for the love of dirt!

I started a compost pile. And I love it. I love that I can throw food out my screen door into the pile of decomposing food (this is especially enjoyable when throwing eggs that cracked when I accidentally flung them to the ground in their shopping bag). That my leaves went to good use this year. That I feel earthy and wholesome piling up my vegetable waste while I'm preparing for dinner. That I might possibly have nice soil for my hopefully organic garden this summer. That my garbage doesn't stink any more and is only half as full these days (the recylcing has probably had something to do with this, too).

I did, however, make one fatal mistake. I put this compost pile in one of the worst places in my yard. It's close to the house, yes, but it's in almost constant shade. That pile hasn't felt any sun in months! And because of this, I fear my compost won't be ready in time for spring planting. I also suspect that I need to turn my compost pile more than once in a while. And I don't really have any soil in my compost mixture, and I'm pretty sure that's one of the key ingredients.

Now that I think about it, there are probably dozens of things I haven't done to make my compost perf. And I have no idea what they might be. But luckily, the Central Utah Gardens have a class in a few weeks all about compost. It's free, I'm going, and I'm ridiculously, nerdily excited about it. I've had a vegetable garden the past 5 years, and it has been quite successful. But I haven't delved into organic gardening or composting or producing herbs that I actually cook with more than twice a year (if you need any sage, or rather cups upon cups upon cups of sage, head down to my old house. Two winters still haven't killed that stuff off yet). I'm hoping this year I can learn all sorts of useful things and end up with produce coming out my ears.

If you happen to still live somewhere near Utah county, you can sign up for this class (or others) here.