A subject that is close to my heart
When I was young, one of my chores was picking up the dog poo in the backyard. It was the only chore I actively disliked, but it wasn't because I was grossed out by feces. The problem, I realized after about a year, was that I had the wrong tools. They had given me an antique brass fireplace shovel and a plastic ice cream bucket. I had to find a two-by-four board as a backstop to scoop the shovel against. It was a back-stooping, three-handed job.
Whenever we went to visit relatives in Wisconsin, we would go shopping at a big farm supply store called Farm & Fleet. After B. Dalton Bookstore in the mall, it was my favorite place to shop. In particular, they had this wonderful device for picking up dog poo. It was long, with scooping jaws controlled by a hand trigger. No bending down, no awkward shoveling and sliding of turds. I wanted it so badly. So, when Christmas came around and everyone in the third grade was required to write a letter to Santa, I asked Santa for a pooper scooper.
I'd never believed in Santa, but I knew my parents, at least, would see the letter. They published the letters in the local newspaper, and mine got noticed. (By more than just my parents. I guess you can only read so many poorly-spelled requests for Cabbage Patch dolls before you want to see something different.) I was full of hope. When Christmas came and we unwrapped gifts under the tree, I received many lovely things, but no pooper scooper. Then we did stockings, and in my stocking was an oddly-shaped wrapped item that turned out to be... a cat litter scoop.
A cat litter scoop. How was a girl supposed to pick up dog poop out of grass with that? I rarely set my sights on particular gifts, so this may have been my biggest gift disappointment ever. To this day I still have not owned one of those special devices.
BUT. If I were to have the need and opportunity to build one of the awesome contraptions below, I would finally buy one for myself. :)
The contraptions are HOMEMADE DOG POO COMPOSTERS. If you have a yard and a dog who uses it for his solid elimination needs, and you also want to be able to walk freely in the yard and therefore you gather the nuggets, this is the perfect solution! No plastic bags, no throwing yucky stuff in the garbage and sending it to the landfill.
* Resource page from cityfarmer.org
* Very simple composter made from a plastic garbage can
*Similar composter but using a 55-gallon drum with only an access pipe exposed above ground (procedure would work for smaller containers as well)
Basically, the materials are:
* some type of large container, from a 5-gallon bucket to a drum
* a drill
* shears or a saw for cutting off the bottom of the container
* septic starter (a powder that is easy to obtain)
* maybe some gravel
And the rules are: don't put fecal matter in your garden compost or fecal compost near the food garden; add a little more septic starter every few months. That's it. Compost away!
I still have to use baggies for this guy's gifts. But someday I hope to build a composter of my very own.
This entry was also posted at http://rustydog.dreamwidth.org/1140306.html. You may comment at either place.
Whenever we went to visit relatives in Wisconsin, we would go shopping at a big farm supply store called Farm & Fleet. After B. Dalton Bookstore in the mall, it was my favorite place to shop. In particular, they had this wonderful device for picking up dog poo. It was long, with scooping jaws controlled by a hand trigger. No bending down, no awkward shoveling and sliding of turds. I wanted it so badly. So, when Christmas came around and everyone in the third grade was required to write a letter to Santa, I asked Santa for a pooper scooper.
I'd never believed in Santa, but I knew my parents, at least, would see the letter. They published the letters in the local newspaper, and mine got noticed. (By more than just my parents. I guess you can only read so many poorly-spelled requests for Cabbage Patch dolls before you want to see something different.) I was full of hope. When Christmas came and we unwrapped gifts under the tree, I received many lovely things, but no pooper scooper. Then we did stockings, and in my stocking was an oddly-shaped wrapped item that turned out to be... a cat litter scoop.
A cat litter scoop. How was a girl supposed to pick up dog poop out of grass with that? I rarely set my sights on particular gifts, so this may have been my biggest gift disappointment ever. To this day I still have not owned one of those special devices.
BUT. If I were to have the need and opportunity to build one of the awesome contraptions below, I would finally buy one for myself. :)
The contraptions are HOMEMADE DOG POO COMPOSTERS. If you have a yard and a dog who uses it for his solid elimination needs, and you also want to be able to walk freely in the yard and therefore you gather the nuggets, this is the perfect solution! No plastic bags, no throwing yucky stuff in the garbage and sending it to the landfill.
* Resource page from cityfarmer.org
* Very simple composter made from a plastic garbage can
*Similar composter but using a 55-gallon drum with only an access pipe exposed above ground (procedure would work for smaller containers as well)
Basically, the materials are:
* some type of large container, from a 5-gallon bucket to a drum
* a drill
* shears or a saw for cutting off the bottom of the container
* septic starter (a powder that is easy to obtain)
* maybe some gravel
And the rules are: don't put fecal matter in your garden compost or fecal compost near the food garden; add a little more septic starter every few months. That's it. Compost away!
I still have to use baggies for this guy's gifts. But someday I hope to build a composter of my very own.
This entry was also posted at http://rustydog.dreamwidth.org/1140306.html. You may comment at either place.