My backyard smells like rotting intestines and I really hope the neighbors do not notice. Gulp.
The problem is my grass. Back when I had my surgery, I wasn't physically able to go mow the grass. My friend Jane came by and did it for me one week, but it was probably another 2 weeks before I could handle it myself. At that point it had gotten quite tall and I couldn't do the mulching option because the tall and wet grass (wouldn't dry out!) kept clogging the blades.
The first mowing, I used the side chute (salad shooter), but I didn't like it because the long clippings got everywhere. As in on top of the grass, blocking it from the sun, creating dead patches. My grass was finally looking good after a year and a half with our lawn service. I didn't want to ruin it with this.
The second mowing, I decided to use the catcher thingie. Probably a bad idea because the catcher thingie full of wet grass weighed about 1000 pounds. Can you say surgical incision hernias? But I did it anyway.
However, I didn't know what to do with those clippings. I could sneak to a corner of the subdivision in the middle of the night with the clippings in a wheelbarrow and dump them. I could put a bit in each week with the garbage until it was all gone. Or I could add it to my compost heap.
I decided to add it to my compost heap. When I felt well enough post operatively to deal with it. I thought I was smart covering the grass filled wheelbarrow with a plastic tarp. It'll be fine. And dry! Yeah, right.
So over the last several weeks, rain seeped in and the grass started rotting. Rotting, not composting. Definitely rotting because it smelled like a squashed armadillo baking in the hot sun. Ugh.
The tarp kept some of the smell contained, but not all of it. Finally, I realized I had to get it composting or the smell was never going to go away and I'd have cops knocking on my door wanting to search for the bodies.
I managed to get about half of it into my compost bin. After some handy-dandy internet research, I also realized that I needed a lot more brown stuff in there to offset the rotting, slimy grass. So I shredded newspaper and got my pile of coffee grounds and tossed in there with it. I still have about 1/3 of my wheelbarrow harboring a slime wad. But hopefully things will start composting, the bacteria will be happy and my back yard won't smell like an overflowing septic tank much longer.
Otherwise, I will have to sneak to the far corner of the neighborhood and dump that stuff in the middle of the night. I'll let you know if I need help posting bail, because Lord knows I'll get caught!
2 comments:
You know, I have way too much grass in my compost for the same reason. How should I offset it? Shredded newspaper and vegetable matter? What else? I hate to waste all that good grass, though.
Maybe you could put piles of the grass slime behind or under your butterfly bush and magnolia? It would eventually break down and enrich the soil, and in the meantime those plants would hide it.
I'm scairt to put that stuff on the ground where the dogs can reach it! : )
The slime is bad enough, but having to clean it up in the form of dog vomit is even worse! YIKES!
I think I'm going to put shredded newspaper on it, coffee grounds, etc. Missy had a great idea and I'm also thinking of adding some bagged compost from the store to it! The grass is green stuff, so it needs to be offset by brown stuff. Dried leaves, newspaper, straw, etc. I'll try newspaper and store bought compost and let you know how it works.
The stuff in the garbage can smells better already and I just added a shredded section of newspaper and some coffee grounds yesterday. Once the mass in the can shrinks down some, I'll transfer the rest of the grass sewage it and hope for the best!
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