When I look at weeds, do you know what I see? I see plants that have removed minerals from the soil in which they were growing. And because of that, I want to compost them so that those nutrients can be returned to my garden soil. But composting weeds presents some challenges. Here’s how to compost them the safe way.Continue Reading
Fall: The Perfect Time to Build Healthy Soil
I wouldn’t know how to begin a discussion on gardening without beginning with the soil. When I teach a workshop, I ask people what they think of when they think “garden”. Most often, the answer has to do with the harvest. And, of course, we wouldn’t garden if we couldn’t look forward to a bountiful harvest.
But, I always encourage my students to think “soil” because healthy soil will result in a healthy, nutrient-dense harvest. Continue Reading
Tips For Composting in Winter
Spring through fall is generally considered gardening season. For most of us, winter is a time to take a break, do some planning, and dream about next year’s garden. But what about composting? Should we continue to compost through the winter? Continue Reading
Fall Leaves: A Valuable Soil Builder
I’m always confounded when I drive through my neighborhood and see lawn care trucks at homes. The workers are inevitably loading grass clippings or fall leaves onto their trucks, and at the same time applying chemical fertilizers to the lawns.Continue Reading
10 Great Benefits of Using Alfalfa in Your Garden
Using Alfalfa as a Supplement in Your Garden
Alfalfa, a perennial flowering legume, is mainly known as an animal feed. But I love it because it there are so many benefits to using alfalfa in the garden.Continue Reading
Compost is Black Gold!
If there was only one piece of advice I could give to improve your soil, it would be to compost. As a young gardener, no money was available for soil testing. When I finally had my garden soil tested, the results showed that it needed no further amending. How did I do that? I just kept adding compost to my garden year after year.Continue Reading