Summer is here!

Well it's been a while since I posted last. My computer is on the fritz, and I stay pretty busy so, that's all I am going to say on it.

As you might have noticed, the temps are really climbing and your plants might be showing the stress from it.
Most established lawns, trees, and shrubs will survive a hot summer just fine with little or no irrigation, provided there is not drought. This year we have seen a return to relatively normal rainfall, so the plants we want to concentrate on are our veggies and flowers.

First and foremost, all plants need mulch, in nature, mulch is in the form of leaves, pine needles, limbs, twigs, dead grass, and animal waste. Mulching around your trees and shrubs with wood chips, pine straw, or even the leaves you rake off your lawn, aid in retaining moisture in the ground. What ever material you chose to use, it should never be "green." Never use freshly chipped wood as it will rob nitrogen from the soil as it dries and first begins to decompose, wood chips should be in a state of active decay when used as mulch. Flowers and veggies are best mulched with pine needles, hay, or straw. Be sure to have plenty or organic compost mixed in the soil before mulching these delecate plants.

When comes to your water source, be conservation minded. Make water from the municipal system (or even a well) a last resort. Utilize rain barrels, A/C condensation, or dehumidifiers, and there will be plenty of H2O for your garden.

Black Gold

That's right, BLACK GOLD! No, not petroleum, compost. I had a huge pile of leaves and other vegetative waste I cleaned out of someone's back yard about a year ago. When I say huge I do mean HUGE! Now the pile is about a fourth of the size after natural decomposition with a lot of help from a colony of worms who took up residence. So now I have a good amount of the best garden fertilizer there is. I estimate it is composed of at least 75% worm castings, which is awesome.

"What's so awesome about that?" you might say. Worm castings, i.e. worm manure, has more nutrients than any other animal manure. It's like the ultimate performance enhancing supplement for plants. The best part is it's all natural and organic, not to mention it kept a large amount of waste from being deposited in a landfill, or polluting our air with smoke.

So the next time you need to clean up the yard, don't toss it out or burn it! Compost it. Just pick out a corner in your yard and start a compost pile. You can help speed up the process by chopping it up with a lawn mower and turning the pile over every couple of weeks. You can add your veggie and fruit scraps as well. Some other stuff you can compost are coffee grounds w/ filter, tea bags sans staple, crushed egg shells (not eggs), shredded news paper, rice, bread and cereal. Be sure not to add meat, bones or oils as it will stink and attract scavengers like raccoons, cats, and dogs. 

Sifting frame on top of a wheel barrow.

Unsifted compost.

Sifting out the sticks, twigs and other material not composted.

Hey! A worm!

Finished compost. Ready to be spread in the garden or on the lawn.

A Little Filler...

For those of you who didn't know it, I am a full time firefighter when I'm not pursuing the organic lawn care biz., working on my garden, playing with my kids, or just day-dreaming about a purely agrarian lifestyle. Today was a day at the station, and what a beautiful day it was! All I could think about was getting in some dirt and soaking in the sun, but duty calls.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd post a couple of interesting links on composting, which is a vital ingredient in all things organic, plus it saves a tremendous amount of space in a landfill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost

http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/rrr/composting/benefits.htm

A note on compost though, beware of "industrial" compost. This includes the bagged stuff you find in lawn and garden centers, as well as compost produced by municipalities. While these products do have some soil enriching properties, their nutrient values leave something to be desired. NONE of them can compete with home made compost of leaves, veggie/fruit scraps, and local manure (horse, cow, rabbit, chicken, etc.) The bagged compost is basically industrial waste from factory farms. The municipal compost is from stuff that otherwise would be in a landfill, but it most likely is processed with sewage sludge. This sludge can be high in heavy metals (i.e. lead). So, just as with food, nothing beats "Home Grown."