What is good mulch?
Nature abhors bare soil. — Emila Hazelip, French Permaculturist Next time you take a walk in a nature space, say, the Santa Monica Mountains, notice the soil surface. Left to her own doings, Mother Nature covers her soil. Shrubs and…
What is good compost?
In the organic gardening world, you’ll often hear “add compost.” But what’s okay compost, what’s good compost, and what’s great compost? To become a better gardener, I invite you to think about soil and compost from your soil organisms’ point…
When you don’t have any land
Do you love the idea of vegetable gardening and edible landscaping? Do you wish you could participate – if only you had access to land? If land is your problem (inadequate space, an unwilling landlord, whatever) then my newest booklet…
More compost
Premade plastic bins are great for newbies and for those who demand a slick visual appearance in the garden. But ours is a culture which has been so completely out-of-touch with natural cycles and growing things; we have lost our…
Moving the compost
Q: What is hot and juicy and black and very, very stinky? A: My anaerobic compost trial. In the mid 1990’s when we lived in Orange County, composters were hard to come by. I read somewhere that you could compost…
Nourishing with Compost
When we broke ground at the Community Garden at Holy Nativity, the site was old grass and junipers. Not the nice kind of grass, but the scratchy stuff that kids won’t even romp on. Photographic records showed that the space…
How Much Mulch
Emilia Hazelip, gardening near the fields of France, used straw — about 10 inches of it! A local homestead project once stated on their blog that they use 4 to 6 inches of mulch. Lowenfels and Lewis are far more…
A Thick Quilt of Mulch
“Nature abhors bare soil,” said French Permaculturist Emilia Hazelip. When you take a hike in the mountains, have you ever noticed how the shrubs drop a thick layer of leaves? In their natural state, shrubs make their own mulch. Peel…
