October 22, 2018
The tomato row that was growing on the ground was a mess. Weeds abounded and rotten tomatoes were everywhere. It was located along a fence line, and I won't be needing that ground until spring, so I pulled the zucchini plants off the compost pile and spread them along on top of the tomatoes. Then I covered the whole row with a tarp. I've combined the time honored processes of composting and occulting into one..
By spring I should have rich dark nutritious soil that's ready for planting. I also pulled up the peas and mulched an artichoke plant with them. Next the beans will come out because the temperature is dropping, and they have already lasted two weeks longer than nature intended..
October 23, 2018
In an attempt to determine when I should turn my compost pile I came across an article by the Rodale press that was incredibly informative. These guys know compost. They set up experiments to determine the right time to turn a pile to get the best compost in the shortest amount of time. It is primarily about oxygen, not temperature, so sometimes turning every three days is not too often..
The goal of not letting anaerobic bacteria to develop is paramount. Depending on what material you use and how finely it's shredded, you can grow fungus based compost, which most gardens prefer because ample bacteria are already present in the soil. Seeing white ash like material when you dig a bit into the surface of the pile is an indication that it's time to turn..
October 24, 2018
The black walnut leaves dried up and blew away before I could gather them this year. Usually they get rained on and mat down on the lawn, but this year was different. It makes finding the walnuts much easier, but the bright yellow leaves in the garden pathways will be missed. The corn continued to ripen on the stalks after the frost burned the leaves so I'm glad I didn't pull them out. The beans also continue to ripen, so getting them past the first freezes was a good idea..
I should have trimmed off the burnt leaves to let the sunlight hit the under leaves instead of waiting for them to shrivel up and die. There are still small beans left that might have ripened if I had. I'm going to consider planting next year's fall beans in the greenhouse so I can close it up when it gets cold and let them ripen longer in the warmth..
