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11

Keep on Composting

One Problem in Cold Weather I don’t let cold weather put the brakes on my composting, at least my role in it. For the bacteria, fungi, and other workers in my compost pile, it’s another story. Come cold temperatures, and their work come screeching to a halt or near halt (which depends on the degree […]

12

Of Corn and Compost

Bed Transformation In an hour and a half this morning, a 20’ long by 3’ wide bed of spired, aging corn stalks morphed into a bed of succulent, young greenery in the form of endive and Chinese cabbage transplants. Before beginning this job I harvested what ears were still ripe on the stalks. The yield […]

13

My Compost for a Bin

Compost, All Good, In Time One problem with gardening, as I see it, is that much of it is about delayed gratification. Even a radish makes you wait 3 weeks after sowing the seed before you get to chomp on it. With a pear tree, that wait is a few years. Which brings me to […]

14

Shaving and Composting

 . . . But My Garden is in Order “Some men there are who never shave (if they are so absurd as ever to shave), except when they go abroad, and who do not take care to wear polished boots in the bosoms of their families. I like a man who shaves (next to one […]

17

BLUEBERRIES GALORE, COMPOST TEA REDUX

On My Knees for  Blueberries     For the last few years, my blueberries have had a problem. Perhaps yours also. Rather than grow upright, the stems arch downward, some so drastically that they actually rest on the ground.     A few years ago, I pinned blame on the weather. Not that it was evident just […]

18

EEK, A DINOSAUR IN MY COMPOST PILE!

  A Creature Not Really So Strange     One of the strangest creatures I ever found in my compost was the dinosaur that emerged today as I turned the pile. It was worse for the wear, the gash in its head probably from my machete, the “solar powered” shredder I use for stemmy compostables like […]

19

COMPOST TEA: SNAKE OIL OR PLANT ELIXIR?

Is the Jury Still Out on Compost Tea?     In gardening, as in life, you can’t help but want to love some things, compost tea being one of them. After all, compost is good, tea is soothing, so what’s not to love about compost tea?    Perhaps it depends on how you brew your tea. Traditional […]

20

COMPOST, FERTILITY, & SUSTAINABILITY

Compost and/or Living or Dead Organic Material = Sustainable Fertility Maple leaves already dapple the ground in red and yellow (early this year), one morning showed off what was to come with frost on the windshield, and each day the sun each hangs lower in the sky, yet I’m getting ready for spring planting. Really! Yes, […]