...giving back to the land at least one-tenth of what you take out. |
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(It's all connected.) Yes, today's word is COMPOST. ( Today's leaf is tomorrow's mulch. Today's stone is tomorrow's soil. ) |
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| Make compost. Add compost to your soil. It all starts with your soil. First you grow your soil. Feed your soil. Nurture your soil. Feel your soil. Know your soil. Your soil is the garden's foundation. You can't buy good soil at the garden center. It doesn't come in a box. It comes from composting. Some townships offer free composted leaves. Go for it! Add it to your soil. Mulch with it. Add it to your compost heaps. |
Add compost to your soil.
Here are some typical compost heaps.
Your compost & soil are an extension of you.
Your lifestyle. What you eat.
What you grow.
What you toss.
Unique as your fingerprint.
And here are some horses. They contribute to a sizable manure pile at Maggie's farm in North Carolina.
She took this picture with her new digital camera.
Find someone with horses. Add layers of manure on your compost heap. Add grass clippings, too, if you can get them. And of course your shredded leaves.
If it rains,
here's your mantra: Say "YES to friable soil. NO to
compacted soil."
Avoid compacting
your soil. Stay off your soil when it's wet. Remember there are
worms
and other beneficial microorganisms in your soil. Little air pockets in
the soil are needed by plant roots. Even if you are on a diet,
when you walk on wet soil, you are compacting inner tunnels,
air pockets, worms, and the soil around roots. Ouch. An underground
world is crushed. Use stepping stones or boards to distribute
your weight. Stay on the path. Better yet, give it a day to dry
out.
Adding compost to your garden helps to hold moisture in the soil. Compost contributes to the soil's tilth, its texture, making the crumbly dark loamy stuff that helps plants to thrive. All true gardeners have at least one compost heap. A garden without compost is like hot apple pie without ice cream, or spaghetti with no gravy, or a truck with no engine, or a computer with no Internet.
Well-composted, mulched soil will be a joy to plant. Compost loosens up clay soil. It helps sandy soil retain moisture and nutrients. It encourages worms to do their great work of aerating, churning, digesting, tunneling. It helps the gardener's back from going out. After 10 years of composting, I barely need a shovel now to pop in a new plant.
Meanwhile, make compost, make
compost, make compost, make compost, make compost, make compost,
make compost.
Add compost
to your soil, add compost to your soil, add compost to your soil,
add
compost to your soil,
add compost to your soil.
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