Gardening – Collecting Leaves And Preparing For Drought
I heard somewhere that 1 molecule of organic matter in our soil has the ability to hold onto 4 molecules of water.
Which is VERY good information to have.
Because the possibility of drought increases every year as climate change progresses.
And it is super easy and often free to add organic matter to the soil.
In my corner of the world, for example, leaves are plentiful. The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I collect as many as we can (from our yard and from the school yards) and we cover our garden beds with them. We also store them in the chicken wire ‘bins’ we’ve set up on a dark never-walked-upon part of the yard. They break down into gorgeous leaf mold. And we add leaves to our compost bins.
Kitchen vegetable and fruit waste can be turned into compost either in a compost bin or simply in a hole dug and afterwards covered up in the garden. This is simple and easy to do.
Used coffee grounds, obtained for free from neighborhood coffee shops, can be spread over lawns and garden beds and put in compost bins.
There are a gazillion free ways to add organic matter to our soil. And this could very much make the difference between our plants surviving or perishing next growing season.
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardening – Collecting Leaves And Preparing For Drought
Yard/Garden Uses For Coffee Grounds
At least once a week, the Dear Wonderful Hubby goes to coffee shops en route to wherever else he’s going and he loads up the car with coffee grounds.
These are a FREE resource and we use them in a few ways.
We use them to bank the house. This improves the gradient, which in turn, decreases the risk of our basement flooding. And coffee grounds supposedly discourage mice, squirrels and some other unwanted visitors.
We sprinkle coffee grounds over the lawn once a year (usually before several days of rain). This is a free fertilizer and it also builds up the soil a bit.
And we, of course, use coffee grounds in compost. We add it to compost bins. And we also layer it over the leaves in the Fall/Autumn as we put the garden beds to rest. The coffee grounds add nitrogen and they help to keep the leaves from blowing away.
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Yard/Garden Uses For Coffee Grounds
