Nasturtiums, Parsley and the Compost Heap
Things are slowing down in the garden. It’s been a good season. We had tons of tomatoes, greens, carrots, beets, peppers…the list is long. We had absolutely zero luck with squash.
Chard, Celery, Leeks and Bee Balm
I wish I would have started seeds all through the season — with a steady supply of seedlings I could see easily doubling our output. As it stands, we practiced “laissez-faire Square Foot Gardening.” As such, the boxes were constructed with cedar 1×6″s and the soil mix was 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 organic soil and compost mix from Steel City Soils. I did not plant in a grid, and well, I regret that somewhat. I had a tendency to crowd seeds, which led to slow growing.
Making the transition to “thinking beyond the refrigerator” was a challenge, but most of what we grew found a place in either the freezer or our bellies. What didn’t ended up in the compost box. Before building the box, Dean was convinced that composting in our small yard was an invitation for stank, but it proved a mostly unsmelly enterprise. The concept of compost was, however, lost on our 86-year old Italian neighbor, who has an opinion on everything we do in the yard. “Why don’t you just put it on the street? They’ll take it away!” (She’s very nebby, in local parlance — such a useful word.) When we explained that the resulting compost was actually valuable and would save us money, she softened. Thank goodness it didn’t smell.
Up next: a cold frame for winter greens.
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