Compost Overhaul

I ended up trimming the creeping fig growing on the back North wall.  Of course I ran it all through the chipper which then meant I had to do some compost work.  Ended up processing ALL the compost in the 3 bins through the chipper, I then carefully remixed it all back into a single bin.  If I did a good job, this stuff should get HOT and FAST.

Stockpiled kitchen compostables

Here's a timelapse of the wall trip, I do it by hand because it let's me selectively thin the vines and results in a more naturally look than you would get with a hedge trimmer.

Compost Maintenance

I've also got (2) 35 gal. trashcans full to use!

My compost has been majorly neglected for the past month or more, mostly due to my back being sore and my workload being overwhelming.  I really, really need some compost though so decided Today to suck it up and put a little work into my compost investment.
Two main tasks to accomplish:

1. Add "greens" (in Today's case this was lawn clippings) to the intermediate pile and flip (aerate)
2. Remove and screen the 95% complete compost from the Compost Tumbler and prepare it for the intermediate pile once it's cooked a bit more

I used the opportunity to make a time-lapse video which I haven't done in a long time.

A Bird In The..

.. Southwest corner of my yard, about 10' up in a tree may see my yard like this:

Processed half of another bed, only did half because the other half is planted and doing well.  Shredded 3 bags of leaves from my parent's house and worked into the two long beds (to feed the worms). Laid out the new trim path for the gravel-grass separating rock border.  Ripped up about 60 sq. ft. of sod for new a new West-East bed.  Vinessa stopped by for a visit and checked out the projects.  Uhmm... that's about it.  Long day, I'm sore.

Starting More Seeds

heat mats are between the cardboard and the trays

My third post of the day.  Seems excessive until I think that the first was around 1am this morning (because I was up working that late), then the second was middle of the day and just a photo and finally this one almost 24 hours after the first.  The pattern seems to be programming for a long period, taking a break for farm stuff, then back to work (repeat).

Anyway, I decided I should start another round of seeds, especially considering how many salads I'm eating these days and I don't want to run out of greens!  Yet another opportunity to use my time lapse skills...  New heat mats also being put to use on this batch.  I've got another Johnny's order on a UPS truck to arrive here Tuesday - that order is mostly warm-weather stuff but there are some things that I'm eager to get in the ground now (carrots!)

Update: heat pads weren't effective so I removed cell trays from drip trays and that helped.  Taking it further I put a towel over both trays.  Temperature hovering around 80F

Full day of work

All done and ready for planting

Another full day of work, started early and had the second large bed complete by 2:45pm.  After a cold bud I moved on to running some more material through the shredder and finally wrapped up with a little compost work.  Of course I had the camera out and was taking time lapse of everything, videos included below.

It hit 86 degrees Today and I'm sunburned - only in southern California.  Too bad the people and politics suck so bad...

Seedlings doing well, first true leaves starting to pop out which means it's almost time for fertilizer.  I'm also realizing that I will need to transplant these guys up to something a little larger if I'm going to keep them indoors for another 4-5 weeks.  I should also start another round of sowing in preparation of succession plantings.

I need a garden plan quick.

Another time lapse - I CAN'T figure out why the camera is moving, it was securely mounted

Gorillapod clenching (very!) rigid piece of maple (tightly!) clamped to wall cap -
this camera was NOT moving, so WHY are my pictures moving?

HOLY CRAP, this is a lot of work

Once again... seriously under estimated the amount of work to complete a job.  I've been moaning on about the need to correct the bed soil, to remove the clods and mesh, blah blah blah.  Today was my day, I woke up early, coffee to the brain and got to work.  Oh, and of course I setup my camera for some time lapse goodness.

Including minor distractions by Kevin stopping by to get tools and BS and my super awesome Mom coming over to help cleanup the farm - I spent EIGHT HOURS on a single row.  If I was an employee I would be fired I think.  Actually no, I worked my butt off, it's just a lot more work than I thought.

BEFORE - Chunks of sod held together by plastic mesh

I was encouraged to see so many worms in the soil and I'm sure the decomposing sod attracted them.  I did my best to kill as few as possible but it's tough, and good worms did die Today.  It was so rewarding to see the result of all that work; this beautiful, fluffy dark soil teeming with fat worms.  While I was at it I dumped 5 bags of amendment and sprinkled a bit of green sand.

AFTER - fluffy, rich soil packed with worms!
(photo doesn't do it justice...)

My Mom came over because she wanted to help out, she's worried that I'm working too hard and maybe she thinks I've bit off more than I can (or care to) chew.  Maybe she's right?  Either way, she showed up, jumped into action and cleaned up the leaves, plucked grass seedlings from my already-growing beds, moved a half bale of hay, helped me move my 3 large clay pots packed with wet soil and blueberry bushes, picked some weeds from planters, trimmed my geraniums by my back door and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.  She enjoyed it and I always enjoy having her around, she's cool, we BS and drink together.  I'm fortunate, thanks Mom!

Note to Steve: MS movie maker appears to have a 2GB size limit on clips - your (brilliant!) solution was to render out sections to keep the file size down.  Also, no, you can't change clip duration, need to change options then re-add to timeline.  Movie maker is lame.

New Camera for Shooting Time Lapse

I've wanted a camera that would allow me to take shots at a set interval to later combine into a time lapse video. After research and a whole bunch of hassles I got my hands on a new Samsung TL350.  This is a great little point and shoot with full HD, F2.4, 24mm wide angle, interval shooting as well as several other features that set it apart.

My first time lapse test was supposed to be a 10 hour duration of my seedlings that have just emerged.  The battery pooped out after 499 shots which works out to ~8 hours.  It's quite boring, I expected to see them growing a bit more and in fact it's made me think about giving some additional attention or nutrients to the seedlings!

Some notes about the tools and settings used, for my own reference more than anything:

• Shots taken and 1080p resolution
• PhotoLapse used to combine @ 15fps saving with H.264 compression - file size: 8,941Kb
• Strange motion is inexplicable, I don't think the tripod moved because it later reverts back to the original orientation.  It's almost like the camera is making some strange adjustment
• Shooting at a wider interval than 1 minute would be a good idea and increase battery life.  For example, I could have shot at a 6 minute interval and maybe achieved 150-180% increase in battery life.  Combined at 5FPS the video would play at the same speed although be a bit more rough