Turn Your Trash into Great Garden Fertilzer

Kitchen scraps, shredded paper, and lawn clippings usually end up in the trash bin, but can easily and cheaply be turn into a source of rich nutrients to add to garden beds. This is called composting, and while many people assume that composting is a complex and challenging undertaking, there’s really no need to be intimidated.


The benefits for the garden are many: it improves soil structure and also water retention, helping to keep plants healthier for longer in dry conditions. It provides a source of slow-release, organic fertilizer for plants, while at the same time boosting the community of microorganisms and other creatures beneficial for plant.

Composting is as easy as 1-2-3.

1) Get a bin: Compost needs a certain critical mass of organic material to create enough heat for decomposition to occur.. Something to contain this matter is helpful. Most city waste departments now offer a free or low cost waste bin to be used for compost. Just check your city’s website or call the waste management department.

2) Fill it: All manner of waste can go into a compost bin. There are two basic types of organic waste: nitrogen-rich (aka “greens”) and carbon-rich (aka “browns”). Use about twice as much carbon-rich material as nitrogen-rich. Some good carbon-rich materials include dead tree and shrub leaves, cardboard, newspaper, shredded paper and wood chips. As far as nitrogen-rich materials go, think of fresh grass clippings, green yard waste, vegetable scraps from the kitchen and even hair (think of Fido’s brush).

3) Turn and water: Organic matter needs both oxygen and moisture to break down. To add more oxygen, give compost a turn every once in a while with a pitchfork or shovel and keep compost generally as moist as a wrung-out sponge.

There you have it! Let nature take its course. In a matter of time, some of the best garden food ever, all made from stuff that would have thrown away, is free to use in the garden.

For more details including a complete list of WHAT you can compost -  attend a workshop I am doing on Saturday, October 2nd from 1pm - 2:30 pm with the Phoenix Permaculture Guild.

Location: Central Slope Design Center

Street: 8801 N. Central Ave
City/Town: Phoenix, AZ 85020

Hope to see you at class soon!

Happy Digging,
Doreen Pollack
aka the Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Do Corn-based Utensils Really Co/mpost

My local Coffee Shop, Urban Beans, gave me some coffee grounds for my compost and in it were several cups and utensils made out of corn - they are supposed the break down in the compost.

Well the cup is now like tissue papaer, but the utensils, which were much thicker did not break down.

I found a few other things as well.  A felt tip pen-which still works!  And the band from a milk bottle.

What interesting things have you found in your compost or what unusual item have you tried to compost?

Happy Digging,
The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Earth Friendly Garden Quiz - December Winner

The answer to last week’s question: What are nematodes, and do you want them in your garden? is: Nematodes are tiny roundworms sometimes called eelworms. Traditionally considered the bane of a gardener’s existence, many nematode species are indeed detrimental, sucking sap from your plants or attacking them at the roots. But other species are beneficial. Some encourage your compost to ripen, while other control Japanese beetles, cutworms, fleas and other pests.

The pest-controlling nematodes are parasites. They enter the host insect and release bacteria that eventually kill it. If they do their job well, eventually no more hosts will remain, and the nematodes themselves will then dies off.

Control detrimental nematodes by planting resistant cultivars of your crops, rotating crops, and planting African marigolds between successive crops-the marigold roots are toxic to nematodes.

(Thanks again to The Earth-Friendly Garden Knowledge Cards for the Sierra Club for this information.)

And the winner is…….

Congratulations to Judy who was the first one each week to answer the question accurately! Donna was a close second. Judy will receive a pocket garden journal and a Chelsea Green Publishing book on water with lots of tips on how to conserve water including in the garden.

Now on to the January contest. Remember the rules to win are you must be the first person each week to answer the question accurately and be correct each week. All contest answers are courtesy of the Sierra Club’s – The Earth-Friendly Garden Knowledge Cards.

Question One-The common housefly is probably the world’s most common pest. But not all flies are detrimental. Which of the following are good for the garden?

a. crane Flies
b. robber flies
c. syrphid flies
d. tachnid flies
e. all of the above

Good luck!

The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Earth Friendly Garden Quiz - Final Question for December

Earth Friendly Garden Quiz - Final Question for December

Here's the answer to last week's question - True or False - 'Soil ' is just a fancy word for dirt.
False.  To the organic gardener, soil is a complex stew of rock, sand, silt, clay, air, water, dead organic matter, and many living things including roots, insects, bacteria, and fungi - not to mention the earthworms, reptiles, and mammals it may harbor.

The organic gardener's foremost task is to make good soil. As the saying goes, "Feed the soil; the soil will feed the plants."

A given volume of soil should be equal parts solids and space.  The solid half's content should be 90% mineral - sand, silt, and clay - and 10 percent organic matter (that's 5 % of total soil volume).  The space half should hold equal parts air and water.

(Answer from Sierra Club's The Earth-Friendly Garden Knowledge Cards.)

One of the easiest ways to get more organic matter in your soil is to use compost - and we can all make compost at home.  Learn more about compost in the Arizona desert.

Now for the third and final question of the month and this one will make you think a little more.

What are nematodes, and do you want them in your garden?

Remember to reply through the comments section below. Next week, I will reveal the winner who answered all three questions correctly and who was the first one with the answers.

Wishing you a happy and safe New Year celebration!

The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Update on Who Stole the Compost

Update on Who Stole the Compost

Thanks to my friend Vinnie the Gardener for solving the mystery of the missing compost. Here's what he has to say:
"Means you have 'high' bugs as I call them; all the visible critters (pill bugs, roaches, beetles). Had the same issue myself when we began renovating our garden. Started my pitchfork plugging (stab, wiggle), and kept piling on the nature. It took about three years when I noticed the 'dirt' became 'soil' in the top 4-6"inches or so. That's when I noticed more of the 'low' bugs; worms, grubs, micro-critters, mostly below the ground. Since then, all my debris clean-up goes directly onto the garden - not into the compost pile. The major green stuff (kitchen & mowing & pruning) goes into compost. All of the general plant litter gets layered in the garden (along with coffee grounds). "


WOW - I love his idea of making it easy to build the soil. Now that some of my trees are loosing their leaves (the mulberry especially) - and right by this garden, I will just layer them on the soil, almost like a mulch and let the critters in the soil munch on them. I just hope it doesn't take 3 years for me!!

Look there's one now just waiting to be eaten!! Sort of blends in with the dirt. I hope the bugs see it.


So folks - this fall do not back up your leaves and throw them away - put them on your garden! Or at the very least put them in your compost bin or even better yet - leave them where they fall and let them provide nourishment to soil below the tree!

Now that's MY kind of gardening!!

Who stole the compost?

Who stole the compost?

As I was preparing the front yard garden bed, I realized the soil was lacking organic matter. It's been almost a year since I removed the bermuda and created the new garden. I added a truck load of compost to the existing soil back then and I have been adding more compost throughout the summer.

Yet when I started to dig in the garden the soil looked pretty bad, still lots of clay soil, almost as bad as when I started. So I broke one of my own rules - I dug up the garden beds.

Thank goodness for my own compost pile and Soil Secrets. I was able to amend about half of the garden with my own compost. It was kind of creepy carrying the bucket of compost and BUGS! But I know that bugs are part of the process so I just walked really fast!

Since I didn't have enough of my own compost, I added some great amendments called Soil Secrets. I recently ordered a pallet of this great stuff for my friends and clients. I am excited to see how this great product works on my gardens.

I didn't plant anything yet, just watered in the amendments and moved on to the next garden bed.

Where do you think all the compost went?

Happy Digging,
The Garden Goddess
Down 2 Earth Gardens, LLC

4 Weeks to a New Garden - Week 3

Time to apply mulch and compost to the prepared bed. If you are planting directly into the ground, spread a six inch layer of compost, mulch, sand and topsoil on the ground. Dig down at least six inches (the depth of most shovels and shades) and mix in well. Beds should have a soil mixture at least six to twelve inches deep so the roots have plenty of room to grow. This is especially true for root vegetables likes beets and carrots. If you are creating a raised bed dig down to the bottom of the raised bed.

Next wet the area completely making sure the water soaks down at least 12 inches. This guarantees good drainage and deep root watering.

If you think the water drainage is poor, you can test it by digging a hole about the size of a gallon container (think of a gallon jug of milk or water). Fill it with water. Check it an hour later. If the water is gone you probably have SANDY soil. If there is still water, come back in a another hour to two and check again. If the water is gone or almost gone, you have LOAMY soil - the desired soil! If the water is not absorbing well, you probably have to much CLAY in your soil. If you have too much sand or too much clay in your soil, amend again with more organic material like compost.

Let this sit undisturbed for the week. If it is still hot and dry in your area, water every few days to encourage the microbes, fungi and worms to get to work!

Time to make the plant shopping list, locate where you will get your seeds or transplants and how much to plant because next week we plant! One of my favorite seed companies is Botanical Interests. They are available on line and in garden centers and store. If you are shopping on line, consider supporting one of my favorite non-profits by shopping here.

Happy Digging, The Garden Goddess

http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Summer Garden Maintenance

The weather has been bizarre all over the US this summer. Boston just had its wettest July on record and Phoenix it's hottest. So how does that affect your garden? I really can't answer that in a universal way. Each and every garden bed - no matter if they are in different states or in your front or back yard has its own microclimate. The soil is different, drainage is different, sun patterns differ.

What I do know is that there as several things you should always do in your garden on a regular basis to monitor and maintain them:

1. Check the moisture level of the soil. Stick your finger in it, or use a soil probe to see if the soil is moist before you water. If it has been cooler than normal and maybe even cloudier, you may not need to water – even if it is watering day!

2. Look for sick or diseased plants. Do the leaves look different – perhaps eaten up, curling up, spotted or yellowing? Look under the leaf to see what’s ‘bugging’ your plant. Remove them or treat them (responsibly – no chemicals please!)

3. Deadhead flowers (no not Jerry Garcia Deadhead) – pinch or cut off the dead blooms on annuals and perennials to encourage new blooms.

4. Lightly prune any broken branches on trees and shrubs.

5. Apply several inches of mulch to the top of your garden bed to help keep moisture in and reduce weeds (that compete for water).

6. Apply a layer of compost to the top of your garden bed, no need for fertilizer!

7. Harvest any vegetables or fruit that are ready to eat and enjoy them for the next meal!

8. Admire your garden or landscape and be proud of your creativity and hard work!

9. Share it with friends by have a summer cookout.

Just few minutes in your garden every day will help you catch a problem before it gets out of control and help you also notice all the wonderful things that are happening in nature.

Don’t forget to slow down and stop to smell the roses!

Happy Digging,
Doreen Pollack aka the Garden Goddess
www.down2earthgardens.com

Three Sisters Garden – Monsoon Planting

Sustainers of Life

In a Three Sisters planting, the three partners benefit one another. Corn provides support for beans. Beans, like other legumes, have bacteria living on their roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use. (Corn, which requires a lot of nitrogen to grow, benefits most.) The large, prickly squash leaves shade the soil, preventing weed growth, and deter animal pests. The Three Sisters also complement each other nutritionally.

To the Iroquois people, corn, beans, and squash are the Three Sisters, the physical and spiritual sustainers of life. The three vegetables composed the main food supply of the Iroquois. These life-supporting plants were given to the people when all three miraculously sprouted from the body of Sky Woman's daughter, granting the gift of agriculture to the Iroquois.

The Iroquois agricultural system was based on the hill-planting method. The women, who were responsible for farming, placed several kernels of corn in a hole. As the small seedlings began to grow, the farmers returned periodically to mound the soil around the young plants, ultimately creating a hill one foot high and two feet wide. The hills were arranged in rows about one step apart.

Iroquois women mixed their crops, using a system called "interplanting." Two or three weeks after the corn was planted, the women returned to plant bean seeds in the same hills. The beans contributed nitrogen to the soil, and the cornstalks served as bean poles. Between the rows, the farmers cultivated a low-growing crop such as squash or pumpkins, the leaves of which shaded the ground, preserving moisture and inhibiting weed growth.

The Arizona version!

Three Sisters Gardens Should be Ready by Monsoon Rains

By early July, your Three Sisters Garden pits should be dug and filled with good compost, seeds should be in the ground waiting for the rains, and you should have straw ready to cover the soil once the seeds have sprouted. Consider planting other traditional crops, such as sunflowers or jerusalem artichokes (a tuberous perennial sunflower), around at the edge of the three sisters garden. Put them on the west side so they will shade your other plants during the heat of the late afternoon.

1. Plan and select a site. You'll want to plant your Three Sisters garden in a site that has direct sunshine for most of the day and access to water. Some afternoon shade is OK as the sun is so strong late in the day. Also having a water source nearby will make it easier to supplement the monsoon rains.

2. Prepare the soil. First, break up and rake the soil. Next, build a mound about 12 inches high and between 18 inches and 3 feet in diameter. Flatten the top of the mound and make a shallow depression to keep water from running off. The number of mounds you create depends on the size of your growing area. Mounds should be 3 to 4 feet apart in all directions.

3. Plant seeds. Soak four to seven corn seeds overnight and then plant them about 6 inches apart in the center of each mound. (You'll eventually thin to three or four seedlings.) Many Native people honor the tradition of giving thanks to the "Four Directions" by orienting the corn seeds to the north, south, east, and west. Also soak and then plant six pole bean seeds in a circle about 6 inches away from the corn. (You'll eventually thin to three or four bean seedlings.) At about the same time, plant four squash or pumpkin seeds next to the mound, about a foot away from the beans, eventually thinning to one. If you are planting a large area, you can also sow the squash in separate mounds (1 foot in diameter) between every few corn and bean mounds.

4. Maintaining your traditional garden. As corn plants grow, thin them out, weed gently around them and mound soil around the base of each stem for support. When the corn is knee-high and again when silks appear on the husks, "side-dress" by putting a high nitrogen fertilizer (such as aged manure or fish emulsion) on the soil surface near each plant. If beans aren't winding their way around the corn, help by moving tendrils to the stalks. (Keen observers may notice a pattern in the direction in which the bean vines wind.)

This concept of interplanting these seeds is known as companion planting. This is the concept behind the Three Sisters: put corns and beans and squash together and they help each other. Getting the right nutrients in the soil is essential to the success of any garden. These days we mostly rely on fertilizers to provide the right ‘food’ for plants.

But through companion planting, you can provide proper nutrients from one plant to another through the soil they share. In the three sisters, the beans, part of the legume family, take in unusable nitrogen from the air and produce excess, usable nitrogen to the soil for the corn and squash. But while beans are useful in many companion planting combinations, they are not good to plant around onions or garlic, which do not like the extra nitrogen. By using compost you are also adding nutrients and microorganisms to the soil which will act as a natural fertilizer as well.

So as you plant your own Monsoon Garden, think about our ancesters who planted in this method naturally. Consider that they were already 'green' and 'eco-friendly'. Today, we can learn a lot by following the simpler ways of our ancestors and the earth will benefit from it.

Happy Digging,
Doreen, The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Love Your Mother - Earth that is!

Happy Earth Day 2009.

Twenty nine years ago, in 1970 amidst the Vietnam War and the last of the real hippies, the first Earth Day was celebrated. I don’t think I took much notice back then and for the next two decades. I was too caught up in my own world of abundance and working for a large corporation where the money seemed endless. As long as my own little world wasn’t affected it was hard for me to feel that anything was going wrong. Sure there were movies that brought things to light, like Erin Brocovich and Three Mile Island, but again those things happened to other people, not me, so I never felt the impact.

So what changed it all for me? If you have read my blog posts or newsletters you know I focus on educating people about ways they can lighten their impact on the environment and how to ‘green’ their lives. It began with observing my own life style and habits especially with regard to my trash. It all has to go somewhere. Sure the big truck takes it away from my house once a week, but when I thought about where it went – along with all my neighbors and the city’s trash, it became overwhelming.

When I began composting several years ago, I started noticing how much less garbage I threw out. When I got serious abut recycling, I started noticing how much less trash I took to the curb each week. When I started looking at what WAS in my trash bag before I took it out of the house, I noticed it was filled with the packaging of the food or snacks I brought into the house. This is stuff you can’t compost or recycle, stuff that still ends up in the landfill or has to be manufactured. Then I started shopping at the local Farmers Market and refusing their bags and putting it all into my own canvas bags. Pretty soon I wasn’t shopping at a traditional store more than once a month. My trash bag is now one small plastic bag you get at the grocery store – and I want to reduce that!

The same kinds of practices spilled over into the other areas of my life like clothes shopping, ‘stuff’ buying, and gardening. All I had to do was look at all the ‘stuff’ I had already when I brought something new home to see that I had enough. Soon I was very conscious of what I bought and why. And what happened to stuff when it’s usefulness was done. Throwing these things into the trash doesn’t fit in with my goals!

So on this 29th anniversary of Earth Day, I am making a 30 day commitment to not purchase anything besides food or something that will support the growth of food (like plants and seeds). If I need something I do not have I will borrow it or do with out. I will also lessen the amount of stuff I recycle buy either not buying foods and beverages in packaging – period – or finding another use for the item before throwing it in the recycle bin.

This will really be interesting as I have a brunch in a few weeks. I’ll report back on how to throw a party and reduce your trash!

Will you join me and make your own 30 day commitment? What can you do that will show Mother Earth how much you care about her – and help make it a better place to live?