Waning Balsamic Moon in Cancer I harvested the Peppermint, Spearmint, Oregano, Germander and de-seeded the Feverfew. I trimmed back roughly 1/10 of the iris, enough to fill the cart. Also added trimmings....I guess since I've been using it all summer, the damage, if indeed there is any, has already been done. I'm going to look into this fungus a little more. Don't worry, I'll post here when I know more.

ive already started planning for my winter harvest so ive come home with a trunk-load of stuff and now im stuck. how do i add compost to plants that currently have mulch around them? ive got two potted plants (heirloom tomatoe and a fig tree) as well as some stuff in the ground - blueberries, lamb's ear and basil, marigolds, etc. with a good layer of mulch to protect them from the intense heat we've...

...gone, large swathes of the Virginia Creeper have been torn off of the fence, great sections of dead leaf and obnoxious weed have been pulled from the beds... AND! Thanks to all his hard work, the compost pile is actually HOT! I though it was a holy grail, unattainable and distant, but no, it turns out you just have to pile up an unholy amount of yard refuse, get it wet, and then let it do it's...

...spillage. Then when I got them home I lugged the tubs to the bottom of the back yard/garden. The intention was to use part of the haul as a direct amendment to the soil, and part of it as a component of a compost pile.  Please understand that I understand that leaf humus isn't the same as compost all on its own and that I didn't intend that the humus should stand in for compost. Well, it wasn't so much...

There's a small, wriggling nest of some kind of brown maggot/grubworm-like creatures in the corner of my compost. Is that bad or is it just part of the process? It doesn't smell bad at all, but it's also been a while since I added any leaves/grass. I'm fine with leaving them there if there's no harm, just wanted to be sure they aren't ruining things. My compost is a large opaque plastic tub, with...

After reading Teaming with Microbes A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web the idea of using compost tea has become quite appealing. Without understanding the science behind the use of compost tea it has always seemed a bit gimmicy to me. Why would you use tea when you can just use compost? Well you can - but understanding a bit of the compelling reasons why microbes are so important to plant health...

...once sown), and planted out  aubergines and pepper seedlings into  the greenhouse beds.  Also that I very much love my new Swiss Hoe (Wilkinson), and that if you are looking for a decent commercial potting compost, you could go a lot further and fare a lot worse than Westlands new WestPlus peatfree.  Very pleased with the progress of everything I've potted into Westplus so far, both veg and flowers. 

...with black plastic as a kid. (Grandma used to cover the pool with black plastic to heat up the hose water for the little kiddie pool)... it smelled scary and chemically and plasticy... I dont want my compost to be like that. The compost seems to breakdown faster if its kept really fairly wet. I guess this wetness is what makes me feel like the compost we're making is scary.. its really sludgy and slimey...

...as I turn through the book, I find things. There are notes and lists in my grandmother's hand. There is a card written by my father bearing the address of the site where I just went to pick up free compost from the city. And they were growing organic! I had no idea. It all seems a bit unlike the things in which they were interested when I was older. So it's interesting to start digging and find my...

Any bunny owners in here that compost their litter and use it in the garden? I've got two house bunnies and I've started very lazily composting their litter, but I haven't tried to use it in a garden yet. I just started a second pile, so I think I'm going to let this pile compost until next year when I'm prepping in my beds at the end of winter. Any tips would be appreciated. I posted some photos...