Fall Cover Crops for Better Spring Soil

With a good 1 to 2 inch layer of organic compost over your garden bed, and a cover crop of green manure planted from seed in the fall, you will be on your way to improving your garden soil for next year's planting. Sown from seed, cover crops germinate very quickly and will grow all winter long. Then simply till the cover crop in once it flowers in spring. The cover crop's foliage will help protect the soil from getting compacted, which can happen in constant winter rain or from blanketing of snow. And when you till it in, the foliage adds organic material that will improve soil structure, increase nutrients and help your soil retain moisture.

Plants in the the legume family, commonly known as the pea family, bean family or pulse family, include soybean, alfalfa, vetch or fava beans. These are some of the best cover crops available (check online seed companies and nurseries). Legume plants are special in that they will retain nutrients that will then be returned to the soil when tilled in, thereby providing nutrients for your spring and summer crops next year. These crops have assertive root systems, which are helpful in breaking up hard soils. They are also very hardy and frost tolerant.

Cover crop seeds can be broadcast in mid-October right over that one to two inch layer of compost and all around the fall crops that are currently growing in your garden. Fall cover crops will grow quickly and reduce weed problems, but won't grow tall enough to overwhelm existing plantings.

Making organic compost for your fall cover crop is easy with tumbling composters. Look for models with more than one section inside: one for new compostable materials and one section for completed compost. If you live where there are temperature extremes, consider one of the Jora tumbling composting machines. They are manufactured in Sweden, and insulated to withstand temperature extremes.
Happy Composting!

Preparing for Winter - Reviewing Your Garden Journal

I wrote in June about keeping a Garden Journal, which might include a map of your garden, what was planted and where, how often it was watered, even details about amounts of sunlight it received and the temperatures it experienced. Written down should also be information on the yields you've experienced from your vegetables, what you liked and what you weren't so crazy about. These bits of information can help you prepare your garden for winter.

Preparing your garden for the winter should include planning for next year. It doesn't have to be exact, but a general idea can help you decide where to put the bulk of your compost. Plants should be grown in different areas of the garden every year, most especially tomatoes, as they absorb different nutrients from the soil. But most will benefit from a fresh place in the garden. Plants that need more fertilizer and water should be grouped together for most effective use of both; an example would be peppers and tomatoes; squash and beans.

After pulling up annuals and weeding, the next step is a good layer of compost to condition the soil for next spring's planting. Our tumbling composters have been busily making nutrient rich organic compost all spring and summer, so we have plenty of compost to spread around. We'll put down a two inch deep layer of compost to enrich the soil and act as a mulch, conserving moisture and reducing the odd winter weed. We use our Fold-A-Cart to get the compost where it's needed. It's pretty easy to park our Fold-A-Cart under the compost machine, dump the compost in and wheel it to wherever in the garden we need it. This cart is especially nice because it is so easy to clean up afterwards, and it has two ten-inch pneumatic rubber tires that give it a great center of gravity and prevent tipping like our old wheelbarrow used to want to do. When we're done spreading the compost layer, we'll give everything a good soaking to provide the moisture that our garden worms need in order to do their jobs. Another spray with the hose and the Fold-A-Cart is ready to be folded down to 20% of its usable size and hung in the garage.

Even though I still have lots of vegetables in my garden (the warm weather still hangs on!): tomatoes, beets, beans, chard and spinach, I'll be updating my garden journal this weekend on what worked in the garden and where I need to move things next year. When we finally do get cold weather, all the refuse from the garden will go back into the tumbling composters to help make more compost for the spring planting.
Happy Composting!

The Benefits of Nurturing Your Soil

Nuturing your soil by adding organic matter is the number one foundation of gardening the organic way. Adding organic nutrients to the soil simulates what happens naturally. One of the best ways to provide organic nutrients to the soil is by adding mature compost.
This critical step to growing food organically by maintaining a supply of nutrients ready for your plants to take up as they need them is easy to do with a tumbling composter. Just add your organic kitchen scraps, yard refuse and BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost to your tumbling composter, give it a turn or two and plan where you'll be using the wonderful, rich compost that will result. Using organic compost, your plants will grow healthy and vigorously, which helps prevent attacks of pest and disease. You will also enjoy larger yields and quicker growing times.
Some of the other benefits from nurturing your soil with organic compost include:
1. It will improve the ability of your soil to retain moisture
2. Compost releases nutrients evenly and slowly
3. Your soil's microbiological activity will increase
4. Improved conditions and structure of your soil will mean a better environment for earthworms and healthy micro-organisms
5. It helps dispose of your organic waste
6. It reduces the loads on landfills
7. Composting will also reduce your water consumption

A tumbling composter will provide you with the above benefits and a continual supply of organic compost with which you can nurture your soil and plants. It's easy, healthful and cost effective, too. Stop by www.BestComposters.com and pick out a composter that will fit your budget and your gardening needs! Happy Composting!

Readying the Garden for Fall

This was the perfect weekend for preparing my garden for fall. Today's temperature hovered around 70 degrees, with a little breeze and the bluest sky. I've harvested the lettuce and the beets, and a bush bean that hadn't done so well. Now I have room and cooler temperatures to allow for some more spinach and chard. But the soil looks like it needs a lift. It's a good thing that we've been composting all summer, putting into our tumbling composter all our kitchen scraps, some shredded newspaper and alittle hay. Now I have plenty of organic compost to amend my garden soil. As a mulch, it will retain moisture, so I can water less. It will also keep down the weeds that have sprouted up so prolifically in my walkways and rocks this year. Need I mention the nutrients that my organic compost will provide to the vegetables I'll plant? I can hardly wait for some fresh spinach salads!

I'm convinced that the biggest reason that we've been so successful with our composting is because we've used BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost regularly. It's kept the temperature of the compost at a regular 130 degrees to allow the organic matter to decompose at just the right rate. With all it's powerful enzymes, BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost has also prevented the odors that sometimes accompany compost. It doesn't mask the odor, but actually digests it.

Check our website for a variety of tumbling composters, paying particular attention to the Jora models for year round composting. And don't forget to order some BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost for your own compost piles for faster, better smelling, 100% organic compost for your garden. Happy Composting!

It's Been A While

I took some time off from blogging to attend to chores and a project that took many more hours than I'd planned for. But it's done and I'm back to write about the second planting!
Our lettuces did splendidly and we've been enjoying them with our meals. I wish that I could plant more at this time, but the heat of summer isn't conducive to new lettuce sprouts. Instead I planted more snap peas,green beans, spinach and beets. (The first planting of beets are doing well, and I am so tempted to pick and eat the greens! But you know how it is with greens...it takes a lot to make a meal, so I'll wait a while and build anticipation.) We've tried an experiment which I will duly note in my garden journal. Hubby suggested that I lay the seeds on top of the soil and cover them with compost. I'm confident that the rich, warm organic compost that we've been making will provide an excellent medium for seedlings to prosper.
And speaking of compost, it is NOT too late to get a batch started for your fall planting! Our Jora composters can turn your table scraps and yard waste into usable compost all year long. These composters are fully insulated and enclosed, allowing the microorganisms to break down your composting materials into a rich soil amendment that will nourish your plants continually. Compost is useful worked into the soil and as a mulch. My roses and clematis seem to have appreciated the compost mulch and started blooming like crazy!
So there is no reason to wait on that tumbling composter purchase. Take a look at the different sizes and models of Jora Composters at www.BestComposters.com. Happy Composting!

Gardening the Organic Way

There are so many ways that our bodies are bombarded with pollutants every day. The air we breathe into our lungs and that is absorbed through our skin includes industrial air pollutants, automobile emissions, and household cleaning agents. The water we drink has trace chemicals in it from rain water, fertilizers and pesticides. And let's not forget to mention the chemicals we ingest on our foods. It's extremely difficult to combat the effects pollutants have on us...shall we live on a mountain top or in the middle of a rain forest? Instead, why not choose to increase your intake of antioxidants by growing and eating your own organic vegetables? In a study by Newcastle University in England, researchers found that "organic food has a higher nutritional value than ordinary produce" with "up to 40% more antioxidants in organic fruit and vegetables than in non-organic." Those antioxidants combat the effects of pollution, slowing aging and reducing risks of disease.
An effective and easy way to start an organic garden is by cutting out chemical fertilizers and replacing them with compost. Mix it into your soil as an enhancement and/or use it as a top mulch...it will provide nutrients for your plants and encourage earthworms to keep your soil healthy. I love our tumbling composter because it's so easy to use, keeps pests out because of it's tight seal, and keeps the heat in which helps the breakdown process work more quickly. You can see our full range of tumbling composters at www.BestComposters.com. You might also want to include some of our BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost to make the process really easy! You won't have to worry about getting the proper mix of nitrogen and carbon into your compost bin, or the odors that can be associated with an improper mix. 100% organic BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost will enhance the output of your compost bin in multiple ways, while keeping with your goal of going and growing organic.
Happy composting!

"Organic" Pesticides

The thing I noticed pretty quickly about gardening organically was the plant destroying pests: bugs, weeds and critters. I knew about beneficial insects, the ones that eat the plant destroyers, and how they could be purchased online, mail order, or sometimes from local nurseries. I also knew that hot peppers could be used in some fashion as well. And my organic farmer husband has long used a soap and water mixture to discourage infestations of insects. But an article in the weekend real estate guide from the Sunday, June 11th Denver Post went into glorious detail about organic pesticides, why they work and a recipe to make it. Also included were some tips for reducing the likelihood of infestations.
First, the recipe: 3 garlic bulbs, 12 hot chili peppers, 2 TBSP vegetable oil, 5 squirts liquid dish soap and 7 cups of water. Blend these together using an electric blender and then strain through muslin cloth, storing in a spray bottle. I made a batch, and have initially found it pretty effective. I also noticed that it smells bad, but dissipates quickly. I think the garlic also helps makes it fairly sticky on the plants and cuts off the air supply to most pests.
Next, to attract beneficial insects, we should keep our gardens dry and healthy. Wet plants are more susceptible to infestations and fungus. Keep your garden mulched (you can use organic compost...easy to do with a tumbling composter from BestComposters.com!)so as to prevent weed growth and retain moisture for the plant roots, then trim leaves so that they don't lay on the ground. Certain plants will attract beneficial insects, like carrots, celery, parsley, caraway, Queen Ann's Lace, tansy, yarrow, daisies, blackeyed susans, asters marigolds and goldenrod.
I haven't tried the last steps to protecting my garden yet in any quantity. I do have the first three vegies, but I'm interested in adding some of the flowers around them to see what impact they'll have. I surely wish I could get our Homeowner's Association to ok chickens. I'm told they are a powerful ally in the war against slugs (not to mention the delicious fresh eggs that they give), and I really need an ally for that war!
Happy Composting!

Springtime Rant in the Garden

This time of year is so exciting with all the new growth going on in my garden! I enjoy checking it every day - ok, sometimes two or three times a day - to watch for the first leaves of the beet plants, see how the peas are almost tall enough to start reaching for the bean poles set out for them to climb, and the flowers as they appear on the tomato plants. Glorious birth!
I can really tell a difference this year in the growth and health of my garden vegetables with the addition of home grown organic compost. It ‘s my hope to have a bumper crop this year, and I plan on filling my freezer with produce. I've also started to think about whom else might benefit from the abundance I've planned for. The article in yesterday's Denver Post about school children in Denver who are learning about where food comes from made me think about how many families could benefit if every school had a vegetable garden. So many kids would be empowered with the knowledge of how to feed themselves and their families, as well as the nutritional benefits that they would reap with their harvests. Surely someone at each school could find the time to sponsor a garden; if not a teacher, then a parent, volunteer from the neighborhood or an employee of nearby nursery. I’d like to donate my time to teaching students how to compost and it’s various uses in a garden. Some schools might even find themselves being able to donate their garden produce to food banks and co-ops. With good weather, and the good soil that I’ve laid down this year, that’s what I plan to do!
Maybe we need a grass roots movement to contact school districts and request that space be made available at each school for a classroom garden, rather than the lawns that most schools have surrounding their facilities. Oh, how my mind does travel along a meandering pathway at times, leading me to consider ideas and dreams that crop up along the way!
And speaking of composting, I’d better get the latest batch of kitchen scraps into the composter, and put on my to-do list to shred some cardboard to mix in as well. After all, can one have too much compost?
Happy Composting!

Planter Box Gardening for Less

Well, we finally got it done, in spite of all the weird weather we’ve had! Our garden is planted!! My husband got the new planter box made, we got our plants and seeds assembled and got them all planted. Whew, what a relief!
The planter box was a big thing, even though there is a lot more area to plant in the ‘in ground’ garden. We are experimenting with the box. We’d gone back and forth for a couple of weeks trying to decide how best to fill that planter box. We knew we were going to use a good quantity of our organic home made compost, straight from our tumbling composter. But what other medium? Top soil was my initial plan…shopping at our local hardware store had me doing the math. The planter box is 12’ x 3’ and 16” deep…a lot of box to fill. That’s some 500 cubic feet of top soil needed, at $2.50 per cubic feet equals $1,250. Even if we mixed the top soil with compost 50-50, we’d be buying $625 worth of top soil. Then I ran across an article about hay bale gardening. This gardener takes hay bales, dowses them with nitrogen (fertilizer), digs a whole in the center and fills it with soil and plants. Sounded intriguing, so I talked with hubby. And he had his own idea. This is what we did: Two bales each of straw and alfalfa, run through a chipper to break it up and mix it well - $32. Into the planter it went, with two gallons of BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost and warm water – under $5. Mix garden soil excess that we had from last year, that wonderful black compost and a little perlite, add to holes dug down into the alfalfa and straw mix and plant. The BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost has already started the decomposition process, heating up the mix and starting to turn it into more compost. Hubby and I are both excited to see what results we’ll have in our new planter box. It was big enough to fit three tomato plants, six broccoli, and 16 onions, for under $100 inside the planter. We won't talk about the redwood lumber that went into building the thing, but it sure is pretty!
By the way, readers remembering the blog about our newspaper planter pots will be interested to know that the single half sheet of newspaper held up just great! I ended up peeling it off of the lettuces very easily when it was wet. The spinach and broccoli seeds planted in them germinated; however, they did not get very big. Next year we’ll get some real grow lights to start them under, and maybe get an earlier start….like February?!?

Twice As Nice Plants

The other day, I was reading the book "Grocery Gardening" (2009 Cool Springs Press) by food and garden writer Jean Ann Van Krevelen and her co-authors. It speaks to the frugal gardeners about planting, preparing and preserving garden produce. I believe I've said before that while I love my fresh from the garden vegies, I haven't done much in the way of preserving that produce. So far I've left that up to my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. They are pros at canning and freezing! No, I really don't leave it all up to them, but volunteer to help in other ways while they're preserving. But this year, I've vowed to at least do my own freezing, and this book has me motivated!
What really piqued my interest in “Grocery Gardening” was a discussion about vegetables and herbs that have double functionality, providing twice the benefit from growing them! My very favorite vegetable discussed in the book is beets and beet greens. Sometimes I think I love the greens more than I do the beet, but they're really good paired together with a little sautéed onion and just a touch of bacon grease. Yum! Chives are another favorite, are easy to grow and being perennial, will come back every year to bless your garden. Use the chives all through the growing season to flavor your recipes, but don't neglect the flowers in Spring! Clip those lovely purple flowers young and tender, rinse and pull apart into separate florets and toss with your favorite salad.
Some of the other plants listed as twice as nice are:
· Garlic and garlic scapes
· Cliantro and coriander
· Dill weed and dill seed
Fennel was listed as a TRIPLE duty plant since it has fronds, seeds and bulbs that can all be used and enjoyed in different ways. You might try looking up a recipe for Braised Fennel online - look for one that includes grated Gruyere cheese for a really yummy treat.
All these vegies, and more, will benefit from a hearty dose of home grown organic compost. Use it as a fertilizer, soil enhancer and mulch! Make composting easy with a tumbling composter from www.BestComposters.com. It's even easier when you add BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost: even if you don't have the exact mix of nitrogen and carbon materials, BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost will help those digestive organisms get heated up without any harmful chemicals - it's all 100% organic, from nature, for nature!

Growing Potatoes in Containers

You may remember, or you may need to check back in the archives for a January blog of mine about growing potatoes in a garbage can.  In that blog, I talked about how I loved the idea of growing my own potatoes without having to dedicate so much of my garden space to it.  Growing potatoes in a garbage can solved the issue of space requirements, and also watering issues, since hubby is going to place the can under one of our hanging tomato plants that he's set up with a drip system!  Clever, isn't he?

So I went out and got a new garbage can for my trash and am ready to drill air holes in the sides of the old garbage can (AFTER I clean it thorougly with BiOWiSH™ Bin Wash.  That 100% organic cleaner will remove all the odors and odor causing bacteria from my old trash can so that I can start this grow with a nice clean can.)  But then I read an article in my Friday, April 9, 2010 The Denver Post Grow insert called "Potato box yields scads of spuds" and it gave me pause.  It seems that this fella, Greg Lutovsky, out of eastern Washington state has developed this 4 foot square spud box that can provide a really impressive yield of potatoes!  Mr. Lutovsky lists five steps to succes in this process:
1.  Select late-season potatoes.  My hubby says this is vitally important because short-season potato varieties produce a limited amount of potatoes and then the plant dies off.
2.  Plant in multiple layers; like lasagna, put in a layer of soil, a layer potatoes and additional side panels as the vines grow a foot above the soil level, making sure to leave at least 2/3 of the vine above the new layer of soil.
3.  Wind a soaker hose through each successive layer of soil and taters so all layers of roots get even moisture.
4.  Provide the potatoes with a medium of loose soil, like compost mixed with potting soil.
5.  Don't overfertilize!  He recommends a 5-10-10 fertilizer instead of a standard plant food.  I think I'll stick to my organic compost that I make in our tumbling composter that our website offers, so that the potato plants will be continuously nourished by the compost.
This all sounds like simple, sound advice.  And frankly, harvesting the vegies sounds like a walk in the park!  The only trouble is that we'd already planned on a garden addition this spring, adding a raised garden in our backyard so that: a) we have more space to grow vegies and b) we have less lawn to mow (!).  This addition will entail a trip to the hardware store for wood, funds for the wood, time planning out where exactly to put it in our yard and how to build it, laying down newspaper over the grass to keep it from growing into the planter and filling it with compost and soil.  This is a large enough investment of time and money to have me putting the Potato Box on hold until next year.  So if you're interested in growing your own potatoes with a limited amount of space and effort harvesting, and you like woodcrafting, Google "Build a Potato Box" or check out the diagram available on lifehacker.com.