Tag Archives: compost

What you can be doing in the winter to make great compost

Leave a reply

One persons trash is another persons gold. As in black gold. The growing medium that everyone wants in their gardens. Many people in harsher climates may not be aware of what they can be doing during the winter months to prepare to make compost in the spring. For me, it’s only 9 weeks away before I start to actively make compost.

Those who have taken classes at my home and seen my gardens can vouge for my gardening success using 100% compost. Everything grows in my garden. I’ll soon have available a presentation I gave for the community of Park City a short time ago. I’ll show you how I do it and why compost made at home is superior to anything you can buy at nurseries or garden shops. It’s not even close. The benefits of composting speaks for itself. Stay tuned if you’d like to learn more.

Finished compost

Leave a reply

finished-compost-092816I’m almost done making compost for the year. There’s one more unit that should be done in the next 3-4 weeks which will easily leave me with enough compost for winter and next spring.

When you learn how to make your own compost with free material coming out of your kitchen and yard you’ll realize that you can’t buy it as good as you can make it. Its an easy process and when done correctly only takes 6 weeks to produce. You have to work it every day, but the end result is excellent.

The time to make and complete a batch of compost is quickly coming to an end for the year in our zone. In a matter of weeks the first frost and cold weather arrives. For me, this marks the time when I no longer will add any water to the compost bin, and I’ll use the winter months to do nothing but collect greens. In fact, when I fill my other bin with greens, shrub clippings, and leaves, I wont add any water at all.

Here’s something you can do right now. Bag, collect, and keep your leaves! As many as you can! This is used for a brown ingredient, which is difficult to find in the quantities you need when spring gets here. We usually have no problem collecting the greens, but brown material is the challenge. Make sure you cover them up. Don’t let moisture get into the small opening. It will mat things down and make a big mess.

By doing this you’ll be set up to have success next spring. You won’t have to go hunting around for brown material because you’ll already have it.[ois skin=”3″]

Prepping for your spring square foot garden…right now

Leave a reply

fall bagged leavesMost of the work in the garden is now finished for the year.  Rain, snow, less sunlight hours, and  freezing temperatures have sent many of us inside until spring.  There might be one final thing you can do to finish cleaning up in preparation for next year.  That chore is collecting as many leaves as you can.  Its a great source of free organic material that comes from your yard.

The leaves from our property give me plenty for my needs to take me through the entire growing season(except for this year.)  You can rake them up or use your lawn mower to make it a little easier.  Once bagged, I like to put them all together and cover them with a layer of plastic.  This prevents any moisture from getting into the opening at the top of the bag and keeps your leaves dry.  By spring, if no moisture has entered the bags, you leaves will become light and brittle.  This makes it even easier to break down in the compost bin.  And, leaves are one of the best brown ingredients that you can have around to mix with your green material.

Some folks, such as myself, simply bag and keep their leaves for next year.  Others will till them into the ground now or next spring,  Either way, be sure to get as many leaves as you can this time of year.

Another excellent way to use your leaves next year is for a mulch.  In particular, it’s my ingredient of choice to help cool the soil around my lettuce during the summer.  It works like a charm.  Here’s a nice article that talks more about the benefits of leaves.[ois skin=”1″]

Square Foot Gardening-2nd class

Leave a reply

amended square of soilI will be having my second square foot gardening class on April 11th beginning promptly at 11:00 AM and ending at 1:00 PM. This class is conducted as a workshop. We will be doing all the basic things needed to have a successful SFG, along with the advanced techniques as well. Space is limited so if you’re interested in attending, please contact me by email at: jrt2020_2@msn.com. Price for the class is $25 per person.

In addition to the previous information, we will be spending time on how to protect your gardens in spring, summer and fall, vertical gardening, making great compost, and getting the most efficiency as possible out of your gardens. Please bring a pair of gloves.

At the time of this class you’ll see a square foot garden in full bloom. Normally at this time of year your friendly neighborhood gardeners are getting out their rototillers and working soil that is partly frozen and still wet. Come on out to see how easy it is to grow delicious, healthy food. The goal of attending this class is to leave not having to ask anybody else about how to do something in the SFG system because you’re now the newest expert in the neighborhood. There will be a small line of specialty lettuce seeds available for the summer months at $4 per pack. These varieties can’t be bought anywhere in the state of Utah and I promise you’ll be amazed at not only their taste, but also their appearance.

As the spring season comes roaring in, be sure to sign up for my free seasonal newsletter. I won’t over do it-you’ll only get 4 newsletters per year but I discuss many questions that people have and why we do things a certain way that might not make sense. For instance, look at the square in the picture of this post. Notice the deep, dark square of newly amended soil that’s ready to plant. Anything will grow in this mix. You’ll learn how easy it is to make it. After all, if you don’t get the soil right, nothing else really matters[ois skin=”1″]