Posted by Becca Larsen on Nov.09, 2009

©iStockphoto.com - audaxl

November is the season of giving thanks.  We celebrate the bounty of our harvest and decorate our homes and yards with straw bales, corn stalks and jack-o-lanterns.  There is of course, the piles of leaves signaling the season as well.  How better to give thanks to Mother Nature than to return our harvest decorations to the earth for use next spring?  Common harvest decorations provide a perfect source for mulching soil or compost additives.  Recycling these resources into the soil builds it up for spring plantings, creating healthier soil cycling to a healthier harvest next fall.

Composting

With the exception of corn stalks, common decorations can simply be added to your composting location.  Corn stalks are very fiberous and break down very slowly.  Therefore, they should be clipped into short sections with pruning shears or shredded in a limb chipper.  Corn cobs can be handedled in the same way and both are excellent sources for adding fiberous structure to the soil, loosening it up for healthier root systems.  Straw and shredded leaves break down much more quickly.  To shred leaves, run them over with your mower.  If you have a bagging attachment, even less work.  If you have chickens or livestock, they will be grateful for the meat of the jack-o-lantern or toss it in the compost area as well.

Mulch Perennials

Mulch perennials in cold climates or tender perennials in borderline climate zones with leaves/straw prevent soil heaving or plant damage from temperature fluctuation or moisture loss.  Mulch should not touch the trunk of trees, nor be too thick.  A common misconception is the purpose of winter mulching.  It is not to keep the soil warm, but to protect the tender roots from sudden temperature changes on a sunny day in January or to prevent soil heave from sudden temperature change.  Mulching also retains moisture in the plant that might be lost in the bitter winds that can not be replaced from frozen soil.  Check the USDA Hardiness Zone Map to find you climate zone and prepare your landscaping investment.

No-Till Gardening

Living green means using our resources as responsibly as possible.  If you till your garden patch each spring, consider this time saving, as well as earth saving method:  no till gardening.  It’s so simple, it’s mind boggling!  Tuck your garden into winter it’s slumber with depth of 2-4” of mulch:  first a layer of cardboard or a few sheets of newspaper.  Then top with chipped corn stalks and cobs, shredded leaves and straw.  Manure, grass clippings, wood ash and kelp are other additives that are enriching.   Over the winter months the soil microbes and worms will go to work breaking down the mulch into a rich soil.  In spring your garden patch is plant-ready.   Move non-composted material to the furrows and hoe seeds straight into rich, light rows.  Several years of this method slowly converts your garden patch to a high-yield source of nourishment for your family.  This method holds down the weeds effectively and organically and produces a bountiful garden.

For further reading on this garden method:  Lasagna Gardening,  Patricia Lanza or her blog,  http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

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Posted under Home Environment, Organic Garden.