Earthly Garden

Trouble getting your compost to break down quickly? Try heating it up! Hot compost breaks down faster and kills wed seeds and many disease pathogens, as well. You will get results in weeks, rather than months or even years. Here are some easy ways you can help heat your compost pile:

1. Laying an old vinyl-coated pool cover or black plastic tarp over the top of her compost pile keeps in heat and moisture. This will help it heat up faster, especially when the sun hit’s the pile during the day.

2. By adding a layer of small tree branches-1/2-inch in diameter or less-to the middle of the pile provides oxygen, an important ingredient for quick cooking compost. If you don’t have tree branches, try 2 x4 or any type if wood to raise the pile and provide air to flow through the pile.

3. Cut up large pieces before adding them to the pile-small stuff breaks down more quickly. Adding leaves is a great way to get the process going and helps speed up the break down.

4. Large piles hold more heat, so make yours at least 3 feet tall, wide and deep. Be sure and throw in random kitchen scraps from time to time as well.

Mulch is a great way to conserve water and keep weeds down without chemicals. But it’s expensive if you have a big garden. You won’t have to spread s such a thick layer of mulch if you put down a two-to-four-sheet layer of newspapers. These days most or printed with ecologically friendly soy ink. However, it’s still a good idea to stick with the black and white pages. Colored ink sometimes contains heavy metals, so you can’t trust those color ads that come along with your morning paper. Not sure what king of ink your local paper uses? Call the newspaper office and simply ask.

Good Morning!
Hope you all had a good weekend. It’s raining something fierce here, and I’m glad. The garden is getting a nice soaking, and that’s always a good thing.
Do you read the newspaper everyday? Pass it along to your garden when you’re done! Newspaper is great in the garden. It acts as a great barrier against moisture loss and helps block weed growth. Here’s how to use it. First lay it down in 2-3 page layers. (If you’re doing this for your vegetables, use only the black and white sections, not the color ones!). Wet throughly and cover with a 3 to 5 inch layer of mulch. Try shredded hardwood or pine straw. This tip is especially useful in areas where water conservation is a serious issue as you’ll find the newpaper keeps the soil moist longer, resulting in having to water your garden less often.

Gardening Pic of the Day:

This morning it’s 27-degrees and all thoughts about early planting of spring tomatoes have been replaced by worries that I might lose my little lime tree that’s been living in a pot on the porch since last year at this time. Actually, I’m surprised it has lived this long. This winter has been harsh here for us in many ways–more icy storms and colder temperatures. Maybe it will be a blessing in disguise, and will kill off some of the grasshopper eggs I know are lurking underneath the cedar mulch that covers my garden paths…nature’s way of dealing with bugs!

My new grow light stand (a late Christmas gift) I ordered finally got here, and even though it’s a bit late for us, I’ll be starting tomato, pepper and herb seedlings myself this year. It will be nice not to be tied to the small inventory of hybrid varieties that the local garden center sells, and I can space the timing out instead of buying them all at once. I’ll be starting some Brandywine tomatoes, a popular, tasty heirloom. I always grow cherry tomatoes, too, for salads, and those do well in pots as long as they are fed some fish emulsion or liquid seaweed.

I’ve been going through all my garden photos, and will be posting more of those as I find them.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all!

Dig it!

bobbi c.
All photos and text Copyright©2005-2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran

insects in garden, grow light stand, antique rose, white heirloom rose, lime tree in container