Compost Your Way to Healthy Plants

Composting can be as simple as digging a hole in your garden, throwing in kitchen scraps, grass clippings, shredded paper and then covering it and letting it all feed the worms and other micro organisms that live in your soil. You can build elaborate bins and maintain a huge pile of compost to feed your entire garden.

The basic concept about composting is that it feeds the soil, not the plants. Sure, plants benefit from the rich nutrients found in compost and will never overwhelm your plants with too much of one nutrient over another. But compost is a soil conditioner. It breaks down clay so water doesn’t sit in it. It firms up sand so water won’t run through it. It attracts all manner of organisms that aerate and feed the soil. It also creates healthier plants that don’t require the use of pesticides.

Did you know that 25% of everything we send to the landfill consists of kitchen scraps that could be composted instead and returned to the soil? Modern agriculture is ruining our soil legacy. Another reason to eat organically: Organic farms feed the soil, rather than killing it with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Even if you live in the city--even if you live in an apartment--you can compost. Try building your own worm bin!

There is a growing interest in worm composting (vermicomposting). If you have a tiny yard or live in an apartment and have an abundance of food scraps, this type of composting is for you.  

What is compost really made up?

Compost is any kind of decayed organic material. Anything that nature makes is compostible. This compostible material is referred to as "green waste." Finished compost looks like rich soil. It’s dark and crumbly with an earthy smell.

Green waste is made up of:

•  grass clippings (if recently chemically treated, say within the previous two weeks, allow chemicals to leech out before using it),
•  leaves,
•  tree branches that have been ground up
•  farm animal manures (no dog or cat manure),
•  coffee grounds,
•  any kind of paper and cardboard (not the treated, glossy, colored stuff – the inks can be toxic),
•  clothing made of natural fibers,
•  kitchen waste (no meat),
• sawdust
• straw

A healthy compost pile will be the home of molds, bacteria, fungi, earthworms, mites, and beetles. These act as the master composters, breaking everything down into useable material. Picture what happens in nature without human intervention: plants grow up, parts fall to the ground, they die, micro organisms eat these materials and return them to the ground becoming nutrients for the next plants. Our compost pile will be a part of this process only we are placing everything into a pile and spreading it where we need it.

Compost is not particularly high in essential nutrients, (N-P-K), and is considered a soil conditioner rather than a fertilizer. However, organic matter is a valuable soil amendment because it:

•  improves soil structure,
•  aids in necessary microbial activity in the soil,
•  attracts beneficial organisms such as earthworms,
•  can suppress several soil born diseases
•  holds its nutrients in organic or slow release form, allowing for availability throughout the growing season.

By the time the compost cooking process is complete, weed seeds, fungus spores and other undesirable elements that may have gone into your compost bin, should no longer be viable. Compost can be added to your gardens at anytime, either turned into the soil or used as a mulch or top dressing.

Learning About Compost

Compost Guide   

Compost Guy   

The Rubbish Diet    

163 Things You Can Compost     

Where do I put my compost pile?

Placing your compost where it is easily accessible to the garden is always best. I have a fenced-in concrete pad, in one corner of the yard, that the previous homeowner used to keep his dog. After taking one side of the fence down this became a perfect site. At first I thought concrete would not work because I would need ground under the pile. But I have not had any problems with it. Worms have even crawled up into the pile.

Dedicating one raised bed each year to a compost pile works too. This photo shows just such an arrangement, drive either metal or wood posts in the corners and wrap chicken wire around the posts. As you clean up all the garden debris, it goes into these new bins. Add shredded leaves and some grass clippings to get the piles heated up. Turn the piles a few times and by the Spring the debris will be "black gold", and the beds will be revitalized! If you can leave a bed one whole season just for kitchen scarps, etc next year the soil will be perfectly rich for planting.

A compile can be started any time of year. Once you get in the habit of always adding to it and then see the rich beautiful soil you have produced you’ll wonder why you waited so long to do it.

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Frosty mornings and a Long Todo List

Last nights temp dipped to 35F! Arrgh, this is coming on all too quickly. I still have so much to do.

Perennials need to be trimmed, seeds collected.

I just read a very timely and informative blog called Choosing Voluntary Simplicity about growing Hollyhocks. In the article Shirley informs us that she collects seeds from her Hollyhocks and I thought, duh, why didn’t I think of that. I am still such a newbie at this stuff that I didn’t even get this idea on my list of things to do.

I don’t have nearly the collection of Hollyhocks Shirley has (and it is a beautiful collection), but I hope to correct that oversight.

My one lonely Hollyhock needs company. So, I’m going to see to it that next year it will be surrounded by more beautiful Hollyhocks.

Since I have never collected seeds before I’m a little stressed over getting to them before freezing weather kills them off. Her instructions on how to handle the seeds and store them has given me confidence to go for it.

My compost pile needs to be spread out into the beds where it will do the most good. This clay soil desperately needs this stuff every year to improve its poor drainage. After that, I’ll be able to empty about half my freezer of all the compost material I’ve been collecting over the past few weeks. It really is amazing how much compostable stuff my wife and I can create. For instance, I drink several cups of coffee a day which creates quite a bit of coffee grounds along with the paper filters. We eat a lot of vegetables so the trimmings from all of that adds up. Egg shells, extra pancakes (because I can’t seem to make just enough for two of us).

Yesterday, I made Butternut Squash soup from a recipe our daughter gave us which created even more leftovers for the compost pile. By the way, I saved the seeds from the squash. Just remove all the pulp, lay them out in a cookie sheet for 3-4 days, turning them once a day. Then put them in a paper bag, inside a plastic bag and keep them in the fridge or freezer until next spring. From what I have read these should keep for a couple of years. Tip: place a few seeds in a wet paper towel inside a plastic bag and see if they sprout after a few days. This way you know the seeds you are keeping are viable.

This morning I cut up a cantaloupe my sister-in-law gave me and I will save these seeds as well. Plus, more for the compost pile.

The tomatoes need to be covered, still a bunch of green ones after our huge harvest two days ago. Whatever is left will go to the, you guessed it, compost pile.

This year I think I may plant some cover crop in my vegetable beds. This will be another ‘first’ for me. I used to think my space is too small for such things but I figure size really shouldn’t matter. I’m sure the benefits will be worth it, even if it is not on a grand scale. A couple of suggestions are Hairy Vetch, Winter Rye.

From Organic Gardener: ‘You must kill your cover crops before they set seed and the top growth gets out of control. That's right, kill them.’ Now this just scares me. I can picture myself not getting to the crops in time and having Hairy Vetch all over my backyard. Mowing is not an option because these will be planted in raised beds. Maybe I can use a weed whacker or pruning shears.

Oh, a very important point I just stumbled upon, some cover crops such as rye are allelopathic, which means they inhibit seed germination. Great to know BEFORE buying a bag of rye. Now I need to research which cover crops don’t inhibit seed germination.

Well, I’ve procrastinated enough. So, with my coffee mug held tightly in my fist, it’s time to face the chilly morning and plan my day.

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Agrichemicals Are Not Needed or Welcomed

I read a commentary posted in Grist entitled “Agrichemical industry steps up pressure on White House organic garden”. The author compared the mafia’s infamous ‘protection scheme’ with an agrichemical company’s letter writing campaign to ‘entice’ Michelle Obama into using chemicals on the White House garden.

Okay, this is a bit of a stretch.

You can’t fault agrichemical companies for pushing their products because that’s what businesses do to stay alive. However, you can fault them for the tactics they use to sell those products: mis-information and the omission of relevant facts.

Despite the amount of data available warning of the toxic side effects of chemicals in the gardens, to humans, pets, soil and wildlife in general, far too many home gardeners are buying into the wrong-headed notion that chemical ‘protection’ is required to have a healthy and productive garden.

If gardeners would concern themselves with maintaining the health of the soil, which in turn promotes the health of the plant, there would be no need for chemicals. Pests don’t attack healthy plants.

In the gardening blogosphere we know the many benefits of using compost to feed the soil. There are tons of sites citing personal experience with its benefits, I am included in that number and urge everyone to participate and leave the chemicals on the store shelf.

Nature has a marvelous answer to harmful pests: beneficial insects. Using chemicals to rid the bad guys also kill off the beneficials.

Most chemical pesticides are petroleum based. Another good reason to avoid them.

Other ways to ensure a healthy garden is to allow for good air circulation. Overcrowding your plants allows them to stay wet longer which makes them more susceptible to fungus and other diseases.

Using natural repellants such as sprays made out of hot peppers, coyote or bobcat urine, rotten eggs, bonemeal, or bloodmeal (even castor oil) can make your garden unappetizing to herbivores. Reapply the repellents frequently, especially after rain.

What we need to do is write to Ms. Obama to congratulate her for her level-headed thinking by not using chemicals and remind her that farmers managed to feed this nation for decades without the ‘protection’ of agrichemicals.

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Contentious Law Penalizes Gardener for Using Offsite Kitchen Scraps

Tara Kolla of Silver Lake Farms in Los Angeles, California, was cited because of a law on the books that states that “composting material must be generated on-site unless it is placed in a vessel that controls airborne emissions”. What this means is that in Los Angeles you can only legally compost what you produce on your property unless your compost bin is a “commercially approved” device.

I wonder how this affects Starbuck’s program of giving away used coffee grounds to anyone who asks.

Kolla had established a relationship with a local restaurant to fill a garbage can she provided each week with their vegetable scraps, which she would then haul to her half acre urban farm and add to her own compost bin. Sounds like a great relationship. Food scraps and the methane gas they produce via composting, are kept out of landfills and Kolla gets to make rich organic compost for her garden. It’s a win-win.

This illustrates what environmentally conscious individuals are striving for, a closed loop, reducing carbon emissions by keeping everything local, and reducing the amount of waste sent to local landfills. But the current letter of the law in Los Angeles states that if you take grass clippings, orange peels, or fallen fruit from a neighbor, you are in violation of the law and could be cited and fined.

This law needs to be rewritten to reflect the spirit of a time honored practice of recycling nutrients back to the earth in a manner in which they will do the most good. Gardeners and environmentalists have known of this practice for years, we need to educate our law makers.

This is also another example of local bureaucracies interfering in what happens in our backyards and defies common sense. Here’s the original LA Times article in full length detail. An official from the local waste management board stated that he’d like to see the law changed, but intending to change the law is still a long step from tangible changes. Also, bear in mind that your city may have a similar law on the books and that your current composting activities may violate the law.

If this outrages, or even mildly upsets you, you should be aware of the other areas that the government is trying to intrude on the activity in your backyard. Read here about efforts to track every backyard chicken in America with the USDA’s proposed NAIS. And on a positive note about government interventions, read here about Maryland considering a ban controversial food dyes.

Further reading:
National Animal Identification System
U.S. Court, FDA: Raw Milk Like Toxic Waste

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Starting is Simple, Keeping it Going is the Challenge

As the saying goes: “There is no better time to start than the present”. And so it is with home gardening. Many home gardeners grow their own food out of a love of just doing it, some others do it for the peace of mind that comes with knowing the food they take from their garden is not tainted with pesticides and chemical fertilizers. And of course there is the freshness that can come only from picking from your garden and having it on your dinner table the same day.

With our economy going the way it is, tightening everyone’s purse strings typically means more people are going to join us in the gardening world. If this is something you have never done, then the startup can be a bit overwhelming. I think back to when I grew my first vegetable, it was in a typically small space where some previous renter had previously grown something, so I was fortunate, and very grateful, that the soil had already been used for something other than grass. The one thing I did not know for certain was if the previous tenant used chemicals. I set aside my fears by reasoning that up until that point in my life I probably had already been exposed to chemicals in my food so worrying about what might have been was not going to stop me from planting. I knew I wasn’t going to add any chemicals, so off I went.

I was very much like every beginning gardener in that I chose tomatoes as my first crop. And as is typical of a first time gardener, I planted too many. Needless to say the neighborhood had fresh tomatoes for a time. I just know, as I write this, realized that even that long ago, just as today, very few of my neighbors had a home garden. But, as I mentioned previously, that will probably change. I do hope so.

I also grew some strawberries that first year. The crop that was produced exceeded my expectations and I was ecstatic at the sweet juicy berries we picked from those first plants. Ecstatic over the bounty of the strawberries and the tomatoes and ecstatic that I was actually able to succeed. That was a great confidence booster.

Experience, I have found, learned from your own mistakes and successes, will provide you with far better lessons than just reading about others’ mis-adventures.

The best way to start is to put something in the ground, even if it is unproductive the roots from that first growth will provide a starting point for bringing soil nutrients locked below the surface up to where future plants can take advantage of them. The most miraculous thing I have learned from gardening is that a plot of ground that seemingly will never support anything, such as hard packed clay, will grow healthy plants that will produce a monstrous harvest as long as you feed the soil.

Soil will quickly come to life with worms and microbes simply by tilling compost into it. By keeping the soil cool in the summer with mulch and maintaining a steady, somewhat constant temperature through winter, also with mulch, you will already win over half the battle of maintaining a healthy and thriving garden.

Worms work to aerate the soil and breakdown large chunks of compost into smaller ones that serve to keep the soil loose to allow air and water to pass through. This ‘looseness’ of the soil, called friability, will also aid plant roots in their search for nutrients. Worms and microbes basically keep the plot refreshed through their constant churning. As long as you feed them they will be there for you. The thing you don’t want to do goes against what may at first seem natural. You don’t want to over-till the soil. It is more beneficial to ‘work’ compost into the top few inches of soil with a pitch fork by gently turning over the soil. A mechanical tiller will tend to cut up the soil too fine and unfortunately cut up the worms as well.

Even if you will not live in the house you are in for very long, starting a garden will prepare the soil for the next person. Perhaps this will be just the encouragement that next person needs to grow their own food. Imagine for a moment if everyone was to do this with their current yard, before too long, grass won’t be taking up so much acreage on this planet, there will be a decrease in the amount of chemical fertilizers used to feed the lawn, and you will have helped in progressing the natural evolution toward a more organic world. After all, there is far more residential property than commercial property so each of us, when we start a home garden, will be increasing the total amount of farm land. Plus, every little bit you do adds to your knowledge base for when you do have space to grow that dream garden. Every new garden plot helps the global community.

Then, if you would post your results to your very own blog, or leave comments on someone else’s blog describing your experiences, both good and bad, you would be adding to the world’s knowledge pool and that is always much appreciated by the next beginner. Perhaps you will learn of a hidden talent that you can specialize in.

You really do not require a huge farm to grow everything you need. You can grow a surprising amount of plants in a very small space. If you have a neighbor who has a garden, ask if you can offer to help weeding or planting. You will gain valuable advice and perhaps even a few plant starts to get your own garden going. Gardeners are an endless supply of knowledge, some of which you cannot learn from books. And I have never met a gardener who does not want to talk about their garden or share advice.

Dig a hole in the ground, fill it in with store bought garden soil (compost can come later), stick a plant in the soil, feed it with non-synthetic fertilizer and watch it grow. You may not get a huge harvest from this first planting but, like every new undertaking, baby steps count. You will gain confidence to try something bigger next year.

If you don’t have a yard, use a container. Many plants do great in containers, you just need to feed and water them more often and make sure the container has good drainage.

Also, don’t be afraid to plant vegetables among your flowers. The added dimension and diversity will benefit both types of plants and prevent any bare spots that would otherwise invite weeds.

For more advanced tips on starting and maintaining a garden plot, see here.

I am willing to bet that once you gain a little experience you will want to continue growing your own food, even after the economy gets back on its feet and it is no longer a ‘necessity’ to grow your own food. So, if you do find you enjoy maintaining a garden maybe keeping it going won’t be such a challenge after all.

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Should we fertilize shrubs in the Fall?

The one thing that is constantly on my mind, where gardening is concerned, is feeding. Am I feeding my plants enough, am I over-feeding? Plants can’t tell me when they need to be fed. Oh sure, there are the usual signs that they are not getting enough, such as, drooping, discolored leaves and lackluster flowering. But by the time plants are displaying these dismal cries of starvation they are already stressing.

I want to have a plan that will provide all the nourishment my garden needs without over feeding or waiting for these obvious signs, which also stress me.

While I ponder this seemingly unanswerable problem of achieving the proper balance, I see ads from nurseries promoting fall fertilization. I never considered that anything should be fed this late in the season. Apparently, I have been remiss in my shrubbery duties. Being the skeptic that I am, I can’t help being a little leery of this latest bit of advice from someone who sells things for a living, because I am sure they want to get rid of any overstock they may have before winter sets in. Secretly though, I do believe they don’t want to give out bad advice, it just wouldn’t be in their interest to do so. Skepticism dies hard.

So, after searching for a solution to this constant source of a headache, I have learned that, yes, you should feed woody plants, such as shrubs and trees. But, and there is always a but, right, timing is very important.

Keeping in mind that fertilizing produces new growth, and that tender growth spurting forth just as frost is about to hit us and would therefore threaten the very life of the plant, feeding has to take place at just the right time. Of course, this timing will vary by region, but application of a fertilizer specifically made for shrubs and trees should be applied when three conditions are met: all new growth has ceased, daytime temperatures have begun to moderate and the soil holds adequate moisture. In other words, when plants seem to have given up producing anything new and just want to take a vacation from providing us with their beautiful foliage and flowers, day/night temperatures are staying fairly constant each day and are low enough that you have switched from wearing shorts to wearing long pants and a sweater when out in the garden, and there is no longer competition with the hot sun to evaporate every drop of water you are painstakingly pouring onto your garden. As a rule of thumb, about two to three weeks before your average first frost date, which, in my case, is about four or five weeks into football season.

One of the old time, and still very valid, rules of gardening is that you feed the soil and the plants will fend for themselves. The kingpin in making this rule work is, of course, compost. You can use your favorite designer chemical fertilizer, but compost is the very best way to go. There are many wonderful websites and blogs covering how to make compost, and truly, all of us throw stuff out everyday that could go into making a compost pile, large or small. Once you get one going you will be absolutely surprised at how easy it is to maintain a compost pile.

There is no such thing as bad compost. Except, of course, for toxic or nuclear waste, or if it is really, really so smelly that your neighbors complain about being in the same neighborhood with it. But aside from those easily avoidable situations, compost is king.

In nature, shrubs and trees are constantly nourished by the natural cycle of falling leaves and the soil micro organism activity that this natural compost supports. If you just keep this in mind and try to duplicate it on the very small scale that is your garden, you should do just fine. Shred the leaves from your trees, or talk your neighbors into giving theirs to you by convincing them that using them will help keep the smell down from your compost, and sprinkle them over your garden or, better yet, add them to your compost and sprinkle that over your garden.

So, for one final time of the year, feed your woody shrubs to nourish the root growth that is taking place to store reserves for next years growth. Your shrubs will have better foliar color, larger leaf size, and superior growth next year.

As always, be part of the solution and remember the future.

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Snow mold. What, me worry?

Most of the snow has finally receded, except for the north side of the house. What it left behind is a little distressing. After searching the internet for possible explanations I learned that it could be snow mold. Looks pretty nasty doesn't it?

I grew up in Indiana, where we have snow for much longer than they do here in Utah, but I don’t remember ever seeing this kind of stuff.

What I learned from Snow Molds in Lawns by Cynthia Ash is:

“Snow mold is a fungal disease that appears in early spring as the snow melts. There are two types of snow molds, gray and pink, that become active under the snow cover. Gray snow mold (also called Typhula blight) is caused by Typhula spp., while pink snow mold (also called Fusarium patch) is caused by Microdochium nivalis.”

“Gray snow mold survives hot summer temperatures in the soil or in infected plant debris as sclerotia, resistant fungal structures, while pink snow mold survives as mycelium or spores in infected plant debris. Fungal growth begins in the winter, beneath a cover of snow on unfrozen ground. Growth can take place at temperatures slightly below freezing and may continue after snow melt, as long as the grass remains cool and wet. Gray snow mold activity stops when the temperature exceeds 45° F or the surface dries. Pink snow mold activity may continue during wet weather in the fall and spring, as long as the temperature is between 32° F and 60° F.”

She goes on to explain that the symptoms first appear as circular, straw colored patches when the snow melts in the spring. I didn’t see any circular patches. It was more or less free-form in that it was spread over this section of lawn, about ten foot by twelve foot without actually being circular.

I took photos on March 1 and over the course of the next few days the patch does not appear to be spreading, which is how snow mold behaves.

Maybe the grass is just naturally brown from lack of sunlight. Since the lawn is in its normal dormant state this time of year I should expect to see brown, but this is the first year I have seen a difference in the shade of brown.

Another contributing factor to snow mold is excessive applications of nitrogen fertilizer in the fall. I did fertilize the lawn but I don’t consider it excessive.

To add to the mystery, snow mold does not appear every year.

So far, nothing has convinced me one way or the other that this is or is not snow mold. Should I worry anyway? Probably not.

One good thing, the damage caused by snow mold is seldom serious. Besides there is nothing that can be done for it now. I just have to wait for the sun to warm up the soil, which I am sure will be any day now.

To prevent snow mold in the future, or at least minimize its damage:

# Avoid excessive applications of nitrogen fertilizer in the fall.

# Continue to mow the lawn at the recommended height until it is no longer actively growing. The taller the grass, the more likely it will mat down and encourage snow mold development.

# Rake up leaves in the fall.

# Manage the thatch layer to avoid accumulations of more than ½ inch.

# Spread out large snow piles to encourage rapid melting. Use snow fencing to minimize snow accumulation in problem spots.

Throughout the year I mow my lawn to about 4” tall to prevent the summer heat from drying out the soil and during the cooler months I gradually lower the blade to about 2”, so I don’t think the grass is tall enough to cause concern.

I always rake up the leaves, you just gotta love that free compost material.

Thatch should not be a problem because the lawn is aerated every year. Maybe I should do it more often? I don’t know.

The final caution to prevent snow mold is spreading out large snow piles to encourage rapid melting! I don’t think so. Sorry, but I’m not that dedicated to my lawn.

The bottom line is that if it is snow mold it will soon disappear and will not cause any significant damage.

Besides, I have bigger things to worry about, like when am I going to be able to plant my garden!

Cynthia Ash co-authored a pamphlet put out by North Dakota State University covering lawn disesases.

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Phase four in preparing your Spring garden: Spring digging

Grab your shovel, your favorite gloves and garden clogs, we’re going to play in the dirt!

I love the image that brings to mind. Come spring time gardeners everywhere are itching to get out into the garden and start digging, cultivating, pruning, and planting again. We are ready to shrug off the long gardening dry-spell of winter that has tested our patience and are ready to unleash our pent up plans and dreams for this years edition of our dream gardens. Our tools, long hidden in the dark recesses of our sheds, yearn to be brought back out into the open and put to good use. Our playing-in-the-dirt toys have gotten more sophisticated since we were kids but the old urge never seems to die.

Dirt, actually if you use this word around a gardener you will likely be told in no uncertain terms that soil is the proper term because dirt can be found just anywhere, but after you have poured you heart and soul, not to mention an untold fortune in compost and soil amendments, into your garden plot, dirt graduates to the exalted designation of soil. Soil, that substance from which all life springs, is aching to be a part of your dream garden. And so, with memories of gardens past compelling us to return to our labor of love, we are eager to resume our pursuit of creating our own personal, peaceful oasis in a world that has become too hurried and too demanding. We welcome any opportunity to get out and begin digging.

Every ailment, every problem, every nutrient, every joy (as it pertains to gardening, that is) springs from the soil. It’s a heavy responsibility, but healthy soil is the single most important ingredient to raising healthy plants. Healthy soil allows nutrients to be taken up by your plants. Unhealthy soil sucks the life right out of anything you plant in it. You can throw all the high potency fertilizer you want into your garden and water it religiously but if the soil is not healthy you will have wasted all your time, energy and money.

Soil cannot be healthy without organic matter, which can be any combination of or all of the following:

leaf mold, aged manures, worm castings, household compost, certain kitchen waste, chopped up leaves, newspaper, cardboard, grass clippings, etc.

There is no set formula for mixing and preparing any of these ingredients because it all breaks down, and gives back what it has collected over its useful life, some faster than others. The purpose of adding organic matter to your clay garden, is to allow the movement of water and air to the roots and to allow roots to penetrate the soil more easily. The purpose of adding organic matter to your sandy garden, is to slow down the movement of water and air around the roots and to provide something for the roots to hold on to. If you have ever tried to garden in hard clay you will know the importance of loosening it up so plants can take root without drowning. If you have ever tried to garden in loose sand you will know the importance of providing some substance for the plants roots to take hold without drying out. Organic matter is this key substance to taming both of these extremes.

Organic matter also supports the microbial life that is the basic building blocks for all soil life. Just as in the sea, where tiny plankton support almost all sea-life, microbes support almost all soil life. Without either of these huge populations of tiny life forms, life as we know it would simply cease.

Of the organic material I listed, two stand out as being the gold standard for soil improvement. Compost and worm castings. Properly made, compost and worm castings provide natures most balanced form of nutrient rich amendments you could ever spread onto your garden.

Garden Compost
Creating garden compost is a symbiotic form of science and art and has become the holy grail of serious gardeners everywhere. The mythology and ceremony around creating it puts a lot of people off to the idea of making their own but it really isn’t as difficult as it first seems. Plus, a side benefit is you get to reuse what was once considered garbage, in the form of kitchen scraps, and yard waste. There are many great websites devoted to composting that will take you by the hand through the entire process. This is something that each of us should do if only from an environmental standpoint. You don’t have to buy precisely designed bins or tubs to make compost, and the formula does not have to be exact, it is a very ‘ballpark’ type of thing and you can soon learn the adjustments that need to be made to have your very own black gold. So, you can help the environment and cut your costs on soil amendments, what more can you ask for?

Worm castings
You can harvest your own worm castings, too. Of course, for this you must have an enclosure for your worms, and this can be anything from plastic tubs to wooden crates. Feeding your kitchen scraps to worms is the ultimate in recycling. Worm farming uses specialized worms, you cannot just pull any earthworm out of your yard and expect them do your bidding. One of the best blogs I have found that covers the whole worm farming thing, called vermicomposting, is at Redworm Composting. Bentley Christie, the posts author, is extremely knowledgeable concerning vermicomposting and will readily answer any question or concern you may have. Check out his site for some great info.

To get the most from your garden soil, you should have it tested for pH balance and nutrient deficiency.

Proper pH balance
An improper pH level, alkalinity and acidity, can cause your plants to literally starve to death. In a balanced pH environment, bacteria is better able to decompose organic matter and microorganisms can convert nitrogen in the air into a form that your plants can use. When the soil is too acidic or alkaline both of these processes are greatly impaired. Inorganic fertilizers will make your soil more acidic over time and adding amendments to the soil alters your soil's pH. Testing and adjusting your soil’s pH level accordingly will help maximize your plants' potential in size, health and quality of flowers, vegetables and fruits. You can buy pH test kits from your local nursery and they are very easy to use.

What fertilizer is needed?
Get a soil test to determine what other amendment is needed to bring your garden to optimum performance levels. A soil test can tell you such things as how much nitrogen, potassium or phosphorous is needed. This information can save you a lot of money by not adding unnecessary fertilizer and it will definitely help your success rate with growing more beautiful and bountiful plants. Your local agriculture extension office will test your soil sample (usually for a small fee) and will tell you how to collect the sample and what size sample they require. Expect to wait 3-5 days for results. You can also buy soil test kits from your local nursery, it won’t give the complete or more accurate analysis a lab would but it can give you a general idea of what is lacking as far as the three basics (NPK) for around $20.

Let’s dig in
You don’t want to dig in mud, good for mud pies but not for gardening. Digging in wet soil will leave clumps after the sun dries out the sogginess and we don’t want clumps in our garden! Test the soil down to about 10” to see if the soil is dry enough to work. Spread your soil amendments and fertilizer (a balanced slow-release is best, 10-10-10) and then dig it all in to about 8-10” deep. A note here, as tempting it is to use a roto-tiller, my advise is, don’t! Roto-tillers have a tendency to break up the soil too much (destroying much needed soil structure) and they can compact the soil just out of reach of the tines. The tried and true pitch fork and shovel are still the best way to go.

As of this posting it is late February and with weather patterns changing as they are, we’ll soon be able set our seedlings out to harden off. If frost threatens, you can always use cloches or simply throw a sheet over your tender seedlings, see Extending the Gardening Season. Personally, I’m counting the days with the excitement of an expectant father.

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Is this a compost pile?

Went out this morning, 9 AM, 41F, and emptied all of the containers I had sitting on my back deck. Every time I walk out there lately it seems they are taunting me with their half-hearted growth of lettuce, chives, carrots, radishes, chamomile and parsley. As if saying “I’m not getting any better, so you may as well toss me out before we freeze to death!” They all sprouted okay. It’s just that I haven’t done justice by them by putting together a workable ‘thriving’ schedule, just a ‘surviving’ schedule of the occasional watering and feeding. It is definitely an aspect of gardening I want to work on. Just like I want to work on having a compost pile.

I dumped seven containers of soil and plants onto the ‘compost pile’, if I may be allowed to call it a compost pile. That term may not be accepted by people who have ‘real’ compost piles. The soil I dumped on it was potting soil and full of roots so I think it is a worthwhile addition.

I started the ‘pile’ three summers ago with a little soil and a lot of good intentions of starting a compost pile. It’s been sitting on a 9’x12’ concrete slab that looks like it might have been planned for a shed.

Since then the pile has languished through the heat of summer and the freeze of winter slowly collecting grass clippings of a yard that has been sprayed with weed killer and whatever feed that my lawn company has been using. I also throw the occasional small trash can of shredded paper. When I think about it I’ll dowse the pile with water and if memory serves, I even threw a 5 lb bag of Blood Meal on it once, thinking I would actually start actively working the pile for its intended purpose. But, that didn’t work. The part about me working the pile, that is.

I haven’t been brave enough yet to throw kitchen scraps on it. For one thing we don’t seem to generate much in the way of useful kitchen scarps. It just doesn’t seem that what little we do produce would add much to it.

It isn’t a trash pile, I mean, I don’t throw anything on it that shouldn’t be thrown onto a full fledged compost pile. I guess this is what you would call a ‘passive’ compost pile. More passive than I would like.

As for the ‘tainted’ grass, my thinking is that the bad stuff in it will leech out and it would not harm my garden plots, if I wait long enough. How long is long enough? I’ve heard that with rains and regular watering the grass should be usable in about two months. I have also heard that it is okay to throw this tainted grass onto a compost pile but it is not okay to put the clippings directly on the beds.

I’ve toyed with building a couple of bins so that the pile can be easily tossed from one to the other as a means of turning the pile. The pile is by no means big enough to use in every plot I am working so it’s not like I would benefit a lot by having a compost pile. I guess that what little bit I get out of it would help a little.

One of these days I’m going to have to turn it all over to see if the stuff at the bottom has turned into anything useful. In the meantime it is going to sit there looking, to the casual observer, like I know what I’m doing.

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A Gardening year: preparing the plot

For all of you who have felt the urge to start a garden, congratulations for rediscovering our agrarian heritage. That urge is rooted in a time when farming, for the sake of feeding ourselves, was once so necessary, so much a part of the fabric of our lives, that it would never occur to us that we would not ever have a food garden or farm. A backyard garden may be small but it is still a farm. With the proliferation of cheap, readily available food year-round from supermarkets and farmers markets, we no longer have to farm. The trade-off is that we have lost touch with our heritage.

Growing your own food, once a necessity and a chore, has become more of a treat. For the fresh taste that you simply cannot get from store bought produce. For the variety of produce that supermarkets cannot provide. For the sheer joy of creating life out of your own backyard, through your own toil and sweat. These attributes, experienced by home gardeners everywhere, cannot be measured.

Gardening is a pleasure for all your senses. Feeling the suns warmth on the almost silky smoothness of well-worked soil as it flows through your fingers, smelling its earthy almost sweet aroma, seeing the soil come alive with worms and other critters, tasting the freshness of vegetables and fruit that you have grown, hearing the wildlife that your efforts have attracted, all of these aspects make gardening worthwhile.

Just because we are surrounded by row after row of tract housing or stacked up buildings doesn’t mean we can’t grow something beautiful and/or edible.

Once you have picked and tasted the fruits of your labors gardening can truly consume you. You will end up spending hours lost in the Zen-like reverie of tending your garden that will force you to re-prioritize your place in this world. You will find a peace that you cannot find anywhere else.

If you are serious about gardening, you will soon learn it is as much about tending to your psychological well being as it is about tending to nature. One of the first things you need to do is put yourself in the frame of mind that it needs to be enjoyable. Once you have lost the fun factor then you may as well go find something else to entertain yourself.

Gardening is fun, but not in the way of anything else that offers the instant gratification that is necessary for some people. It is long term. After all, it is nature and nature is not an overnight proposition. It requires dedication, it requires patience, and it requires you to understand that there will be failures. Sometimes these failures can be of your own making, often times a failure can be attributable to mother nature herself. Do not take it personal. Nature has failed billions of times and yet its beauty can be found everywhere.

I think it is important to note that gardening is for more than just our health and enjoyment. We are creating a habitat for natures denizens. Insects, both good and bad, birds, both beautiful and not so beautiful, mammals, large and small, and of course us.

Now, if you are still here and still want to go forward with turning that boring and non-productive lawn into the beautiful and bountiful flower or vegetable patch of your dreams, then please read on.

You should decide now if you want to build raised beds or dig trenches around your plot. Walls and trenches are an attempt to keep the surrounding lawn from encroaching into your beds. If you dig a trench you will have to re-dig it every once in awhile, until you get tired of doing it and end up installing a barrier of some kind anyway. The advantage of raising the bed now and surrounding it with boards or concrete blocks is that the soil will tend to stay looser because there is less chance of you walking on it.

Turning your chosen plot of earth from lawn to garden is not something that happens overnight. After all, it took awhile for that lawn to fill in so it makes sense that any plants you put in will take awhile to thrive. You are going to need good quality soil, access to water and properly selected plants that will survive in the amount of sunlight that hits your plot.

Healthy soil is key to healthy plants. Whether your soil is ideal to begin with or if it has been laying barren for years, keep in mind that you will have to amend it every year. A combination of natural materials such as soil and compost, composted or aged animal manure, leaves, grass clippings, shredded newspapers, cardboard, and/or anything else that breaks down in the soil will go a long way towards maintaining that healthy soil texture that supports microbial life. Gardening is more about feeding the soil than about feeding the plants. Healthy soil needs to be loose enough to allow roots to easily pass through yet thick enough to support the plant so that it can stand up as it grows larger. Soil needs to also be able to retain water through periods of drought without having to water it every day and adding natural materials will keep this quality.

The plot you choose ideally should be no wider than three or four feet, so you can reach across it without stepping on it. Stepping on it compacts the soil, not good for growing things in. Some people place a board across the bed or stepping stones to prevent stepping on the soil. Outline the area with a garden hose, bricks, string, sticks, flour, spray paint or whatever to get a clear picture of the final shape of the bed. Nothing is really final in gardening, we all make adjustments as we go but once you have the layout identified the area needs to be cleared of all grass, plant roots, rocks and other debris.

Existing grass can be either removed or smothered.

To remove the grass, you will use either hand tools (turf edger and a square shovel) or a machine called a sod cutter. In either case you will be left with pieces of sod that you can either place in other barren areas of the lawn or throw onto the compost pile (lay them upside down on the pile to help smother the grass and expose the roots to the sun). After the plot is clean, break up the top eight to twelve inches of soil with a pitchfork. This tool is great for this job as you are not necessarily looking to dig up the whole area, just open it up so water and soil amendments can reach down into the substrate. You might be tempted to rent or borrow a roto-tiller but I caution you to resist the urge. Roto-tillers tend to more completely destroy the soil structure and there is growing evidence that soil just below where the tines reach can become a hard pan which is difficult for plant roots and water to break through.

Next, spread top soil mixed with compost or composted animal manure. What we are doing here is improving the soil texture. The manure is a great way to attract earthworms, the true workhorses of the garden. Spread the mix about 3” thick and then work it into the top six to eight inches of soil with the pitch fork. After digging it all in and leveling the plot, sprinkle the area with a gentle shower of water until just before puddles form. This allows the soil to settle, pushing out any air bubbles.

Smothering the grass can be done with clear plastic sheeting or newspapers. Use the plastic sheets in the summer so the heat of the sun bakes the grass until it dies (3-4 weeks). Use the newspaper method at anytime of the year by piling on 8-10 sheets and holding it down with soil until the grass dies (several months). The newspaper method is best done in fall and allowing it sit over winter. A way to speed up either process is by spraying Glyphosate on the grass first. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in many products on the market such as Hi-Yield and Round-Up. This chemical is considered the safest in that it will break down and become harmless within 10-14 days. I have used this method and it works great. After the grass is dead, the grass becomes a mulch and you can now pile on top soil mixed with compost or composted animal manure.

As the soil ‘ages’ you will begin to see earthworms throughout the plot, this is an excellent sign that you have the start of a fairly well balanced ecosystem.

When choosing plants for your new plot, pay particular attention to your growing zone and light/shade requirements. Full sun means at least six to eight hours, and more than this can be too much.

Be sure to follow growers recommendations for the proper width and depth of the hole. Then fill the hole with good garden soil and some fertilizer, time-released 10-10-10 is probably best.

Doesn’t it feel wonderful to know that you have taken the first steps towards bringing life up out of the ground and reconnected with your past?

Well this is enough for now. I’ll cover compost and mulch in another posting. So, until then good luck and have fun.

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One transplant at a time

I love gardening, but my love is tested daily as I attempt to turn these lawn-filled, clay plots into flower-supporting, food-producing, horizontal compost piles. When we moved into this house, several years ago, there were four rose bushes (in sad shape), five evergreen shrubs (dying), five fruit trees (apple, cherry, peach, pear, plum, all in desperate need of pruning), a catalpa tree and a dogwood tree both in need of pruning. And all in desperate need of fertilizer. There was not one bit of mulch to be seen and the soil was hard-brick clay. Talk about your gardening challenge! The joy of having a clean slate to start with was not to be found here. I was faced with first getting what I had cleaned up and healthy before I could consider starting anything new.

I had never gardened in clay before, I had never grown roses or fruit trees either so I began reading, listening to garden talk shows on radio and television and visiting the many garden centers and nurseries surrounding me. I also visited the wonderful public gardens to see what grows here. Thankfully, the knowledge base concerning plants and landscaping has expanded greatly thanks to the internet and the ability to blog. All of the wonderful people who have given advice can only be summed up as golden. Thank-you all very much for sharing your pictures and advice. I wish I could thank each of you by name but given that I can't possibly remember all of you, I have tried to list as many as I can on my blogroll. The sum total of all of this knowledge I have gathered has given me the confidence to expand my gardening abilities and grow with my gardens. And now I want to share my mistakes and successes with all of you in hopes that some new gardener might learn and gain the confidence to start their own gardens.

While attempting to nurse everything back from the throes of death I immersed myself in the fantasy of drawing up plans. Many of you know what I mean, I was filled with the excitement of planning new and glorious flower beds and life-sustaining vegetable plots and sensuous herb gardens. Well, in the meantime, I had to learn what to do to get the clay soil into some usable state. So my hands were full and my ideas were flowing. I love learning new things!

I spent the first full year observing how everything grew here, where the sun and shade fell and taking note of different views from each window in the house. This was essential in order to determine where best to place all of the planned plants and hardscape I was planning. Many plans and bed designs have changed from the originals or should I say I have 'adjusted' them to better fit the reality of a budget and available space. To be modestly honest, my inadequacies and enthusiasm needed to be trimmed a bit.

The second year we added a deck to the back of the house and this provided at least two new corners and ideas for beds, one a shade garden, the other an herb garden.
At this time I began removing lawn to make five beds and began adding as much compost as we could afford. I also began covering the areas with small bark knowing it would help keep the soil cool in the hot summers that is part of Utah living. I was trying to get worms to come up closer to the surface so they could help loosen the soil. I couldn’t resist the urge to add some plantings so I put in a couple of Irises (which are one my favorite flowers), a Plumbago, and a clematis. All of which died by the next year. The clay was still too much for them to survive in. The lesson of patience had been taught and learned so it wasn't a total bust.

Two of the existing rose shrubs had to come out. They were not able to be saved, unfortunately, the other two are now blooming with beautiful red roses and, of course, the not so beautiful typical black-spot, powdery mildew and aphids. But these are getting less and less common because they are slowly getting under control.

The evergreens all had to come out. Neither my wife nor I cared for where they were planted nor did we care to have them in the yard, besides the fact they were mostly brown and not worth the trouble of saving. Sorry evergreen lovers, I just could not do it. Besides, removing them opened up two planned beds.

That Fall I began putting bulbs everywhere, mainly Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinths and the following Spring they all brought much needed color to the otherwise drab landscape. The soil was beginning to loosen up but still needed more work. So, in went more compost and mulch and the worms were beginning to show up for work and have helped greatly.

One major enemy I have to deal with through all of this, and the prospects are good that I will be dealing with this for a very long time, is field bindweed. If you don’t have to fight this very prolific weed then you are indeed a lucky gardener. Not that there aren’t many other weeds to deal with, but this one has roots that can travel thirty feet! When you pull them they break off easily and come up again. If you don’t throw away what you did manage to pull up (in the trash can, not the compost pile!) they will sprout and start anew. If you till and break them each into ten separate pieces they will grow ten separate new plants. Whole articles have been written on just how to kill these things. Some articles say you will never completely get rid of it. Others offer more hope but lean more towards just surviving with it as opposed to completely eradicating it. To control it is basically a matter of timing. The only time spraying is effective is during Summer when they flower and on into the Fall as they store energy to make it through Winter. Glysophate (there are over 200 name brands that use this as their main ingredient, with the most notable being Round-Up) is probably the safest for humans. The smallest drop of it will kill any plant. So extreme caution is advised. But it breaks down within seven days of use and when it hits the soil it becomes inert. So, all in all not bad for an herbicide.

One local Master Gardener I heard of feeds the plant into plastic bottles without breaking them off and allows them to grow there. In June, as they begin flowering, he cuts the bottom of the bottle open and sprays Glysophate on them until they are completely soaked. This is the time of year they take the Glysophate down into the roots and die. They are so prolific that he will be doing this every year, but at least there is some hope of getting it under control. Of course, you can always count on neighbors who don’t garden and don’t care if it survives in their yards. This means that it will always come back.

This year, in January, I decided to buy one of those ‘complete’ gardens you see in catalogs to put in one of my full-sun beds. It is a butterfly/hummingbird garden. So when Spring came around I covered the bed with composted steer manure and more compost and an all-purpose fertilizer and then tilled it all in. When the plants arrived about a month later the plot was fairly easy to dig and so I planted all 51 plants. This planting took place just three days ago and the weather has been pretty much perfect for it. 50s to 60s daytime and down into upper 30s to lower 40s at night. Occasional rain. Mostly overcast.

I am keeping my fingers crossed and getting the irrigation system prepared because I think this Summer is going to be hotter and dryer than usual. Our snow pack in the Wasatch Mountains is below normal so water will definitely become a problem towards the end of Summer.

I love life, and gardening is such a wonderful expression of ‘love of life’. When we can spread hope in this way it shows that we are doing more than just taking up space on this planet.

So, I hope you join me in my journey deeper into gardening as I try to tame the clay and beautify our world one transplant at a time.

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Mowed lawn for first time this year

Last year the first mowing wasn't until April 13. So, this is what about two weeks earlier. The grass was pretty tall because I waited as long as I could due to my lawn service spreading fertilizer and crabgrass preventer on top of the grass. It was already long at that point. I watered the lawn twice to get it all down as deep as I could before cutting it.

I got four full bags of grass. I put it all near the compost pile and spread it out so that any fertilizer and weed killer could be leached out before putting it on the compost pile.

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Planting pansies

This has become one of my most anticipated Spring 'chores'. It has been, the last two years, my first trip to the nursery after the long winter months. I go, ostensibly, to purchase Pansies. But the real reason is to be able to walk among all of the beautiful greenery and colorful flowers that provide the proof I need that Spring has indeed arrived. Nothing rejuvenates me more. I think my wife is in on this little guilty pleasure of mine because she lets me go by myself so I am not 'pressured' with the need to hurry. I get lost in all of the choices of everything there is to offer. I haven't yet ventured into anything other than Pansies but I am certain that, in the future, after all of my plots are finally up to snuff and able to provide the support these plants need, I will be tempted to bring home something I had not gone to the nursery planning to buy.

Oh happy day when I can finally place that crabapple tree and the crepe myrtle I have been eying. The Hydrangea will certainly be one of the first shrubs to go into the perfect spot I have picked out for the perennial bed in the back yard next to the deck.

For now I have to be satisfied with the few beds that are already growing plants.

You see, I have been building up three perennial beds in the back yard and two in the front yard for two years (2007 is the third year) and have a few plants here and there as 'testers'. Sort of the 'canary in the coal mine' if you will.

I'm not sure if I have put enough compost into these plots to over come the clay. I have been frightened by the horror stories of how water-logged clay soil kills plants. I have been keeping careful records of how much compost I have added to these plots to combat the clay and if these plants survive then I will feel more confident in buying more expensive plants.

Last winter I bit the bullet and bought a starter Butterfly garden from Bluestone Perennials. Every plant I have purchased from them in the past has survived and arrived looking healthy enough that I feel confident I can plant the 51 plants that will arrive next month.

I must admit that I am a bit apprehensive and nervous about having to put that many plants in at one time, but I have at least gotten to the point to where I believe I have a reasonable chance to make it work.

The soil was really easy to dig in this Spring in the few plots I have been building up so I added a little more just to be certain.

So, with Pansies and trowel at the ready, I come home to plant that one perfect 'welcome mat' to what will most assuredly be the best gardening season ever.

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