.........tell - tale signs of improvements

Here's a 4ft x 4ft box of scape wood from various projects going on around the farm. Each piece used to be a 8 ft long piece....or longer. Now that box shows a long year of work. My hands is another great indicator of the amount of labor that has been going on for the past year......blisters, calluses.....and cracking skin. There is a cure for the hand issues...I heard about.....

The wood in this box would normally be sent off to the waste bin....for a trip to the local landfill. We here at the farm use it for kindling wood .....to start our wood burning heater in the house. I use it also to throw at the chickens when they sneak onto my green luscious lawn......for their unauthorized afternoon of fine dining .....and that is a big no no.

The ash of the wood is used also.  Where soils are acid and low in potassium, wood ash is beneficial to most garden plants except acid-loving plants such as blueberries, rhododendrons and azaleas. Use wood ash on flower beds, lawns and shrubs. In compost piles, wood ash can be used to help maintain a neutral condition, the best environment to help microorganisms break down organic materials. Sprinkle ash on each layer of compost as the pile is built up. Ash also adds nutrients to compost.

Ash will also keep those lovely slugs and their cousins..... the snails.... the hell out of the garden.  Slimy over ash is like slimy over broken glass to them. Also..... handful rubbed on Fido's coat neutralizes the lingering odor of that skunk he was trying to play with.

 Oh.......there is a cure for the hand issues...it's called vacation :-)