December 03, 2018
One of the funnest garden chores for December is burn piles. Who doesn't like a roaring hot fire on a cold overcast day? Heck, even the neighbor kids will come over to help you. Some people these days are using their sticks in what's called Lasagna gardening. It's like sheet composting on top of a layer of newspaper. You pile green materials, brown materials and sticks together and let them compost down..
I don't need more places for slugs and pill bugs to hide so I just burn my sticks and recycle garden waste in windrows. Skipping the compost pile is so much more efficient, and the time release of nutrients into the soil is harmonious with nature's cycle. I could see planting in circles around your weed piles so the plants roots could make use of the decomposing weeds release of nutrients, kind of like reverse mound planting. You could keep adding weeds to the pile all summer..
December 04, 2018
December is a special time of year for both young and old. Bright lights, festivities and the spirit of giving prevail. The garden is dormant however, silent as the night, and in repose. The November rains have come and wetted the land, beginning the decomposing of all the dead leaves and sticks. It's a time of renewal. The earth gets fertilized. Earthworms get fed..
We have garden downtime, but start to prepare for January indoor planting. Check your seeds to make sure you have broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, lettuce and Brussels sprouts. Count your plastic six pack planting containers. Make sure you have enough seed starting mix and fish emulsion. I'm going to put "A bale of straw" on my Christmas wish list and so should you..
December 05, 2018
I saw Buttercup leaves poking up out of the ground yesterday and was amazed, as always, by how early they are. They will soon be covered in snow, so it seems like an inopportune time for them to emerge. I can't get used to wild flowers putting in so much prep. time..
When I see them in the spring I think they have "arrived", but actually they've been working to get to the flowering stage for a long time. After they get pollinated they have to grow seeds and disperse them. We only notice them as flowers and they get ignored as plants, unless they're growing in my garden, where they get go be a dried floral arrangement all summer long until the winter snow reintroduces them to the ground from which they arose..
