Urban Homesteader

Dear Ms. U.H.,

Now that the holidays are over, my poinsettia is lackluster; lately it’s become downright limp and wilty. My wife suggested I throw it in the compost pile, but I thought I remembered reading that poinsettias are poisonous. To compost or not to compost?

Sincerely yours,

Poindexter Settya

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Dear Mr. Settya,

Ms. U.H. is sorry to hear about your poinsettia’s disappointing performance, but the wonderful thing about the internet is the way it connects us with a community of others who are sympathetic to our situations. Our own experience is that not everyone’s poinsettia remains perky, so thank you for writing with your well-timed question.

You will be happy to hear that poinsettias are not poisonous, so yours can be safely added to the compost heap. Some people are sensitive to the milky sap that comes from the poinsettia’s branches; it can occasionally cause an itchy rash. Wear your gardening gloves when you add the plant to the compost, and be careful not to rub your eyes after touching the plants. Here at the urban homestead, we composted our very own poinsettia plant just yesterday, and it immediately transformed the compost heap into a festive and colorful montage:

Sincerely,

Ms. U.H.  

We’ve always had tons of yellowjackets here. They are aggressive and pesky, and often get inside the house. Last year I tried some ugly yellow plastic traps that use chemical attractant and caught, perhaps, two dozen yellowjackets. This year, I’ve purchased some vintage-style, reusable glass traps that can be baited with sweetened fruit juice. I read that springtime is the best time to set out traps, because the early season yellowjackets are often queens.

As you can see from the photo on the right, about an hour after I hung the traps we had a visitor. But it was a fly, not a yellowjacket, and it managed to get itself out of the trap and fly off a little while after I took the photo.

Strangely, I was happy.

Update: The glass traps may be prettier than the plastic ones, but they caught nary a single yellowjacket during the 2007 summer season. Meanwhile, the tacky yellow plastic trap with commercial attractant caught about a hundred yellowjackets in three months. We clearly need to find a better bait for the glass traps; watch for an update in spring of 2008.

After a spectacular show of golden foliage, the locust tree out front is quickly losing all of its leaves. The leaves are small - not easy to rake up, but excellent for composting. The basic ‘recipe’ for compost is slightly more than half brown stuff, and slightly less than half green stuff. Brown things like leaves and pine needles have high amounts of the element carbon. Green things include grass clippings and other plant wastes that have high amounts of nitrogen. You can also add some dirt to speed up the process. The other important ingredient is water, which helps break down the clippings. You also need to make sure that air can circulate around the pile so the mixture doesn’t rot or get moldy. Autumn is the perfect time to create a big compost pile; you can fuss with it all winter and let it age for the recommended 4 to 6 months, at which time you’ll have a wonderful batch of rich compost for spring planting.  

Thanks to all of you for your patience during these last few weeks. In early August my father became very ill, and he passed away on August 27. 

Those who have experienced grief know that it does ease with the passage of time,  and eventually it feels good to let the pain take a rest and get back to the old familiar rhythms. This autumn has been especially beautiful in Colorado, and while I don’t fully understand the mysteries of death I often feel my father’s spirit when I’m out in the yard.  In the front garden I see that without much TLC from me, the currant bush has been thriving in its new location and appears to be well established for the cooler months to come. The circle of life continues, the changing seasons a reassuring constant during life’s inevitable trials.

I have been trying to dig a hole in the front yard to plant a currant bush. After two attempts, I am only halfway there. The hole is full of roots, and the clay soil is so hard I can barely get the spade in, even after filling it with water. The hole needs to be at least twice as large as the container so I can amend as much of the soil as possible with compost.

To to it off, I unearthed a nice grouping of tulip bulbs when I started digging. So they will all need a new home as well. 

Sometimes when I am writing against a tight deadline and the words just won’t come, I grumble and say it’s “like shoveling rocks.” It feels just like digging this hole - slow and seemingly futile. The only way to work through is just to keep on writing, or keep on digging. Hack, hack, chisel, chisel…..