Field of Science

Yard waste pickup - Just in time

Spring cleanup in the Phactors' gardens takes quite an effort. Although a large proportion of our leaves get composted, a lot of leaves gather in and about shrubs, bushes, and the dead aerial stems of herbaceous perennials. And as the buds and shoots issue forth its time to clean up all this stuff. All the twigs and stems make this difficult stuff to compost without grinding it first, and TPP once had a brute of a chopper-grinder that could make mince out of anything smaller than 3" in diameter. However, it was hard to start (a lot of weight to turn over), and frankly, it was a scary beast to use. It was traded to a nice flower-growing lady who teaches 3d grade; she's not afraid of anything. So now the garden "waste" gets composted by our municipality, but they only begin the yard "waste" pickup this coming week.  Bone to pick: please stop calling it waste because it gets composed. Our garden compostables get stuffed into those 30 gallon paper bags, with the help of a nifty plastic funnel that fits just inside the bag providing a wide mouth and a sleeve that keeps twigs and hard stems from puncturing or ripping the bag when you stuff it. Right now the garage is the holding pen for at least a dozen full bags.  So without a pickup this week, Ms. Phactor would have to park her car outside; TPP's is the official "new" car so it stays in.  Oh, the things you do to recycle and compost. It will take many more bags before the cleanup is finished, but this warmish March has moved the work schedule up and with fewer excuses, TPP has gotten an earlier start. 

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