Necessity is the mother of invention. I wanted something spicy, so I assessed what was in the freezer/pantry and came up with this amazing salad!
1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed
1/4 small onion, very finely chopped
2T chopped cilantro (I buy a lot, chop in the food processor, and freeze in little ziplocs, then defrost as needed)
~3T tomato sauce (what skimmed off of the partially defrosted leftover 1/2 can of tomatoes...)
1T olive oil
2T lemon juice
Dash of curry powder or to taste
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste - I went with a lot of cayenne.
Optional: Sriracha sauce to taste
Mix it all up, try not to eat it all yourself. Or do. Some bread may be nice to sop up the leftover liquid in the bottom. Jalapeno peppers and fresh tomatoes would have been nice, but I didn't have any. As it turns out, I didn't need 'em.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Homemade compost tumbler
I don't need to expound the virtues of composting. It's something I've meant to do for ages. Composting in a tumbler is also easier and faster. After looking around on-line at compost tumblers, I decided to try to build one as pre-made ones - especially big ones - are quite expensive.
Materials and Methods:
-55-gallon drum (this was most problematic - Orscheln's farm supply had them out in front of the store after Menards didn't have them and a call to Lowe's also turned up negative). Any large drillable cylinder will work. Be sure it didn't hold anything toxic beforehand. Unscrew the spigot if it has one.
-large board
-4 non-pivoting wheels with bolts to fasten them to board
-sealant to weatherproof the board
-bricks or something to elevate the board
This is easy! Just remember to measure twice, drill once.
1. Weatherproof the board. It will be sitting outside and you don't need it to rot. Look for a weatherproof agent that's not going to leach toxic chemicals.
2. After your sealant is dry, carefully determine where the wheels would need to lie on the board in order to get your drum to spin. I used a wood shim (though a plastic ruler would do it too) to hold the wheels in a flat plane against the side of the drum and figure out how far apart they should be.
3. Mark distances on the board. Mark holes to drill for bolts.
4. Drill holes and affix wheels. Ensure tumbler is in contact with all four wheels and rolls before bolts are tightened.
5. Drill a bunch of holes in the drum - I avoided the areas that the wheels would roll over, but the rest is well perforated. I had to step up with my drill bit from a medium size (7/32") to the bigger ones (5/16" or 3/8") as the largest drill bits would not fully or cleanly penetrate the thick plastic on the first try. I probably put 70 holes in that sucker.
6. Sit outside slightly elevated from the ground using bricks. This should save wear and tear on the board and make it more difficult for dirt to get into the wheels. The cleaner you can keep the wheels, the better!
Since the drum is quite lightweight, I'll probably bring it into the garage if it's empty... which mine is NOT. I cleaned it out and added my first load of brown and green (should be between 5:1 and 8:1, respectively) and some moisture. I'll be watching (and sniffing) closely to ensure it warms up and smells right. My garden should be happy this year!
Materials and Methods:
-55-gallon drum (this was most problematic - Orscheln's farm supply had them out in front of the store after Menards didn't have them and a call to Lowe's also turned up negative). Any large drillable cylinder will work. Be sure it didn't hold anything toxic beforehand. Unscrew the spigot if it has one.
-large board
-4 non-pivoting wheels with bolts to fasten them to board
-sealant to weatherproof the board
-bricks or something to elevate the board
This is easy! Just remember to measure twice, drill once.
1. Weatherproof the board. It will be sitting outside and you don't need it to rot. Look for a weatherproof agent that's not going to leach toxic chemicals.
2. After your sealant is dry, carefully determine where the wheels would need to lie on the board in order to get your drum to spin. I used a wood shim (though a plastic ruler would do it too) to hold the wheels in a flat plane against the side of the drum and figure out how far apart they should be.
3. Mark distances on the board. Mark holes to drill for bolts.
4. Drill holes and affix wheels. Ensure tumbler is in contact with all four wheels and rolls before bolts are tightened.
5. Drill a bunch of holes in the drum - I avoided the areas that the wheels would roll over, but the rest is well perforated. I had to step up with my drill bit from a medium size (7/32") to the bigger ones (5/16" or 3/8") as the largest drill bits would not fully or cleanly penetrate the thick plastic on the first try. I probably put 70 holes in that sucker.
6. Sit outside slightly elevated from the ground using bricks. This should save wear and tear on the board and make it more difficult for dirt to get into the wheels. The cleaner you can keep the wheels, the better!
Since the drum is quite lightweight, I'll probably bring it into the garage if it's empty... which mine is NOT. I cleaned it out and added my first load of brown and green (should be between 5:1 and 8:1, respectively) and some moisture. I'll be watching (and sniffing) closely to ensure it warms up and smells right. My garden should be happy this year!
The standard first post
This is the "so-I-decided-to-start-a-blog" post. I really just wanted to learn how to do it. I obviously have time to do this.
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