year.
This spring they got a good dose of Compost tea And a big shot of fish hydro-slate; which i’ll repeat next spring as well.

The orange ones are a thornless variety and the taste sorta tropical? Im getting a bowl like this every 3 days right now.

 

[heirloomgal]

Gotta new toy headed North!
I do Compost pretty well but in an effort to “upgrade” that portion of the operation; i bought a skookum Hammer-mill today!

A couple years ago i built a trammel to screen the finished Compost, removing what-ever didn’t completely break down that year. The trammel worked very well and the finished product was super; however i found that i was kicking back a good bit, Avocado seed / hulls, some of the garden root balls etc. this amounted to roughly 20% of that years production plus i had to screw with it again.

That should be a thing of the past now and the way this machine is configured i believe it will blow the finished product right into a little pull behind trailer i made for such a thing? We’ll see when it arrives.

The real reason i bought it was to conduct a little experiment.
With 24 rotary hammers this thing will do a far better job of “pulverizing” organic matter than a conventional chipper / shredder AND i believe it will also “pulverize” any remaining fungus knat eggs, larva or hapless adults that happen to be lurking in the Compost.
Yea it will do the same to any number of other little critters but that doesn’t matter to me. I wanna kill me some knats!!

I bet you'll really enjoy the work this tool does @Alasgun. I have just an ordinary chipper shredder, but even that I can't imagine living without anymore after only 2 years. The pulverized material is organic gold - and I don't even compost it. If I need some mulch I can make it real quick and not have to buy any bags of it anymore, if I want to eliminate some woody/leafy garden or yard waste in a jiffy, all the tougher plants at the end of they year I buzz right through it. I'm even using it now to make pest deterrent by running cedar branches through it and using the 'sawdust' around the cabbages to good effect.

 

[Dahlia]

More and bigger Raspberry’s than ever before, in the years we’ve been here. Very good looking “new canes” too, which is exciting for next year.
This spring they got a good dose of Compost tea And a big shot of fish hydro-slate; which i’ll repeat next spring as well.

The orange ones are a thornless variety and the taste sorta tropical? Im getting a bowl like this every 3 days right now.

Yummy!!!! You should make raspberry mead! I've made wild blackberry mead a few times and it was just out of this world. Beware, though, it makes a very strong drink. One glass equals the effects of two glasses of good wine!!!

 

[Alasgun]

Thanks for the info, however neither of us are drinkers so these will find their way into the freezer and be dolled out a few at a time in our morning fruit cup. Before the season ends; id like to put up 4-5 gallons?
We’ll see!

 

[Dahlia]

Thanks for the info, however neither of us are drinkers so these will find their way into the freezer and be dolled out a few at a time in our morning fruit cup. Before the season ends; id like to put up 4-5 gallons?
We’ll see!

Raspberry jam on pancakes and crepes is always great too!

 

[Alasgun]

Two days later another bowl and two more days and another / bigger bowl!
I hope this continues for a couple more weeks!

 

[Dahlia]

Two days later another bowl and two more days and another / bigger bowl!
I hope this continues for a couple more weeks!

Those are so beautiful! I bet they taste like heaven!

 

[Alasgun]

Like many of you, things are slowing down up here. Perpetual rain and cooler temps prevail. I’m guessing we’ve still got a month or so but an early frost can change all that. Outside things look pretty good, one high point for the year is a new group of Comfrey; 6ea of the Boking 14 and 6ea of the Russian (common) Comfrey. This brings my Comfrey count to over 4 dozen.

In the greenhouse im very happy with the Cucumbers and Tomato’s. Once the first flush of Cukes finished i began foliar feeding everything in the greenhouse daily with liquid Kelp and Lacto Bacillus serum. I mix a fresh gallon or so each morning and apply it with a little electric sprayer drenching everything before the sun gets going. Ironically most days i could do this at 2:00pm because of all the cloudy days!
In the past i’ve foliar fed Lacto daily to indoor stuff and have started that again. I want to see if it makes a difference in how long i can keep the Cucumbers producing in my bathtub grow?
* a side note on the Lacto- every time i make a batch i dump the cheese down a drain to “feed” the septic system. I’ve been here since “93” and the system is in great condition. I could spend big money for the store bought stuff but prefer our own method. Once a month my wife dissolves a pint jar or bakers yeast in warm water and dumps it down the drain and i contribute by adding the Cheese from each batch of Lacto.


Currently there’s roughly 100 tomato’s hanging on 2 plants and the second flush of cukes is doing real well. There’s still 60 gal. Of oil in the tank so i’ll just keep everything going till it’s ridiculous to do so.

 

[Alasgun]

20 bundles of Chocolate mint cut and hanging to dry today. Would have got the Self Heal cut today too but those pesky Raspberries keep showing up!
Should get the remainder of the tea herbs in tomorrow.