What to Do With All Those Leaves?!

What to do about the leaves….rake them? Bag them? Ignore them? Leaves are one of the best things about fall. It’s much easier for me to say that now than when I was a kid. I grew up in dense woods with old growth trees that towered over our world. Every fall my parents expected my brothers and I to help rake up the multitude of leaves that rained down on our yard from those great giants. I don’t know how they did this, I can barely get my own kids to clean up their rooms. The leaf pile in the back of our property was the size of a small house. Somehow the fun we had jumping in it never equaled the misery of spending your entire Saturday dragging sheets full of leaves to the pile.

My own kids love leaves. When the leaves finally fall from the woods that skirt our property, it’s time for “leaf sledding”! You’ve never heard of this sport? C’mon over, my kids would gladly introduce you to it. It helps that our entire property is a hill. There is virtually no level ground, which has forced me to be a creative gardener and eliminates the possibility of us ever renting a moonbounce, but as far as sledding goes – it’s a three season sport at our house. In the winter it’s the traditional snow sledding, helmet required because any piece of plastic carrying a small child can reach speeds well over the “oh-my-gosh-she’s-going-to-kill-herself” level. Come summer, we have the longest, fastest water slide in town. But in the fall it’s “leaf sledding” season. 

My husband uses the mower to maneuver all the leaves into a single thick lane for sledding. Any plastic tobagon or saucer will do. It’s a great way to spend a fall afternoon - great exercise for the kids and hours of entertainment. My kids like to sled down while holding a small video recorder in front of them and when they finally wear out and come inside from all the sledding, they watch these videos endlessly. The results are pretty funny, especially when a cat, chicken, sibling, or unsuspecting adult gets in their path.

Don't Recycle That Newspaper! I've Got a Better Idea!

Once upon a time I was a purest and I thought store-bought mulch was for sissies who weren’t serious about growing organically. Chipped leaves and sticks from my yard were fine for mulch, but as for the rest – I would stay on top of those weeds. [pause for effect....] Then I had kids.

Like so many other things that changed after children like sleep patterns, the cleanliness of my car, and how much time I spend on my hair, I do things differently now. I love mulch and buy it by the pick-up truck load. And every year we buy more. I know this is a terrible thing to confess as one who claims to garden organically.

As my garden has gotten bigger, I’ve learned how to get the most bang for my buck when it comes to mulch. Before any mulch hits the ground, I cover the ground with a layer of newspaper. Our newspaper uses vegetable-based inks, so as it breaks down it won’t harm the soil. And it holds in moisture as well or better than conventional mulch. Here’s the best part about newspaper mulch - it’s free! (well, unless you count the money I spend on my subscription, but I’m a compulsive morning paper person so that would happen even if I didn’t need the paper for mulch!) We stock-pile paper all year long and what isn’t used for starting fires in the fireplace is used for mulch in the spring. We never have enough.

Newspaper alone is a great mulch and if it wouldn’t blow away I’d forget about buying anything else. I’ve heard of hard-core cheap skates who simply weigh down their paper with rocks. I admit to being more than a little vain when it comes to the appearance of my gardens, so that’s just a little too cheesy for me. After the layer of newspaper is thoroughly wetted (sometimes it is necessary to keep a hose handy and sprinkle as you go or the whole process becomes a comedy of errors), I toss out a thin layer of store-bought mulch, just enough to hide the paper and keep it from blowing away.

We do this newspaper/mulch trick around all our fruit trees, blueberry bushes, flower beds, and now our brand new “vineyard” (12 grape vines we’re testing out to see if our south-facing slope will be conducive to grapes). Last year we tested out how well the newspaper/mulch duo worked as compared to the mulch only by papering around half the fruit trees and then (because we had run out of paper) simply mulching around the other half. The paper/mulch half did a better job of keeping the weeds down. The mulch circles around the trees without paper seemed to shrink each week surrendering more and more of their ground to the encroaching grass (thus making it difficult to drive the mower around them without decapitating yourself).

I still don’t do much mulch around the “real” vegetable garden. I’m too worried about what might or might not be in the conventional mulch from the local hardware place. But this year I am going to try the red plastic mulch around my tomatoes. The last two years we were struck with the early blight and then the late blight. So, in the interest of getting no blight, we’re going to mulch our tomatoes. I’m curious to know if the theory that red plastic mulch will make your tomatoes ripen faster is true. Reading a few garden-nerd websites on line, there are a wide varieties of opinions on that, so I’ll have to see for myself. Look for a red-plastic report late this summer. (I know, I know, it’ll be hard to contain yourself!)

Meanwhile, happy mulch season. Maybe it’s time to subscribe.

Note: My husband knew I was musing on mulch and sent me the following article, pointing out that even if we aren't buying it for our gardnes, most of us are eating plenty of mulch!
In case people don’t know it, when they eat low fat foods they are getting their share of mulch…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576300991196803916.html?mod=WSJ_hps_editorsPicks_2

Lasagna Time!

Do you ever say to yourself, “If I had all the money in the world, I’d hire a landscaper to come turn that part of my lawn in to a real garden?” OK, maybe you don’t. But if you didn’t have to dig up all that grass and till the heck out of it, wouldn’t you like more garden space? If for no any other reason than it’s less grass to mow? Organic fruits and vegetables are expensive – new gardens are not. A little work now can open up your options this spring.

Last weekend, my husband and I were on our way to visit vineyards in Virginia. I was boring him to death by reading about the vineyards aloud until he gently told me he’d rather I didn’t. So I kept the next gem to myself. He, being the chief grass cutter and weed whacker on our estate, would have appreciated the Italian vineyards philosophy on the grounds surrounding your home.

The literature stated the vineyard was designed in keeping with the Italian tradition of everyone having their own groves, vineyards, and gardens at home utilizing all available outdoor space (OK, maybe they left room for a Bocce Ball court). They thought a “lawn” was a waste of natural resources (I’d have to agree). My husband came home from our visit cautiously considering putting in our own vines, and I arrived motivated to begin reclaiming our lawn for more productive purposes.

So first thing Monday morning I made a lasagna garden. I know I’ve written about lasagna gardens before, but just in case it didn’t have the life-changing impact it should have had, I’m going to refresh your memory.
A lasagna garden begins with any patch of ground. This ground can be an old garden, an underachieving garden, or an absolutely unadulterated lawn. I’m generally in favor of staking your claim on the useless lawn, but that’s just me.

After envisioning the size and shape of your garden, cover the desired area with a thick layer of newspaper. Yep, newspaper. Be sure to leave out the shiny colored circulars. It’s best if the newspaper you choose uses vegetable inks (the York Daily Record does). Try to choose a day when the wind is not whipping around. After you lay out the newspaper, wet it thoroughly and then begin your lasagna.

Lasagna consists of layers of “green” (compost, manure, grass clippings, basically anything rotting) and “brown” (leaves, straw, peat moss, mulch, pine needles, wood ash). Continue adding layers at your whim for a month or two and then leave the whole thing to “cook” over the winter. If it’s a dry fall, you may want to wet it occasionally to move the process along.

It may not look too pretty (until the first snow hides it), but by spring you’ll have rich wonderful soil, ready to garden. And you didn't have to lift a spade because you turned your lovely lawn in to compost for your new garden! If you want more detailed, technical directions, I highly recommend the book Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. (buy it through the link below and you’ll make me 2 or 3 cents)

In my new lasagna garden this spring, I’ll add more blueberry bushes adjacent to our current blueberries – less hillside to mow and more blueberries to share with the birds (this year we’re going to buy a net….). I’m not finished adding lasagna gardens though, I’d love for this place to look like an Italian homestead.

I’m getting ready to harvest my fall peas and dig up the peanuts before setting the chickens loose to free range for the fall/winter (aerate the gardens and eat the pests – hopefully lots of stink bugs!). Maybe you’re getting ready to close up your gardens too, but before you do – don’t forget to start next year’s. October is time to plant your garlic, shallots, and spring onions. It’s also time to dream a little dream of all the wonders you can grow next year and get started on the lasagna.

Marshmallows, Lasagna, and Cover Crops

We cooked marshmallows over the tomato vines last night. After fighting, and losing, our battle with the tomato blight, I was tired of walking past the withered, sick brown vines each day on my way to the barn. We’ve never had the tomato blight like we did this year. Every time I looked at those vines I worried that we’d never grow a healthy tomato again. I don’t know if burning them will help kill all the spores they left behind, but it felt right. Plus my kids love any excuse for a bonfire (that includes the biggest kid who lives here and still loves to play with fire). Have a marshmallow - it’s time to start next year’s garden.

Nobody’s garden looks good this time of year. Everything is brown, withered, and dotted with weeds. A few things are still growing. I was careful to keep the fire away from the lettuce, spinach, and peppers that are still doing their best in our garden. The peppers we are getting this time of year are small and funny-shaped. The hot peppers have all turned bright red – even the jalapeños. I know that any morning now I will walk outside and find them all shriveled from the cold and liquid inside. Before the fire yesterday, I picked every pepper I could find. I washed them, cut them in half, and seeded them. Then I filled Ziploc bags with them and put them in the freezer. According to the book, Stocking Up, the classic preservation guide by Carol Hupping, it isn’t even necessary to blanche peppers before you freeze them. The book does say you can blanche them if you feel compelled. I’m all for easy, so I’m taking my chances and freezing them without the blanching. I’ve also roasted peppers before freezing and they’ve worked out fine. I’ll let you know how the naked peppers turn out.

Besides burning the garden, there are other things to be done to prepare for next year. It’s very tempting to leave the skeleton of the garden lying until spring. After all, nothing’s going to grow there, right? Wrong. With a small effort this fall, you can have luscious, rich soil in your garden next year. Here are two options.

Lasagna gardening. Ever since learning about lasagna gardening about eight years ago, we’ve been using it each fall to enrich our current beds and to add new ones. It’s a great way to re-purpose all kinds of yard waste and works like a charm. Lasagna gardening is simple. You select a new spot for a garden (or cover the current garden space. This is how I secretly enlarge my garden a foot or two each year. Slowly I’m taking over the entire yard and no one notices!). Cover the space with a thick layer of newspaper. Don’t use the glossy circulars, stick with plain newspaper. It’s best to do this on a calm day. Wind makes this task pretty difficult (although it does make it an amusing spectacle for your neighbors and terrifying one for the cats).

After the paper is down, wet it thoroughly with a hose. Next, layer on whatever you want – compost, pine needles (unless your soil is already pretty acidic), leaves, grass clippings, wood ash, horse manure, more paper, peat moss, etc.) Basically, you want to layer “brown” (dry dead stuff or paper) and “green” (compost, fertilizer like stuff – you can even use liquid fertilizer). We keep adding layers right up until Christmas and then leave it alone until spring. The winter cooks the lasagna garden and creates rich wonderful soil by spring.

The best part about starting new gardens with lasagna gardening is you don’t have to dig up the grass to begin a garden. Just put down the paper and start layering. I’ll never “dig” a new garden bed again. Lasagna gardening is great on an existing beds because it kills off any weeds and continues to keep them down in to the summer. You just dig right down through any layers still visible to plant. But the best thing about lasagna gardening is it’s free – you (or your neighbors) already have everything you need to make a rich, organic garden bed by spring.

The other option for the winter is to plant a cover crop. We’ve never done this, but after reading about it, I think that’s been a mistake. In my quest to figure out how to rid our ground of the blight and how to make our soil healthy, I learned all about cover crops. Leaving your garden bare is a huge loss. By planting complimentary winter crops in your garden you can improve your soil, adding nutrients lost from summer crops. It also keeps out the weeds, and, maybe best of all, it looks good all winter. It’s inspiring to drive by a field of winter wheat – all emerald green against the barren landscape around it. That will be my garden this winter. After we till up the burned ground, I’m going to plant cereal rye grass.

You can solve a whole host of soil problems by planting the right thing in winter. Plants that have long root systems help to aerate your soil and loosen it up for the plants to come, creating tunnels for the next crop to follow. In the spring when you till or harvest your winter crop, the root system will die off and create soft porous soil for the plants that follow. I’m hoping that will help my carrots to grow straight – they are normally forked or bent, we even get perfect right angled carrots due to the rocks and hard ground down below the surface. It’s a great freak show, but they’re difficult to peel. Check with the extension service in your area or a good seed/feed store to find out which cover crops work well for your zone.

When it’s time to take down a cover crop it’s easiest to till it under, but you can also hoe it or pull it up for your compost pile. If planting a cover crop makes you nervous, try a small one first. You can and should plant cover crops on your empty areas in the summer too for all the same reasons. I hadn’t thought of it as a cover crop, but I always try to plant something in every bare spot, even if it’s just gourds. Barren garden left alone is a haven for weeds and that doesn’t do you or your garden any good. Marigolds and sunflowers are also excellent quick growing cover crops. I stick marigolds in any empty spots for their color and bug repelling properties, but they also get big and crowd out any weeds that try to infiltrate.

I know you thought you were finished with your garden, but do this one last thing and then you can be done. (Unless you want to plant garlic –more about that later) Plant a cover crop to enrich your soil or lasagna garden it. Do one or the other and the pay off will be rich. As always, get your kids involved in this process. They can learn a lot if you explain why you’re planting something for the winter and they’ll love the idea of planting a lasagna garden!

It's that time again!

This weekend we clipped the chickens’ wings. And as much as I am fundamentally opposed to clipping anyone’s wings, it was necessary because it is time to start the gardens! (If you’ve never kept chickens, you may not realize that 16 chickens can destroy, uproot, and scatter a good size garden in a matter of minutes. They are ruthless in their search for edible bugs) Now that their wings are clipped we can close the gate and they won’t fly over the fence of their pen. So many common phrases have come to life for us as we care for our chickens. They don’t like being “penned up” any more than the rest of us, but they’ll adjust. Just so long as they don’t fly the coop. The great thing about chickens is that they are incredibly forgetful (this seems like a kinder word than stupid) and in only a few days they’ll forget that they used to roam free on our range.

Anyone attempting an organic life needs a garden, even if it’s just a pot on your porch. If you own a home or have access to some open space – cultivate a garden. Nothing will save you more money or make you happier (except maybe free maid service). If your home is limited – be creative. You can build a raised bed on your deck or attach window boxes to the railing. There are lots of wonderful books on growing vertically. You’d be surprised what you can grow with very little space. Potatoes will grow in a garbage can and tomatoes can grow in hanging pots. Herbs will grow in a sunny window.

Do you have any friends who have the space but haven’t put in a garden? Maybe they are intimidated and worried about having the time to care for it. Together you could grow some wonderful stuff. You won’t just share the work – you’ll share the rewards!

If there is absolutely no way you can have a garden at home, or even if you do, consider joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). You’ll meet lots of great people who will share their wisdom with you and you’ll get a larger variety of plants than you could ever grow on your own. Some CSAs operate year round and have dairy and meats, in addition to vegetables and fruit. Check out www.localharvest.org/csa to find a CSA near you.

If you have a suitable space of lawn that you would like to make in to a garden, there’s a fairly easy way to do it. “Lasagna gardening” is a bit of an art form, but you need only to know the basics to end up with a lush garden next season. First you lay out your garden by placing thick layers of newspapers (no glossies and try to avoid too much color) in the shape you have planned. Water the newspaper until it is thoroughly drenched. Now you begin your layers using whatever you have available trying to alternate between “green” (compost, manure, organic liquid fertilizer) and “brown” (dried leaves, peat moss, ashes, grass clippings). You can put on as many layers as you like, adding in more newspaper layers. We have gotten lazier and lazier with this each year. Now we mostly use newspaper, horse manure, dried leaves, and wood ash. No matter how much effort we put in, the garden always ends up being a pretty great producer. Like I said, there are books about this if you’re interested (great primer called simply Lasagna Gardening). The high-tech gardeners amongst you may want to test your soil and add what you need to perfect your ph. I’m a pretty low maintenance gardener and I just trust the earth to do its thing each year.

It’s not too late to establish a lasagna garden for this year. You’ll just have to make your top layer mostly soil. Around here where rocks grow abundantly, it is easier to garden in a raised bed. If that all seems too intimidating, you can always purchase window boxes or pots. You can also build your own boxes with untreated lumber. The bottom of your box should be a sturdy screen to allow for drainage.

So look around you – where could you add a garden? The possibilities are endless – be creative! It’s hard to believe that in just a month things will be green and growing. But they will – it’s time to get ready. Tomorrow I’ll post about seeds and starting your garden inside.