Tag Archives: leaves

Bag and save those leaves!

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Try to bag as many leaves as possible if it’s not already to late. I’m able to get about 15 of them which is a few more than I actually need. I like to push back a few inches of growing soil and then add a layer of dried leaves. By the time spring arrives they will be gone. They’re a great soil amendment, and the best part? Its free!

I’m also sure to cover my bagged leaves with plastic. When rain and/or snow get in from the top the leaves get messy and soggy. You can still use them but it gets to be a lot more work. For those looking for a way to make extra money for kids at home, contact me. It might be too late for this year, but you can certainly start next year.

Finishing up the regular season-compost bin

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This is a picture of my fully packed in compost bin on October 10th. I’ve got about 6-7 weeks of time before the weather gets really cold. I’ll work this bin every day, mixing it, mashing the ingredients, keeping it moist, and continually moving it. My thought is to get one more batch of compost before the bad weather gets here. As of the time of this post, I’ve lost almost half of the original mass. Free ingredients make up this compost bin. And if it seems a little too moist, or if I can smell something that I can identify, I’ll add leaves to balance things out.

Compost bin should smell earthy after a couple of weeks. Done correctly, you can produce an excellent quality of compost in as little as 6 weeks. The benefits of making your own compost can be seen here. While some experts will say you need 18-24 months to make a quality compost, that is true only if you don’t work you compost. If you do nothing and just let the contents sit, you’ll certainly get compost in this time frame. But by working it every day, you can speed up the process substantially.

Quick tip: this is the time to gather and save your leaves? You don’t have to rake them up and send them to the dump. Save and cover them for use in next year garden. It makes an excellent mulch and also a great compost ingredient to add-in to balance the green or kitchen items you’re using. Click here to learn more about composting leaves. My experience is that you don’t really need to shred them. If you feel like you want to and don’t have a shredder, use your lawnmower. [ois skin=”1″]

Prepping for your spring square foot garden…right now

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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″]

Dinner tonight

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twe evening dinner salanova, butter chard, carrots 061813Everything is coming up like mad right now with our 90+ degree weather. I went out and pulled some carrots(minicor), some butter chard, and some lettuce. And the lettuce didn’t cost me $3.00 a head at the fancy stores. You can grow this for pennies and you’ll never, ever beat the taste of freshly harvested lettuce. I rinsed, cleaned and dried it, then made us a tasty Caesars salad. I usually have a batch of Caesars salad dressing made up in the refrigerator. For those who love Caesars but end up being disappointed by the store-bought dressings, you ought to buy my ebook. Although the book is about square foot gardening, it’s got a great recipe in there for Caesars salad dressing. It’s a shortcut version-one that you’re not slaving over when guests arrive. It’s made ahead of time, and it’s very good. You can add as much anchovy paste as you want, or you don’t have to add any. You won’t go anywhere that you’re not asked for the recipe. Oh yes-the things that the lettuce, carrots, and chard are resting on? Whelatgrass. I hate the stuff, but I grow it for a few people who love it. I’m telling you, square foot gardening is the easiest way to go.

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No square foot gardening work but still staying busy

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With a couple of snow storms under our belt and some colder weather there’s really not a lot for me to do. I’ve ordered some brand new seeds from Burpee’ which look like a lot of fun. I’ve also had my eye on some great new things coming from Johnny’s seeds. In particular this new salad mix called “Salanova.” If anyone has had experience with the taste of it please get back to me. It’s some sort of European mix so we might not have a lot of experience with it here in the States. I’ve got 5 people that I grow for in my 148 square foot garden and I’m looking for some really great new things. This might be one of them. A few weeks ago I raked up all my leaves and ended up with about 30 bags. I’ve got a couple of new things I’m experimenting with back in the garden which I’ll talk about later-I just need some time to see how or if it will work. I’ve also got a new growing pattern that you might find interesting-a way to get even more out of 1 square foot. I’m documenting everything and taking lots of pictures to show what it all looks like and will post as soon as I get some results. It shouldn’t be too much longer. But what am I going to be doing with 30 bags of leaves? I’ll use about 3 or 4 of them for my spring/summer/fall needs. The rest? You might not believe this but I have folks who are going to pay me for all those bagged leaves! They want to make compost beginning next spring, and all the local leaves are now long gone to the city dump. I don’t know if I should sell them as just bagged leaves or make compost out of them myself and then sell it? Either way, did you ever think that someone would pay for a bag of leaves? It was a new one for me. But it is one of the greatest things you can add to your compost. I ran some stats on my website the past week and discovered that the 3rd most frequent visitors are from the land “down under”-Australia! I know you’re just starting your summer season down there and I hope you all have great success with your square foot gardens. And if your not a square foot gardener I hope you’ll give it some thought. It’s the best way to garden! Maybe there’s a thing or two here that will give you some additional ideas.

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