Cold Frames...

[mistymare]

compost

Kind of off topic, sorry.

I'm moving to a hot almost desert-type climate with poor soil for almost anything other than grazing. I'll have a lot of land to play with now. Does anyone here compost? I'm thinking about going great guns on it, kitchen waste, pony manure, everything used. I want to improve the soil enough to have a small garden. Think it's feasible? I'm a serious novice with only an herb garden last summer for experience. Is composting the answer? Is it hard to keep up with it? Think it could improve that kind of soil enough to make it worth the effort? Would it take years? I'm so clueless...

I use one of the equine supplement buckets for my countertop container. You know the kinds with the lid that flips up on one side? I drill a few holes around 1 inch from the top. When it is filled, I take it out to a 5 gallon bucket, etc.

Check with the master gardeners - they sometimes sell black composters on earth day for about 25 dollars. If you don't want to spend the money, I also use 5 feet tall welded wire mesh (I had some left over from another project) and I just made a tube about 3.5 feet in diameter. It is easy to move when I want to aerate the pile.

j

 

[jazz lady]

If you need a large area broken up for this garden, I have a plow for my garden tractor and a tiller.

No, I don't have a large garden area. My soil is so crappy it's just a group of raised beds which I can turn by hand or using my little cultivator. I just need to deweed, put down some weed barrier fabric and add soil to make them usable again. That should take me all spring.

Thanks for the offer though.

 

[jazz lady]

Fixing crappy soil is not an overnight project. It will take a couple years to get it improved. Start with a small area and enlarge it every year.

Or build raised beds like I did. Immediate gratification.

And to everything Huntr said about composting. I have a stainless steel compost bucket with filter on my kitchen countertop for all the veggie scraps, which I periodically dump into a big plastic compost bin. When it gets full, I just pull it up and add the well-composted and black soil to my garden beds. You just keep adding to your soil every year and in no time you'll have great soil.

 

[luvscats]

I've used newspaper mulch for years. It is wonderful for keeping weeds under control. I find it much easier to work with than the fabric. It breaks down into the soil and the worms love it. Use only the black/white paper, not the color printed paper.


Newspaper Mulch
To make newspaper mulch for vegetables: place several layers between plant rows. Wweigh them down with a few clods of earth. Weeds won't sprout underneath, and when the papers decompose, they enrich the soil.

The Basics of Natural, Organic Gardening

 

[luvscats]

this article is a bit more concise re newspaper mulch. I put it around my bushes, roses, everything.

Use Newspaper for Mulch

 

[jazz lady]

I've used newspaper mulch for years. It is wonderful for keeping weeds under control. I find it much easier to work with than the fabric. It breaks down into the soil and the worms love it. Use only the black/white paper, not the color printed paper.


Newspaper Mulch
To make newspaper mulch for vegetables: place several layers between plant rows. Wweigh them down with a few clods of earth. Weeds won't sprout underneath, and when the papers decompose, they enrich the soil.

The Basics of Natural, Organic Gardening

Newspaper is the bomb for mulch. The only reason I use the fabric in my raised beds is I don't want to have to remove all the soil from them to replace it after it decomposes so it's a one time shot and lasts for many years.

I subscribed to Mother Earth News for many years and, even though it can be a bit extreme at times, it's a great resource for natural products and information. Another great resource is Organic Gardening magazine from Rodale Press and as a long time subscriber, I don't know how much valuable information I've gotten from it but I look forward to reading it every issue.

 

[luvscats]

I used to get OG years ago. Haven't subscribed in years. Maybe I'll sign up again. I'm gettin in the mood and it makes for great winter reading.