To compost, but how?

In our first ten years here, our plantings didn't, um, do well. We have wet spots (bone dry in summer), and spots sucked dry year round by Western Red Cedars. Our half acre is heavy clay, shaded by conifers on three sides. We've killed rhododendrons outright,and tortured many other plants. Three magnolias have grown, but glacially, if that still means slow. We tried amending the soil, building up raised berms, a drip hose for summer. Failures all. I'd have given up and let the sword ferns have the yard, but my husband is a tree and shrub enthusiast of some ambition.

Complicating things, we're in the sensitive Lake Whatcom watershed--the lake is drinking water for 85,000 residents. Even though the land is sloped, the water table is high much for much of the year. In a hard rain I can readily see water running off. We don't use anything on the lawn, but rapid run-off is still bad for the lake.

What I need is a low cost way to improve the odds for our rhodies, magnolias, maples and smaller stuff, and do my part to help the lake as well. The Washington State University Extension office has a word for me: Compost. Actually, several words: "Compost will save the world!" Reduces run-off, builds better soil structure, and the rest.

Did I mention I'm averse to physical labor? Just thinking of buying compost and hauling and wheelbarrowing and shoveling makes me reach for another cup of tea and a blanket to put over my head. I raise a mug to you who do this by the truckload. But, can I make my own, in piles located in various spots near where I might later use it?

Of course it won't be traditional hot composting--much too shady here. Cut to last summer. I hired a gardener while nursing a hurt back. Anna poked into the old, unsightly weed heap across from our driveway that we never got around to hauling away in an embarassing four years or so. She declared the stuff under the surface "fluffy" humus, and used it for new beds. I had been composting before I knew it. The lushest humus that's ever graced this half-acre, and no lawn and weed chemicals. The trick will be to avoid the unsightliness. And figure out how to add food waste in raccoon territory.

Potholes on the road to green living

Going green is an earnest business. So why do I find it comic? For starters, those cheery "ten easy steps you can take today." Did they say "easy?" Is it always easy for you? For me, those steps are darned bumpy--I come up against one outlandish problem after another. So this blog isn't for those who breeze through the ten tips. It's for the rest of us who find what the cheerleaders have swept under the rug. May we muddle through together.

I'm starting from square one. I even have old style toilets, for Pete's sake. So I thought I'd better start easy. My first project is to get rid of my energy hog incandescent bulbs in favor of energy savers. What could be easier?

I've read the cautions: no fully enclosed fixtures, no outdoors use, no dimmers. [2011 note: I find you do need to check your information from time to time. Now the FAQs from GE and elsewhere and my local hardware store guy are saying no fully enclosed recessed fixtures inside and nothing but fully enclosed fixtures outdoors.]

Hey, I think, I'm not actually using the dimmers in the kitchen's hanging fixtures. That's eight bulbs right there. The store salesperson says if I set the dimmer switch to full on and then don't move it, I'll be fine with the CFLs. This is a lighting specialist. I carry out 48 of them. bright white ones.

So I swapped out the bulbs in the kitchen--this is ladder work--and stuffed a disk of cork in the dimmer groove to keep the dimmer from engaging. Well, it seemed like a good idea. Failure. A nasty buzz, the dimmer fighting with the CFLs. And getting the cork back out, oicks.

Okay, no problem. With my community ed course on home electrical DIY, I figured to swap out the dimmer switch. I take off the cover. Oh, how about this? This is some serious wiring scheme--the box has three switches, two of them dimmers, and all the wires are black. I had to get advice just to get the yards of wires stuffed back into the box, even after I cut the length of one. Tip: shove with the butt of a hammer. Sometime when I have an electrician over I'll complete this. . .