WHY PAY FOR MULCH IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO? You can probably get all you need for free, just as I do. Here’s how:Each winter, municipalities gather trees, twigs, and branches which have come down during snow and ice storms. They shred this material with powerful machinery, and leave it in giant heaps. Just where… Read more »
WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE a sexy figure while producing the nicest lettuce, tomatoes and squash in town? Then incorporate — as I did this weekend — shredded leaves into your vegetable plot. I’ll admit that after plunging, lifting and flipping the spade countless times, you will probably beg for mercy. But your body will… Read more »
YOU CAN FIND, in your fireplace, a valuable soil amendment. Wood ashes are rich in Potash, the very substance that raises the pH of soil, and therefore “sweetens” it. Sweet soil is the delight of lilacs; I swear my own shrubs flower so well in May because of regular wood-ash applications made beneath them in… Read more »
Here at a Garden for the House, Monday’s high of 56 degrees (accompanied by two inches of rain and 40 mph winds) melted — in a matter of hours — every trace of snow. I’m taking advantage of this winter-reprieve by topping-off the raised, timber-framed beds in my Kitchen Garden. You see, over the last… Read more »
I used to curse the ancient maple trees on my property. Why? Because they shed a gazillion leaves in October. Clean up meant hiring someone to not only rake the leaves into piles, but to cart them away as well. Little did I know that I was throwing away the greatest natural resource on earth. Read more » 
(photos: Roderick H. Blackburn) The art of soil-making can be surprisingly simple or a colossal bore. I prefer the easy approach. After all, most houseplants are hardy enough to thrive in any formula that holds moisture (but not too much) and contains gritty matter for drainage and root-aeration. My own plants are prospering in various… Read more »
A very pleasant aspect of blogging is that one can write on any subject that crosses one’s mind. And today, while sifting leaf mold, my thoughts turned to Miracle-Gro, Pro-Mix, and other commercial horrors.Packaged potting mixes are undeniably convenient. Still, we should do our best to avoid using them. Why? Because they contain sphagnum peat… Read more »
