Discussion Board

I got my rotting wood moved into the corner close to where I'm dumping sticks, leaves, etc. I used pallets to make a little rectangle area for future composting. The composting wood is amazing. I imagine that there will be tons of compost in a few years. The past three days have been steaming hot, so Im expecting the rolling composter to have really baked. I need to add some more carbon I think. I will get my son to put the mulching leaves and sticks into a wheel barrow and then spread the compost mulch on top of the garden. I hope this will keep the weeds down and moisture in.

I also got heat exhaustion when finally putting in the vegies, two days ago. I am feeling almost normal today. I am resting as much as possible. I'm getting up at the crack of dawn to water everything and stay cool.

Wow, me too,....I've been moving wheelbarrow loads of tree mulch and twice I've experienced fever and chills...I've really been watching the no added salt and wondered if I should add more salt? I posted a question about it in the Health section but so far no reply.

we had a heck of a warm up too. It sure has shocked some of my plants.

I haven't gotten on the health board, but I normally get craving salt this time of year. I do not hold back. I am being watched for a low sodium and high potassium any way so mine is normally low.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor and what I say should not be taken as medical advice.

However, it is our (my DH and I) understanding that when you get dehydrated in the sun, you are losing electrolytes, the major one of which is sodium. The sodium balance in the body is pretty specific and its declining levels with dehydration due to heavy sweating may be a problem. This is one reason why electrolyte replacement drinks are so popular. Unfortunately, they cram a lot of sugar in them, too.

On someone's medical website, years ago, I saw a recipes for a Gatorade substitute using diluted orange juice. It also called for a little salt. I can't find it now but saw this recipe while I was looking for it today.

We originally researched this back when my hubby was doing LONG bike rides (over 50 miles and eventually 150 mile race) and then ultramarathon running (over 30 miles). Pure water does not cut it for rehydration and keeping the body going in such extreme exercise. The body needs some sugars and salt in an easily digestible form (because it is still working), hence the sport drinks and sport gels for athletes.

Now, for gardening, obviously we are not working that hard. However, it is hard work and I sweat a lot, so I do not make an extra effort to restrict my salt. I naturally do not salt my food heavily but I don't buy sodium-free canned tomatoes or beans, and I do use table salt on my food.

I do not have really high blood pressure to worry about, though. If that is a worry for you, then changing your salt intake based on what I say (as a non-doctor) may be ill-advised. Especially since my blood pressure was slightly higher than it should have been at my last doctor's appointment AND I got overheated myself in early April. So what do I know?!

Thanks, Chile,....I posted again in the Health forum.

Its funny that I read about increasing salt and noticed that last week I was putting salt on my food. I hadn't done that for a while. I was enjoying the subtle flavors in the great foods.

Maybe there is something to salt when its very hot. I will read some of McDougalls books but I'd like his word on how beneficial it is to use some salt during hot weather.

Thanks for linking me to the salt information Dr McDougall shared, Gypsy.

To bring this back to the subject of compost ... I've read in several places about people reducing their sodium intake when they decide to use their own nitrogen (urine) in the garden or compost pile. Helps keep the salts from building up in their soil. (If you're interested in reading about urine as a fertilizer, check out the great little book called Liquid Gold.)

Sorry if this is somewhere in the pages, but I wondered about what is compostable: Are cooked potatoes ok? And how long do corn cobs take to compost? I guess if I have left-over cooked veggies that don't get eaten, and they have no cooked rice is that ok, or is cooked rice ok too?

Thanks for the help.

I put ALL vegetable matter, whether raw, cooked, or even pickled* in my compost bin. The only exception is if garden plants have a virus that can possibly survive the composting process; those diseased plants get tossed. When I feed eggs to the dogs, I rinse and dry the egg shells. Sometimes they are added to the compost bin, sometimes directly to the tomato planters. Other times, I grind them up to bake into homemade dog biscuits (in place of bone meal).

Corn cobs take a long time to break down. If not broken down when you are ready to use the compost, they are usually easy to crumble up by that point and put back into the new compost. The worst are avocado skins. I swear I'm still sifting out skins for a couple years ago!

*For salty stuff like pickled vegetables (tossed if they've gone bad), I do rinse the excess salt off first before putting them in the compost.

thanks Chile, you're a gem!

You're welcome. Just don't call me a diamond; I don't like those.

will do chile. I have a small video waiting for approval and should be up soon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28585497@N02/?saved=1

You can also look at the plantain oatmeal which was so delicious.
I made Jeffs oatmeal bars. My son loves them.

The corn has made some decent progress. You can see the garden filling in.

here I go again. Sorry to ask questions that are probably here if I do a search, but what about mango pits, peach pits, etc. ? How will they be if I toss them into the compost area?

Turning composter:


Composter cooking:


Corner for big stuff like sticks, etc.


I'll squish the stuff for turning composter, but can I put the pits in the corner for composting?

I'm not a pro but just watching how mine does, yes they are compostable but I bet it takes a long time. I never thought to put them in.