The usual directions for making a compost heap call for a lot of physical effort on your part and quite a bit of your free time. You’re advised to prepare the heap just so: Quantity of Leaves All this may be just fine and dandy, provided your file of compressed leaves measures only a few … Read more
There is no closed season on good soil improvement practices for the gardener who wants the best from his land. True, in most places, the frozen ground of winter puts an end to his actual labors, but if he is provident, not before he has planted cover crops in the fall to work for him … Read more
Both home gardeners and commercial growers are bothered and blessed by the problem of what to do with leaves, vegetable waste, and crop residues. Rightly handled, this material is not an unwanted waste but a valuable byproduct. Avoid Burning Leaves and Surplus Vegetables Right at the beginning, it should be said that burning is rarely … Read more
Leaves comprise our green material. We operate in a 12- x 8-foot sector of a far backyard corner screened by flowering shrubs. Here we work two and one-half to three tons of compost each year. Ours is a heavily-wooded section, built up with well-spaced homes on what was once the former estate of a shoe … Read more
With the leaves from over 500 trees carpeting our property each Fall, it is natural that I should develop a great interest in a compost pile and composting methods. In 20 years of composting, we have developed a system of our own and also some clear ideas as to what can be done with compost. … Read more
There’s hardly a gardener, I’m sure, who would deny that having a ready supply of compost is ideal. Here’s how to make a compost bin. Compost Bin Idea The idea for our compost bin came from the California Redwood Association, and they recommend that an all-heart grade of redwood be used. This is important because … Read more
Cemmenting on the claim by advocates of organic gardening that commercial fertilizers are harmful to the soil. Donald Conlin of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Wooster, says that, although the use of composts and organic matter is highly recommended for gardens. Commercial Fertilizers Experimental results show that when commercial fertilizers are used with organic matter … Read more
Have you hesitated to improve your soil with garbage or manure because of the odor, insects, and bothersome turning and watering that may accompany attempts to compost it? If that has been the case, you may find a method of composting manure or any good compost makings that solves all of these problems and is … Read more
There are many new tricks in the home gardener’s humus-making speed-up. Making compost is no longer the tedious jolt it once was. Eager-beaver organicists have found several time-saving methods. One of these is to make compost right in the garden by the “row” or “sheet” process, eliminating heap-making and hauling and heaving. Suppose she left … Read more
The gardener who burns all his leaves, grass clippings, weeds, and small prunings is destroying valuable soil material. Material that would have added fertilizer to the soil and improved the structure. Material that would have aerated a heavy clay soil or helped a too-sandy soil to retain much-needed moisture. Do you think of soil as … Read more