by Ingrid Justick:

Vol. 27, No. 3

Making a few changes in your autumn garden cleanup routine benefits the soil and ultimately the health of your plants. Keeping fallen leaves and trimmings in the garden adds essential organic matter to the soil. This in turn provides food for worms and a host of other beneficial soil-dwelling creatures that break down the material, improving soil structure and delivering valuable nutrients to plants.

Instead of sending valuable organic matter to our local landfills, please recycle it into nutrient-rich compost, used for mulch, or place it in piles to provide a winter habitat for wildlife.

At summer’s end, insects take refuge in garden debris and in dry stems for over-winter protection, otherwise their blood freezes. Insects are a necessary component to plant pollination; beneficial insects help keep pests under control. Insects also serve as an essential food source for many birds and other animals. It is a natural cycle that makes a healthy ecosystem.

Removing spent flowers during the growing season will help plants to bloom longer, but once fall arrives and plants are near the end of their flowering cycle, they can be left to mature, to produce seeds, which serve as an important food source for seed-eating birds. By leaving some garden trimmings in planting beds, you are creating a natural habitat for ladybeetles, pollinating bees, praying mantis and other beneficial insects.

One of the most labor-saving, cost efficient and environmentally friendly things you can do is to leave your grass clippings on the lawn. Since grass clippings are mostly water, they decompose rapidly, so there is no thatch buildup. “Grass-cycling” also adds organic matter, stimulates the activity of earthworms (which act as a nature’s soil aerators) and turn a natural source of nitrogen back into the soil.

Unless your garden is very large, consider raking your leaves rather than using a blower or vacuum. Raking does not produce the noise or the pollution of machinery and is a healthy form of exercise.

While doing your fall cleanup, please remember that less is more of benefit to our environment, our resources and our day-to-day lives, as well as the ecosystem of our gardens.

Let us be friends with our earth, with gentleness, respect, love
and hope for a beautiful tomorrow.

by Ingrid Justick:

Vol. 27, No. 2

This is an excellent time to step back and take a look at how your organic garden did grow this season. Did your plants look as healthy as you expected them to be? Take photographs of your plants each year. This winter, when you are planning next year’s garden, reach for the photos and you will be quite surprised on how much you accomplished.

Most trees, lawns and spring-blooming shrubs grow better if you plant them in the fall in well-prepared organic soil. Top growth is less active, ground water more plentiful and tiny roots become strong, storing energy for the spring show of flowers and foliage.

Now is an excellent time to plant fall-flowering perennials: graceful Japanese anemones, sweet autumn clematis, along with other cool weather plants such as asters, kale and pansies. Fragrant witch hazel will bloom even when snow is on the ground. Do not forget to plant your bulbs into the ground. They will announce spring’s arrival.

Autumn is the perfect time to prepare your organic spring vegetable garden. Clean your vegetable beds, turn the soil adding plenty of compost. Scatter spinach seeds that will mature and flourish in cool weather. These hardy greens grow throughout the fall, lie dormant under the snow and then start growing again in spring. Plant some Egyptian onions, they are perennial and you can harvest the green tips all winter.

Herbs are among fall’s most rewarding plants. Cut them back and freeze or dry the clippings for winter enjoyment. Place organic leaf mulch around your perennial herbs, to protect form frost damage.

Before moving your potted plants indoors, wash them well with an all-purpose natural spray that will eliminate most pests: mix two teaspoons of liquid dishwashing detergent with one cup of vegetable oil. Shake vigorously to emulsify then add one quart of water. Be certain to spray the undersides of leaves, too. Mealybugs and scales grow a tough coat of arms, so use a cotton swab and dab each bug mass with rubbing alcohol. Then once a month scrub leaves gently with soapy water to remove dust particles from the breathing holes.

It is time to relax from our summer labors while we are anxiously awaiting the end of winter and the first sign of spring to start our organic gardens — all over again.

You must heal any wounds you give the Earth
and you must feed her to replace what you take from her.
Only if you repay your debts will she continue to provide.

For environmentally friendly information call: 732-757-5790