Nature's Bird Feeder

Winter berry holly - looks great and tastes great ... to birds. Native plant, drought hardy - all that good stuff. Plant one today and sit back and watch the birdies.

Winter Growing Contest

Potatoes were the next to go. Rhubarb, kale, and rutabaga still alive, but showing signs of stress. Carrots doing fine.

Cold Weather Growing Experiment

First to check out after a few frosty nights - spinach. I was a little surprised, actually.  Carrots, rutabaga, kale, and most of the taters still going strong. Rhubarb will probably go next. 

Composting Thoughts

Composting could be one of my favorite things about gardening. Definitely an area were you can win and the squirrels will lose....not that it's a competition. I've gone through various phases - from extreme to more mellow. Used to collect compost from friends and bring back veggie scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells from trips. Over time,  I'd like to think the compost has imparted some wisdom to me and now I'm slightly more relaxed about it. All things start as dirt and all things return to dirt, so...what's the hurry.

Anyway - I've learned a few things about composting and here are my top 10 tips in order of importance...sort of.

1) Add plenty of browns. Over 50% in fact. Mike McGrath says more like 90% but I can't quite do that.            I still like the idea that my kitchen scraps are important and such a high % of browns suggests they might not be useful. I add dirt since it has microorganisms that help beak down the material faster and I also add ground up leaves that I get free from the county trades center .  Mr. McGrath feels that the ground up leaves are the magic and main ingredient for composting.

2) If you are composting kitchen waste in Arlington, you must have an enclosed composting system. If you do not, you will draw rats and then later hawks. It is entertaining, but your neighbors will not approve.

3) Having more than one pile or container is essential. If you keep adding to the same pile, it will always have undigested bits that are not ready for use. When one pile or bin is full, switch to the second and let the first rest for a spell before using.

4) I've heard of people composting newspaper, old shoes, "compostable" silverware, etc. But you have to ask yourself - is this material I want in my yard, in my plants, in my stomach? Compostable silverware and cups take forever to break down so...don't bother.

5) It will not make as much as you think. It's the sad truth, so prepare yourself for it now. I used to think I could create a mountain of soil by composting. But turns out that when things break down into soil - it makes surprisingly small amounts.

6) No oils and sugars. You can compost a lot more in an enclosed system. I have done limited amounts of bread and pasta. I do not put meat in, though the odd dead bird or mouse has ended up in my compost.

7) Coffee is the king and egg shell is the queen.

8) Tumblers speed up the process dramatically. Get one. I mean, get two. It's also good exercise.

9)  Don't use your neighbors grass clippings. No matter how tempting that bag is. It has pesticides, fertilizer, round up, and other evil things.

10) Try not to think of grocery store purchases as future compost - "boy this cantaloup sure has a lot of compostable material." Just not the right way to think about food.

11) Yup - bonus round! When you compost you are saving the world. Yup, that's right. I said it. You are returning nutrition to depleted land. You are making the Earth more like what it used to be and what is should be. You are also saving your tax dollars - less trash or less waste in the water supply. In addition, ground with added compost has less runoff which means less water for county systems to deal with during storms. So many benefits...oh, and you can grow plants better, too.

Essential Bulb Planting Tools

Radio, fancy bulb tube digger, and sharp bladed digger. I use the tube thing to start the hole and the sharp bladed digger to go a little deeper. It has measuring marks up to six inches which is very helpful. Planting went a lot quicker this year with these handy tools. 

Planting Bulbs, Listening to Jazz

With my good friend, J. O. Lantern. Hot tip for bulb planting- to discourage squirrels from raiding newly planted bulbs, place a rotting pumpkin above. Works like a charm, or maybe just tells them where to dig.