Well, we finally bit the bullet and decided to remove the vineyard in order to have a nice big garden, roughly 1200 square feet of space, minus the corner where the pecan tree is growing and the compost bins are to be kept. Yep, I'm now composting. I figured it was a nice thing to do with the grass clippings and the leaves, plus as the garden turns I'll be able to compost the spent plants rather than send them off in the green bin. I have done some research on composting and have learned that the proper compost pile needs about 50% "greens" (such as grass clippings) and 50% "browns" (such as dead leaves). Right now autumn is starting up and we still have grass clippings each week and I just asked my neighbor across the street if I can have his pile of leaves that are set out in front, waiting for disposal. If I collect his leaves and add to our grass clippings (our trees aren't dropping many leaves just yet) then I will have a nice large compost pile going in no-time flat. I already started it last week and it's doing well. The temperature inside the pile has reached 120 degrees. This week I'll add more grass and leaves, building the pile to 3' x 3' which should really get it revving. Once the piles are as big as I can make them then if I have any leftover leaves I'll stockpile them for the summer when the "browns" will be harder to come by.
In addition to the yard composting we are also composting kitchen scraps with worms. Yes, worms. It's apparently quite a successful way of getting rid of kitchen scraps, and the worm castings that are produced will make very nice fertilizer for the garden. The worms are living out in our shed in a nice worm home.
So, our first step for the new garden (after removing the remaining grape vines) is to plant a cover crop of fava beans. In the spring all of them will be tilled under which will help to make the soil nice and rich, just in time for spring planting. Then the real work will begin.
