Tips: Preparing Your Garden

Guest post by our gardener, Barb Tewell:

If this unusually warm weather has you in the planting mood, go on-line and read about growing micro-greens. Easy and delicious and rewarding. You may find you will want to stock up on seeds and do this year round.

As you prepare your gardens and clean up your yards, think about Leaf Mold – most beneficial and easy to make for your beds.  Poke holes in black plastic bags, gather small leaves and chop up larger ones (I just mulch them with my mower), dampen, and seal in the garbage bag.  Set aside and within 6 months, the matter is ready to use.  Put on the garden 3” thick and it becomes a mulch; or work it into the soil as you work the ground.

In the fall just mulch the leaves and spread in the beds where it breaks down naturally and you can work into the soil in the spring.

As you prune your garden herbs you can make an all natural fertilizer. This is taken from Trail’s book, Easy Growing. Place some roughly chopped herbs in a bucket using the ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part herbs and stir well. Set aside but remember to stir several times daily for 3 days. Strain the herbs and either add to your compost pile or around any plants. You can spray the filtered water directly on leaves or add a few cups to your watering can and apply to the roots.  I have rosemary and sage to prune and will try this. I am a big fan of hydrolyzed fish emulsion but this looks like a great use of pruned plants before they go into the compost pile.