compost | Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht

compost | Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht - Part 4

Helpful Kitchen Accessories for the Gardener

Composting Made Easy, Gifts for Gardeners, Tools 1 Response »

Dec 122011

Glass tea pot is elegant and beautiful

In a previous post I wrote about herbal teas from the garden and the fun of having nice tea pots. Here is a glass teapot that really shows off your tea.

There are many wonderful reasons to grow your own food. But when we harvest the bounty of onions or potatoes, we’re also left with the problem of what to do with the food that’s piled up on the kitchen counter.

One way to store tubers and bulbs is in a beautiful basket. These baskets work for onions, potatoes, small winter squash, yams and garlic.

There are different ways to store your harvest. Baskets are great.

Another vexing problem can be fruit flies. When you bring in a basketful of tomatoes or apples you can find your kitchen visited by fruit flies. Extremely annoying. These pretty glass containers will take care of those pesky flies with no harmful chemicals.

Lures contain yeast, sugar and other natural ingredients

I’ve saved the best for last though. We’re always looking for a good way to store composting scraps in the kitchen and finally someone has made a bucket that fits under the sink with a good tight top. I mean really, it’s about time. You can find all these useful kitchen helpers at Gardener’s Supply Company.

Finally a good compost bucket to store out of sight

Sheet Mulching- Winter is a good time to start

Composting Made Easy, Soil and Amendments 3 Responses »

Dec 072011

Layers for sheet mulching

Sheet mulching is the simple act of layering greens,(weeds, garden greens, kitchen waste), cardboard, manure (although not absolutely necessary) and mulch. By doing this over the winter, you allow decomposition of weeds and the proliferation of worms under cover of cardboard.

Use sheet mulching instead of digging. It saves your back and brings new fertility and health to your soil. By using manure, you introduce worms into the soil and they proliferate under the protection of the cardboard.

You can use this method for both large and small areas. Sheet mulching around fruit trees keeps down weeds and will add fertility in the Spring when the tree comes out of dormancy.

In large areas, you can use it to remove that old, tired lawn. At my own home I replaced the backyard lawn that the kids and dog had used and abused and no longer looked good. I didn’t want to dig it up; that would have killed my back. Instead I sheet mulched it.

Earthworms can turn your weeds into beautiful, healthy soil

I mowed the lawn, leaving the clippings on the ground. I rounded up all the other weeds and greens from the yard and laid them down over the lawn.

I laid down approximately 3 inches of manure over the whole lawn. If you don’t have access to manure, just use as many fresh greens and kitchen compost as you have.

Next comes the cardboard. I went to an appliance store and picked up large cardboard boxes, free, of course. Be sure to overlap the edges to keep the weeds from sneaking through.

On top of this I put another layer of manure and then covered all of this in 6 inches of mulch. You can use free shredded tree trimmings from your local tree service, or lay out straw from bales of hay.

If it is dry in your part of the country, be sure to give the area a good soaking to get things decomposing. Then let the winter take care of the rest. Come Spring, you will find that the area is ready for new plantings.

Take a look at my back yard. I promise you I did not dig up one square inch of the lawn that used to be there. Worms did the hard work. You just have to invite them in with a little manure and cardboard.

Without digging up a spadeful, I turned lawn into this edible landscape

P.S. If you prefer to use custom made fabrics for your sheet mulching, Amazon and Gardeners Supply
sell some good products. Both of these links I’ve provided will take you directly to fabrics for sheet mulching.

December Projects for the Winter Garden

Pest control organically, Soil and Amendments 1 Response »

Dec 062011

Proper pruning can result in a bumper harvest

December is a good month to put the final finishing touches to the year’s garden.

Dormant spraying, winter protection of tender plants and planting head the list of December garden projects. Soon it will be time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs.

DORMANT SPRAYING – November, December, January and early February are the months to apply dormant spray to help control over-wintering insects and diseases on deciduous trees and shrubs. A short and simple video will help explain what dormant spraying is and how to do it. Peaceful Valley Farm Supply is a wonderful source of organic gardening tools, seeds, plants and information.

Raspberries, fruit trees, roses all need winter pruning

WINTER PLANT PROTECTION – When the weather turns really cold all of a sudden it is a good idea to provide some special protection to tender or early flowering plants. One of the best ways to provide this protection is to simply cover the plants with some type of cloth material. First place three of four stakes around the plant then drape the burlap, old blanket or row covers over the stakes so it does not come into direct contact with the leaves of the plant. Blankets and burlap are only left in place during the cold spell, as soon as the weather moderates, remove the covering completely. If you use transparent row covers you can leave them on during the winter and plenty of light will come through.

PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS – Fall and early winter are ideal times for planting or transplanting both trees and shrubs. During the dormant season is the time when both will transplant with the minimum amount of transplanting shock. Be sure to adequately prepare the new planting hole by adding generous amounts of compost (if available); peat moss and processed manure with your existing soil. Prepare the new planting soil about twice as large as the root system of the plant being planted or transplanted. Be sure to set the plant at the same level as it was previously growing. Large trees or shrubs should be staked to protect them from wind-whipping during strong winter wind storms. To read a more detailed explanation of choosing a tree, planting and care read this article.

Spring will come soon, and your plants will start budding out before you know it.

Giving Thanks in the Garden

Garden Reflections 3 Responses »

Nov 282011

: We give thanks for the gift of having a garden

At this time of year when we celebrate winter holidays we give thanks for the our family and friends. For those of us with a dry roof and warm home, we have much to be thankful for.

Chard in winter

If on top of that we have a garden that grows beautiful plants and delicious, healthy food, we have even more to be grateful for. When joining friends for dinner, it feels special to bring over a dish made from something we grew in the garden, whether it’s a simple squash soup or an apple crisp.

The better we take care of our gardens, the better they take care of us. With each conscious decision to improve our soil, make compost out of scraps, to deal with pests without pesticides and weeds without herbicides we take small steps forward towards recovering the health of the earth and ourselves. We benefit from our work, but also our larger community benefits.

The garden gives us options every day to make the world a little bit better. A little more beautiful. A little more healthy.

I feel grateful for the younger generation that is passionate about taking care of the earth. Climbing trees helps give a good perspective on life.

A fresh view on the world

Let me know what you’re grateful for in your garden.

Fava Beans for Fall Cover Crop in Your Edible Landscape

Soil and Amendments 5 Responses »

Nov 142011

Fava beans make a great winter cover crop

A cover crop is an area of planting that is sown for the purpose of improving the soil and keeping the ground “covered” to prevent erosion.

The right plant can:

Increase the organic matter content of the soil
Increase the availability of nutrients
Improve the soil’s tilth, which is the texture of the soil
Reduce weeds by choking out undesirable plants
Reduce soil pests
Enhance the soil’s biological activity.

Fava Beans are one of my favorite cover crops. You can sow them late in the Fall even in cold weather.

Fava beans germinate quickly and grow even faster. You can use the tops for compost, eat the beans, and when you’re done with the plants you can leave the roots in the ground. Fava beans will have put more nitrogen into the soil than it takes out. I mean, this is a plant that keeps on giving.

It’s not a good idea to leave any areas of your garden bare in the winter. Rain will compact the soil. The ground is subject to erosion and leaching of nutrients when nothing is growing. I sowed my Fava Beans in November and 3 weeks later they were over 8 inches tall. The moral here is better late than never.

In the Spring, when you’re ready to plant your veggies, you can cut down the fava beans even if you don’t harvest the bean for eating. It will make an excellent addition to your compost pile and leave the soil in better condition.

Once we’ve got our garden planted, we can sit back and welcome winter back again.

Fava beans will go into the prepared soil

: Even in the cold and the shade fava beans grow quickly

Cat and Dog – Go Away from my Garden Beds!

Pest control organically No Responses »

Nov 022011

This cat looks innocent, but it's not!

I walked out into the garden today to look at my newly dug and seeded beds, only to find that the cats, mine and neighbor’s used it for their very own latrine. Actually disgusting. Because this poop harbors unsafe pathogens and is really stinky we don’t want it in our garden beds. Although I love to put up photographs of what I’m writing about, I will spare you this one.

What to do. Physical barriers, like netting, row coversand fencing are helpful in some areas. But it can be a lot of work to put them up. I found this great mat, called a Cat Scat Mat that you lay down on the bed and it has prickly plastic things sticking up that the cats can’t walk on. Very useful for seed beds and smallish areas.

Cat Scat Mats, Set of 5 by Gardener’s Supply Company

Cats are also fastidious about licking their paws and if you sprinkle the ground with cayenne pepper, it is reputed to be effective. Let me know if this works for you.

When you do have to clean up the poop, be sure to wear gloves and DO NOT put it in your compost. Ignoring the fact that I have written that everything natural composts, you don’t want to put anything that has pathogens into your pile if you cannot guarantee that you can get the pile hot enough.

I suggest you use biodegradable waste bags that you put in your garbage. You can find them here. Or you can use these in the ground pet waste composters. These are just for animal wastes.

As a matter of fact, I think I better write about what is NOT good to put into your compost.

We love our animals, but also have to deal with their poop appropriately

Check back soon, very soon.

What to do with all those Fall Leaves

Soil and Amendments, Uncategorized No Responses »

Oct 252011

The Might Oak Tree over our House

It used to be that I could never find enough leaves to compost for the garden. I used to drive to the nearest cemetary. I kid you not. Now I have an embarrassment of leaf riches. Leaves are everywhere around my house. If you have this problem, DO NOT DESPAIR! Do NOT rake up those leaves, put them in a plastic bag and give them to the garbage men. That would make me cry. It would be a crime against nature.

All leaves are not created equal. The oak tree, or Quercus, has roots that go deep into the earth and bring up many minerals and nutrients. These then go into the leaves. The leaves fall to earth and are a gift to the gardener. The oak contains qualities that are oceans above other trees.

This pile of oak leaves will compost over the winter

Do not use leaves from Eucalyptus, Bay laurel or Walnut. They contain tanins that are not good for your plants.

To make sure your pile stays together and creates enough heat to break down, you might want to consider getting a simple wire cage.

Although the leaves falling continuously may get a little annoying, and even a little messy, be grateful for they will make next year’s garden even better. Trust me, you want to keep these guys on the premises.

Composted leaves look clean and smell earthy

When the leaves break down, they turn into leaf mold, which is not really mold, so don’t hold your nose. It smells clean and fresh. You can add this to your strawberry beds, raspberries, and blueberries, who all love a little acidic soil. You can also add it to your topsoil for working into the beds.

Japanese Maples are beautiful in all seasons and give great leaves for your compost

Let the Rains Fall and Fertilize our Favorite Food (Crops)

Soil and Amendments No Responses »

Oct 102011

Soft light rain through our oak trees. (click to enlarge)

In California we have a long, dry summer. When the rains come in the Fall it is truly time for rejoicing. But, the rain isn’t just water, it’s also incredibly useful fertilizer. You may have noticed that your plants really perk up after a rain. Much more so than just using your irrigation system.

Lettuce seedling in the rain

The largest single source of nitrogen is in the atmosphere. However, plants are unable to use nitrogen as it exists in the atmosphere. Nitrogen from the air (N₂) enters the nitrogen cycle through several unique types of microorganisms that can convert N₂ gas to inorganic forms usable by plants. Some of these microorganisms live in the soil, while others live in nodules of roots of certain plants. Rain droplets pick up nitrogen in the air and through mineralization increase the available nitrogen in the soil in a form that the plants can readily use.

All that just to say, we really love the rain. Of course, nature is much more complicated than that. Pollution in the air can cause acid rain, which is not a good thing for your plants. You can read more about nitrogen here.

The process which converts atmospheric nitrogen into plant available nitrogen needs moist soil and warm temperatures. In order for the rain to penetrate into your soil you need to make sure your soil is loose, not compacted and preferably with mulch or compost added to the surface.

Plant seedlings in the Fall for harvest over the winter

Kale seedling in the rain

Healthy soils, make healthy plants, make healthy people.

How to Plant Fall Bulbs for Spring Flowering in your Edible Landscape

Ornamental/edible plants No Responses »

Oct 062011

Bulbs are easy to plant and care for and require little water. All of the bulbs below are also deer resistant. You can plant them with impunity, knowing that they’ll be there for you in the Spring.

Lillies

Fall is the time to plant many bulbs in your garden. They will grow over the winter and flower in the Spring. Here are a few easy tips for getting those beauties in the ground. Some of the easiest to grow and care for are Narcissus and Daffodils, Crocus and Dutch Iris.

Plant bulbs in well-draining soil. Generally, the best soil is a sandy loam. Do not plant bulbs shallow! Follow the instructions for planting depths and sunlight requirements. Flower bulbs prefer neutral pH soil. Please do not ever add horse manure, mushroom compost or other “hot” manure or compost to your flower bulb beds.

Loosen up the soil and add well aged compost (click to enlarge)

Loosen your soil and add amendments. I move some rocks to the side, but leave the rest for drainage. Then lay out your bulbs on the surface so you can see where they will go. I like to have mine in a natural setting, not lined up like little soldiers. I mixed Crocus and Narcissus in the same bed, the short and the tall together.

Firm the bulbs into the soil so that they make good contact with the dirt. The larger bulbs, like the Narcissus, need to be planted with a trowel so that you can get them to the proper depth of 5 – 7 inches. In colder climates, plant deeper, in warmer climates you can plant them a little shallower.

When planting, put the roots down. This is a crocus

Crocus bulb, plant with the root end down

Plant bulbs like this Narcissus in the Fall

Narcissus, root down, growing point up when you plant

Laying out the bulbs in the planting bed

Crocus and Narcissus mixed flowering bed

Crocus naturalized in a meadow

How to Choose Tools You’ll Need for the Fall Garden

Tools 1 Response »

Oct 052011

Good tools make good friends, for your garden health

Tools that will make your life in the garden a little easier.

Loppers and clippers

For the Fall Garden clean up it’s important to have some good tools. The stronger and sharper your tools, the easier and better your work will be. These are a few of the ones I simply can’t live without.

Long handled loppers give you the length and leverage to prune those hard to reach places. These will clip branches up to an inch in diameter. It’s important to keep your blades sharp.

Hand clippers, are of course, the tool of choice for everyday in the garden. I actually have 3 or 4 pairs scattered around the garden so I can always have a pair near at hand. Fiskars or Felco’s are great brands.

Best tool for the job, is the right tool.

Telescoping pruner

The other pruner that is important is the telescoping pruner. If you have trees or vigorous vines, this is the easiest way to get to those heights. I find that looking up and pulling on the rope bothers my neck and shoulders. Be sure to take breaks in your work or you’ll find yourself with a seriously stiff neck.

A small pruning hand saw is good for branches larger than 1 inch. Orchard Supply carries these tools at a good price.

If you don’t have one yet, it’s a good time to consider getting a free standing compost bin. You can find them at Garden’s Alive along with other organic gardening needs.

Enjoy the Fall weather, when the seasons really change in your Edible Landscape.

How to Prepare for Fall in your Edible Landscape

Soil and Amendments 1 Response »

Oct 032011

Winter crops, edible landscaping, lettuce

Lettuce planted for winter harvest (click to enlarge)

Whether you live on the East Coast , the West Coast or in between it’s time to prepare for the winter. As the days get shorter and the nights longer, everyone needs to put their gardens to sleep. This means different things in different parts of the country.

In the West Coast, Southwest and South where the frosts come later (or never) you can put in vegetables now for the winter. This week I planted lettuce, broccoli, kale, chard, carrots, beets, peas and fava beans. We get below freezing weather in the winter, but if the plants are well established by November, they can thrive just fine over the winter.

Now is the time to clean up fallen fruit, old leaves, clear out the dead plants in the vegetable garden and put everything on the compost.

compost, weeds, winter preparation, edible landscape

These weeds are headed for the compost pile.

Mulch your garden. You will protect the soil from compaction and erosion due to heavy rains, it will keep roots of perennials from freezing and create humus as it breaks down.

In areas that you can’t grow winter vegetables, you can still put in cover crops. Planting cover crops in the fall to cover garden beds over the winter is excellent practice—beds under a cover are protected from erosive effects of winter weather. In addition, even if we do not see any obvious growth during the dormant period, root growth continues except when the ground is frozen.

Dried flowers. winter garden, edible landscaping

Drying Zinnia flowers for wreaths

In cold climates you can plant oat, vetch, peas, rye and barley. If they are frost killed, they still will be useful as mulch to cover the ground.

How to Sheet Mulch Your Edible Landscape

Sheet Mulching, Soil and Amendments 6 Responses »

Sep 222011

Sheet Mulching for the Edible Landscape:

Former Lawn, now vegetables and fruit

What is sheet mulching? Simply put, it is putting several different layers of materials on your soil to get rid of your lawn, weeds and unwanted plants. It consists of manure, cardboard and mulch. You can use different kinds of manure and different mulches. The main purpose is to cover the weeds, allow worms to eat them and to create fertile conditions for growing your new plants. Let me tell you how I got rid of my old lawn.

The day I decided I could no longer stand to mow my lawn one more time, I also realized I wasn’t going to break my back digging it up either. Sheet mulching was my solution, and something you can also do fairly easily. Fall and winter is the perfect time to do this. You can let the covered area sit over the winter and in spring it will be ready for planting. Follow the simple directions below and you will be amazed at how easy it is turn turn old and in the way into new and the only way to go.

Decide on an area that you would like to replant. In many cases, an old lawn really suits the bill. First you mow the lawn, or cut weeds and leave them on the ground. Next, spread manure 2” deep over the whole area. If you live near horse stables, they will usually be happy to give you the manure for free. Be sure it has composted and is not fresh. You don’t want to bring in weed seed. If you can’t find local manure, then you can buy manure in bags from your local nursery. Thirdly, cover the manure with large pieces of cardboard (obtained free from a nearby appliance store).

On top of the cardboard you can lay another 2 inches of manure. Cover it all with six inches of fluffy hay or any other good looking mulch. Once done it looks fine. Your next help comes in the form of hardworking earthworms. Imported in the manure they make themselves right at home under their cardboard roofs, and over time (that would be Fall and Winter) they turn the lawn into beautiful soil. I sheet mulched my old lawn in the fall and when spring came, I planted varieties of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries as well as lilies, roses, herbs and flowers. It turned into a cornucopia of beautiful food. The best news was that I didn’t have to dig up the lawn at all, the worms just ate it and turned it into perfect soil.

This is really turning your yard into a beautiful Edible Landscape.

Close up view of new area for fruit and vegetables, used to be lawn

How to Get Rid of Critters in the Edible Landscape

Pest control organically No Responses »

Sep 122011

I just got a question about some really annoying critter(s) in the vegetable garden. Since pesky critters are a common problem, I will help you figure out who is doing what in your garden and how to take care of them, without poisons or pesticides. There are many challenging pests, and in this post, I’ll talk about raccoons, moles and gophers. Stay tuned for other pesty guys tomorrow.

Here’s the question: “For the last week or so there has been some critter routing around in my garden digging through the soil. What could this be…skunk, possum, raccoon, other?…and how do I keep it from digging up my vegetable plants and trampling my young greens.”

My first thought, is that it is probably a raccoon. They are notorious for rooting around in the soil looking for grubs to eat. They will also dig up new sod lawns, looking for food. Raccoons will climb trees and wreck havoc in your fruit trees, breaking branches and eating your fruit. They will open garbage cans, get into your compost and in general be a HUGE nuisance. They will also, come directly into your home and rummage around your cupboards looking for treats. I am NOT exaggerating. All these things have happened to me.

Make sure you are not leaving any dog or cat food outside that will lure them to the house. Be sure to close your doors at night. This may seem obvious, but we always leave our doors open at night for our cats to go in and out. Imagine my outrage, when I discovered that the raccoons had been coming through our bedroom, down the hall, through the living room, into the kitchen, onto the counter and taking my avocados back through the house outside for some evening dining. The nerve of them!

We had a cat door put into the front door of our house. The cats wore magnetic collars that opened the door. The raccoons literally tore the cat door out of the front door, bolts and all. It was like something out of a Stephen King horror novel.

But I digress. Close your doors at night. No food outside. If you have a compost bin, you need to make sure the lid and doors close tightly or they will come back nightly to raid the food.

Wire and bird netting protect vegetables

A simple wire and bird netting to protect plants (click to enlarge)

I screwed and bolted the door of my compost bin and they cannot get in now. I guess I showed them who’s boss.

The picture on the left shows a garden bed with wire over it. Draped over the wire is bird netting. In the Spring birds like to eat the tender young greens. This keeps both large and small critters out of the bed.

This next picture is a close up of the wire and netting.

Wire and netting over a beet bed

The other animals that like to dig in our gardens are gophers and moles. Gophers are serious pests and can do a lot of harm. They burrow underground in a network of tunnels. One sign of them in the garden is a raised mound of earth with a little hole at the top. This is the result from their tunneling. The minute you see a new mound is the best time to get the gopher. Trapping is the most efficient method.

gopher trap

You need to dig directly into the mound and find the tunnel underneath. It will go in two directions. You need to put a trap into both sides, as you don’t know which direction they’ll be coming from. I rub the trap with parsley or carrot greens. This takes away any human smell and also lures them. You can see in the photo, that I’ve put a rope on the trap. I peg it into the ground so that they don’t pull it into the tunnel. I also put a board or stone over the hole to keep the light out. Keep checking the trap. Sometimes they throw dirt into the hole you’ve dug, and you need to clear it out.

Set your trap carefully (click to enlarge)

Trapping is not for the faint of heart. But I’ll tell you, when they start pulling your beautiful broccoli plants under ground, you’ll be motivated.

Moles are insectivores. They don’t eat your plants, but they do tunnel underground. This sometimes creates air pockets around the plants that causes them to wilt. Push the soil back up against the roots of the plants and water them. That will usually take care of your plants. I don’t trap moles. I think they do more good than harm.

Come back tomorrow for more about pesky critters in your Edible Landscape.

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