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August 02, 2005
He is his partner's keeper
BP has declared that he's hiding my composting tools so that I can't turn the pile today. Composting is one of my chief religious rites, and it's pretty much my sole contribution to the garden. At any given time we have three compost piles: this year's, last year's, and the one from two years ago that provides fertilizer for the garden. Everything organic that can't get away from me, that isn't diseased, and that isn't ridden with weed seeds goes into the pile: leaves in the fall, grass in the summer, spent garden plants at harvest, kitchen waste year round. The current pile is usually about 6x12' and 3' deep. I use serious farm hand tools for turning it: a four-pronged pitchfork and a long-tined cultivator. By May the pile is steaming, and by July the heat from it is overpowering. I'll work out there as much as 45 minutes a day, digging and turning. In this weather, the temperature when you're turning the pile is probably 100° or more.
That little exercise is in addition to daily cycling. The bike rides are anywhere from 5-20 miles long.
And sometimes I just wear myself down to a nub and have to take a day of sitting on my butt—today being a case in point. Tomorrow I'll turn the pile and ride 15 miles, but today I'm a desk jockey. BP, hearing that resolution, has vowed to hide the composting tools, and I'll probably find that my bikes (yes, plural) have disappeared from the garage, as well. Nothing like a partner who helps you keep your resolutions.
Posted by senioritis at August 2, 2005 10:02 AM