DRAG AND DROP COMPOSTING:

Simple, quick, effective and low cost.
Here you see one of our three compost bins that we recently moved to begin a new cycle. Adjacent is the previous location and one of seven bags of compost generated.
Here another compost bin is beginning to fill as green material begins its transition.
Resting but working this full compost bin is soon adorned by jungle vines that actually help hold in moisture, an essential part of the process. If the contents are continually moist the break down of organic material is greatly accelerated. Add water as often as needed to keep the material moist but not soggy (like a wrung-out sponge). Don’t pack materials too tight as air is essential.

The compost is ready to use when you can no longer recognize the original ingredients.

To harvest:
Pry off the compost basket ring and place it in your next location. Remove all of the material that isn’t fully composted and place it in the new location to begin the cycle again. We like to bag and dry some of the composted material for later use and the rest is put directly on the plants that need it most.
A note; to discourage rodents we never place kitchen scraps containing animal grease, bones or flesh…this is kept in the freezer until garbage pick up day.
We do however dispose of almost all paper and light cardboard that we have torn in to strips or small pieces.
Only small green branches break down well. Sticks make a tangled mess and should be avoided.

We can expect a yield of six to eight bushels of compost in about three months.

Materials and dimensions: Each compost ring is 1.1 meters, 44 inches in diameter and .85 meters, 34 inches tall. (The materials available may dictate your ultimate size.)
The top and bottom stiffener rings are of ¼ inch mild steel rod. The mesh is what ever is available. We used ¾ inch galvanized chicken wire.
For the vertical stiffeners, we used ½ inch PVC plastic pipe. Again sticks or whatever you can get will work. We tied the compost bin together with soft 16 gauge wire. Use whatever you can recycle…string or whatever to tie it together. The rewards of this economical environmentally friendly approach to recycling will soon be apparent when you see first hand the end result…a happy garden that benefited from drag and drop composting.

A website with more advice on composting:  Compost Made Easy  

More tips from Compost Made Easy:

Good Compost Ingredients:
Leaves and other dead plant material
Fruit and vegetable trimmings
Herbicide-free grass clippings
Manure from horses, cattle, goats, poultry and rabbits
Paper or cardboard, torn into strips or hand-sized pieces
Do NOT Add:
Meat scraps
Very fatty, sugary or salty foods
Chips or sawdust from treated wood
Clippings from herbicide-treated lawns
Manure from omnivorous animals (dogs, cats, humans, etc.)

For more on Eco Living Yucatan, click here for our web page.

I'm Movin' On: The Life and Legacy of Hank Snow - Book Review

Book Review - Five Stars

I'm Movin' On: The Life and Legacy of Hank Snow by Vernon Oickle

Hank Snow emblazoned his mark in American and Canadian history and left a legend that lives on.

Beginning in the 1940s, the music talents of Hank Snow took off scratching his way up from the most humble of poverty coupled by child abuse. He persistently and relentlessly remained focused on overcoming his past.

In the 1950s Hank saw his entertainment career climb to success like his golden rocket.

A half century of world wide top of the charts entertainment was achieved with the unrelenting support of his one and only loving wife.

To escape child abuse, at thirteen years of age young Hank went to sea on a Nova Scotia sailing schooner beginning with no pay...only room and board. This was in the depths of the great depression. He felt fortunate to have food and a bed.

On his fourth season on the schooner on the Grand Banks with gale force winds, he was frightened for his life and made the decision to take his chances ashore. This turning point marked his dedicated and determined entrance into a musical career scratching his way out of poverty. The rest is his story in this great book.

EXCERPTS:

Although their marriage got off to a rocky start because of Minnie’s parents’ dissension, Hank and Minnie’s bond would last a lifetime.

Their union survived difficult years of financial struggle, sometimes even destitution, as well as issues with Hank’s drinking, extended separations while Hank pursued his dreams, and the demands that came with international stardom. Hank always said that he and Minnie were just meant to be together and that their love was strong enough to overcome any challenge that got in their way.

Hank often described this “special lady” as his inspiration and his strength. Referring to Minnie as his partner in life, he was also always quick to point out that she deserved a great deal of credit for his accomplishments throughout the years, as she often encouraged him to keep going or to take a risk when things got difficult.

With Landry’s prodding, on April 9, 1935, Hank wrote a letter to A. H. Joseph, manager of the Repertoire and Recording Department for RCA Victorin Montreal. On April 18, Hank received a response, basically a rejection letter. But, like before, he chose to see the response as positive and would not accept “no” for an answer. It may have been his earlier struggles with poverty that gave him his drive, determination, and fighting spirit, Hank later said that when he had first heard the records, he hated how they sounded so tinny and hollow, but Joseph had clearly heard something in the recordings that

Hank couldn’t, because he also sent along the first royalty check of Hank’s career, in the amount of $1.96.

Hank wasn’t opposed to recording songs written by others, many of which went on to become huge Hank Snow hits; most notable of those were compositions such as “(Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I,” written by Bill Trader and recorded by Hank in 1952; “I Don’t Hurt Anymore,” written by Don Robertson and Jack Rollins, and recorded by Hank in 1954; and “I’ve Been Everywhere,” written by Geoff Mack and recorded by Hank in 1962.

Review by John M. Grimsrud

Sea of Grey: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures Book 10) by Dewey Lambdin- Book Review

Book Review - Five Stars 

Sea of Grey: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures Book 10) by Dewey Lambdin

Dewey Lamdin’s historical fiction nautical novels are extraordinarily impressive with factual research coupled with an astounding cornucopia of colorfully descriptive vocabulary.

There is never a dull moment in these exhilarating fast moving and enlightening stories. Reading Dewey Lambdin on my Kindle reader with its built in dictionary and clipping features that stores looked up words in a special vocabulary builder adds real pleasure to the reading experience. The audio books are recommended for their extremely impressive high quality narrative.

We love all of Lambdin’s books, they are gems!

EXCERPTS:

He had written one of those letters asking “ … with the supply of paint on hand, Sirs, and the meagre budget allotted for the task, which side of the ship do you prefer that we paint?”

Since the war started in 1793, Prime Minister William Pitt and his coterie had shoved troops and ships into the Caribbean, eager for possession of every “sugar” island. It had cost the lives of 40,000 soldiers and seamen, so far. Once Fever Season struck, regiments and ships’ companies could be reduced to pitiful handfuls in a trice!

“The captain may be spoken of as a lucky captain, and his ships lucky by association, but; t’would take a pagan sea-god to deem us worthy in his sight.” That left unspoken the bald fact of Captain Lewrie’s adultery, his recent dalliance with a half-caste Port-Au-Prince whore, the rumor of which had made the rounds below decks, usually accompanied by hoots of appreciation and admiration, rather than disapproval or envy.

taking an involuntary step away from Mr. Durant, as if to flee Death’s miasma … or the noisome reek of the Yellow Jack’s last agony, when the victim voided his bowels, after many days of inability, and spewed up dark, bloody vomito negro. The stench of Wyman’s dying clung to Durant’s apron, bare arms, and very hair, like a whiff off the River Styx.

“Bonaparte?” Lewrie grumbled, slapping the table. “Why, I’ve met the little bastard, in ‘93!

Ran me out of the Adriatic, too, when he invaded Italy in ’96, and beat the Austrians and Piedmontese like a dusty rug. Almost bagged me on the Genoese coast once, too. He’s a dangerous man, I tell you. Never trust the dwarfish, gentlemen. He’s no bigger than a minute, but slipp’ry as an eel … .”

Review by John M. Grimsrud

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan - Book Review

Book Review - Five Stars 

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens

This 588 page two volume book is part of four volumes, the second two volumes are entitled Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. They are all remarkably still in print though out of copy right. I own all four paper volumes and have read them more than twice using them for reference, and their magnificent drawings and early photographs for our studies and explorations.

The splendidly impressive descriptions of people, places, topography, flora, fauna, living conditions, government or lack of it, and significant happenings make these books all-time classics. For ease of reading, I read Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan this time in digital edition on my Kindle reading device which greatly enhances the readability and pleasure. Though the digital edition is very inexpensive and delivered instantaneously to my Kindle worldwide there is one disadvantage, there are none of the drawings and early photographs included. For me that was no problem as I possess the printed editions.

EXCERPTS:

On Wednesday, the 3d of October, 1839, we embarked at New York on board the British brig Mary Ann, Hampton, master, for the Bay of Honduras. The brig was lying in the North River, with her anchor apeak and sails loose, and in a few minutes, in company with a large whaling-ship bound for the Pacific, we were under way. It was before seven o’clock in the morning: the streets and wharfs were still; the Battery was desolate, and, at the moment of leaving it on a voyage of uncertain duration, seemed more beautiful than I had ever known it before.

Being within the limits of the British authority. Though living apart, as a tribe of Caribs, not mingling their blood with that of their conquerors, they were completely civilized; retaining, however, the Indian passion for beads and ornaments.

In every house were a grass hammock, we were exceedingly struck with the great progress made in civilization by these descendants of cannibals, the fiercest of all the Indian tribes whom the Spaniards encountered.

They asked us about our wives, and we learned that our simple-minded host had two, one of whom lived at Hocotan, and that he passed a week alternately with each. We told him that in England he would be transported, and in the North imprisoned for life for such indulgences, to which he responded that they were barbarous countries; and the woman, although she thought a man ought to be content with one.

None can know the value of hospitality but those who have felt the want of it, and they can never forget the welcome of strangers in a strange land.

There was but one side to politics in Guatimala. Both parties have a beautiful way of producing unanimity of opinion, by driving out of the country all who do not agree with them.

The general government had not the least particle of power in the state, and I mention the circumstance to show the utter feebleness of the administration, and the wretched condition of the country generally. It troubled me on one account, as it showed the difficulty and danger of prosecuting the travels I had contemplated.

Review by John M. Grimsrud