The good ol' Chop and Drop

October 19th, 2021

Once upon a time, I subscribed to the tidy garden theory. A plant here, and another there, and nice clear black soil space in between (that had to be weeded regularly). 

That's changed over time. I took the Master Composter/Recycler course from the city of Edmonton 15 years ago, and learned many things. Through it, I rediscovered a friend/university buddy I hadn't seen in years. Mark had become an MCR educator who eventually became a Master Gardener/soil science fanatic too, and who tells me that bare soil is dying soil. 

Basically, bare soil is unprotected so it's getting baked and dried out, losing nutrients and moisture, and more susceptible to weeds. Mark taught me about using compost as mulch, and more recently, another MCR friend, Mildred, introduced me to her way of allowing plants to drop their foliage on the soil as natural fertilizer and protection.

Chop and Drop, she calls it, and I'm a convert. Rather than buying large quantities of garden centre mulch to cover soil and keep it moist, I use autumn leaves and leave my perennials to die back naturally in the fall. In the spring, I simply chop and drop anything that's left standing to tidy up my yard. 

Of course, chopped stems and stalks don't look quite as neat as bare soil or as uniform as wood chips, but they compost more quickly and actually started to feed the soil last fall as their nutrients leached into the ground during freeze-thaw cycles. Their stems are lighter and allow for some aeration as they decompose, even as they hold moisture in the soil.

In a world where we are facing so many environmental issues, Chop and Drop means that no garbage trucks are hauling my yard waste 85 km to the Ryley landfill, because it's being used to rejuvenate my soil. By reusing natural debris from plants to hold in moisture and enrich my garden, I'm not contributing to the destruction of trees for wood chips, I need no chemical fertilizers, and I've got my very own carbon capture and storage program!

April 29th, 2022

On April 29th, I chopped and dropped last fall's leftover stems and stalks in my perennial beds. It looks a bit messy at the moment, but once things get growing, it's barely noticeable -- except that it means I rarely have to water in the summer, and when I do, the moistened soil is protected by a layer of naturally composting leaves, stems and other plant debris.

The good ol' Chop and Drop is basically how God keeps things green and growing (the wind, birds, storms, and other natural things are the choppers and droppers). I highly recommend it. It can work in vegetable gardens too (but do it in the fall and dig the plant leftovers into the soil so they're absorbed/composted by spring). Your soil will thank you by being light and rich and full of life!

Give my front yard garden about a month and a half, and you won't even notice my chop and drop mulch...

Last June

It's Compost Awareness Week!

It's that time of year once again...  Compost Awareness Week, which falls right at the time when people who compost get on with waking up their compost piles after a winter of collecting compostable kitchen scraps.

Some of my winter scraps feed my basement vermi-composting condo, but we produce so much more than the red wigglers can handle that most end up outside during the winter, sitting on top of my compost heap in the snow, waiting to be mixed in with last fall's yard waste. Unfortunately, kitchen scraps don't compost a lot in our chilly winters. The bin pictured above was mostly thawed stuff from the tops of our 3-bin system, mixed with water and more leaves so that the pile would be aerated enough for the bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms to start cooking the pile. It's already starting to work, as you can see from the picture below, taken 24 hours later...

In two months or so, this will all be glorious black stuff. Maybe even sooner if I keep stirring every two weeks and keep it nice and wet.

Composting really isn't all that difficult if you remember the four necessary ingredients of greens, browns, water, and air. Collect your kitchen scraps (greens), mix them with leaves from last fall (browns -- I have enough to share if you need some), wet everything down (water), and don't forget to "fluff" the pile now and then so that all the living things that do the composting can breathe (air). Keep it as damp as a wrung-out sponge (things rot better when they're wet), and you're away.

The City of Edmonton has a wonderful webpage with plenty of information about composting, plus there's Compost 'S cool at the John Janzen Nature Centre, where you can learn from  the expert seen in this cool video (if you click here). Or, if you like, you can contact me. I'm thinking about setting up a Wine, Cheese and Composting party for my neighbourhood over the next couple of weeks. I've done it once before, and it was lots of fun.

The best thing about composting is the black gold that it creates. There's nothing like compost for enriching soil -- it's so much better than chemical fertilizers because it is naturally occurring. If you garden like God does and let leaves accumulate around your plants, you'll notice an improvement in your soil where the leaves begin to self-compost. And if you make and spread compost on your lawn, you'll notice an improvement in just a few days. The picture below is from last year -- the right side of the lawn is where we raked in compost.

Composting is a great way to give back to our planet, which gives us so much. I like the idea of feeding our soil by "recycling" the nutrients we don't absorb as human beings. If you've never tried composting, there's no better time to start than these early days of May!

Simple Suggestion #256... Give back to the Earth

Our planet provides us with everything we need to live... but how often do we think about helping it out? We have the ability to return the favour, maybe not on a grand scale, but there are definitely things we can do...

Last week I spent several hours at my composter, good tunes playing through my headphones as I turned over unfinished compost and sifted out a full cubic metre of gorgeous black humus. It will be turned back into our garden this autumn to replenish the soil's nutrients for next year's plants. It's not that difficult, really -- and it's the least I can do to replenish the fine layer of soil that supports life on our planet, if only in my own back yard.

Composting requires a bit of space, plant-based kitchen and garden scraps for a nitrogen source, brown materials like leaves or wood chips to provide carbon, and air and water. Basically, I throw down a half bag of leaves, spread a bucket of kitchen/garden scraps on top, and cover with more leaves, repeating the cycle until a fair pile accumulates. I try to "stir" or "fluff" the pile every two weeks or so to give it enough air so that anaerobic bacteria can't make it too smelly, and keep it damp enough that everything will rot. I'm helping the earth by reusing the nutrients in plant leftovers to enrich the soil, and turning 55 bags of last fall's leaves into soil amendment right here instead of having it trucked away. Here's my stack of last year's garbage bags... with fall garden cleanup beginning, they'll soon be piled with organic garden waste in the other two bins of my three-bin composter, and I'll have more compost in the spring!

I realize that many people don't have the ability to make compost because of their living situations, but really, we give back to the Earth every time we make an effort to reduce our impact on its ecosystems. Edmonton's recycling and composting facilities ensure that the waste of those who can't compost at home goes to a process to either recycle glass, plastics, cardboard and metal from our blue bags, or to turn any compostable items that end up in the trash can into compost that is used by the City or sold to gardeners. So everyone is actually giving something back to our planet every time the City uses compost in our parks and gardens, or around road construction areas and boulevards.

Some other simple things we can do to help the Earth rejuvenate its life systems include grasscycling -- leaving our clippings on the lawn when we mow (the nitrogen from the clippings feeds and protects the roots of the grass), leaving our autumn cleanup until spring (so trees and plants can drop green nutrients into the soil), and avoiding the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides so that toxic chemicals and salts aren't being absorbed into our food chain.

Everything we do to contribute to the organic health and wealth of our planet's soil is something we ultimately do for ourselves. So giving back to the earth only makes sense. Especially when I eat an heirloom tomato and cucumber sandwich!

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Simple Suggestion #250... Wake up your compost!

Did you know that May is a good time to wake up your compost? Are you saying to yourself, what's that supposed to mean?

Hopefully, the title of this suggestion elicits a few different responses in readers:

1) I don't have compost. Fact is, everyone has material that works for making compost, and it's easy to go from there. If you eat, you create food waste -- kitchen scraps (greens) like fruit and vegetable peels, stalks and leaves, eggshells, apple cores -- anything except bones, meat or greasy stuff (I also avoid large fruit pits/stones just because it takes them so long to break down). If you live in a single family dwelling, you likely also have some yard waste -- grass clippings (though those are better left on the lawn to protect its roots and give it natural nitrogen), plant prunings (skip the weeds and woody branches), and the all important autumn leaves (browns) which provide necessary carbon for breaking everything down and preventing odors.

We human beings all create compostable materials simply because we don't often eat entire plants, and about 29% of Edmonton families use kitchen scraps and the other compostables mentioned above to create black gold for their gardens and lawns. Composting is pretty easy, and here in Edmonton, although most of our organic waste is eventually composted by the City's amazing Waste Management system, it saves a lot of greenhouse gases, energy and money if we do it ourselves. Plus, you'll never find anything better for topdressing your lawn or feeding your plants and soil!

2) I've always wanted to compost. Well, I have great news for you! All you need is an inexpensive compost bin (or you can make your own pile or pit with a bit of chicken wire if you have an out of the way spot for one) and a quick lesson on how to do it. I'll bet there are books in your local library with all sorts of information, or if you live here in Edmonton, you can attend excellent workshops offered by the John Janzen Centre's Compost'S Cool workshops to learn all about composting with some hands-on experience. You might also consider applying for next year's Master Composter/Recycler Program, which I highly recommend! (Applications are accepted year round.) There is also a lot of info on the City of Edmonton's webpage, which you can access by clicking here. Contrary to what you may have heard about composting, if the basic rules are followed, it does not create odors or attract varmints...

3) I have to wake up my compost?? I know, it seems like a weird idea, but if left alone for long periods (like over winter) compost piles become rather dormant and their processes slow to less than a crawl -- because the bacteria and microbes that work in a loose, damp and healthy pile run out of the air they need in order to function properly. Now that we're into Spring, it's time to get those processes revved up again.

I've actually been wanting to write this moodling for weeks already, because I woke up my compost on May 7th. That was the day that I revisited the compost bins that I filled last fall and over winter. I had so much garden waste to compost last October that I filled all three bins almost to the top with layers of green garden waste (chopped stalks, vines and plants), browns (autumn leaves and broken up soils from planter pots) and plenty of water. Over winter, I added my kitchen scraps and more leaves (I keep a few bags close by, as you can see in the first picture).


On May 7th, those three full bins had shrunk to only half full, so I "fluffed" them up by combining them into two full bins, one with the older, more finished materials, and one with the fresher stuff that didn't compost much in winter's cold. I was delighted to see that some of my vermicomposting pets, the red wiggler worms that I also keep in my indoor compost bins, had survived the winter -- that means my compost piles were still warm and working in the coldest months.

As I moved everything around, I added water because compost piles need good moisture in order to function well. Since then, I've used my compost stick (basically a long skinny stick with a bit of a blade at the bottom) to stir up the piles every two weeks or so, just to add some air.

If this sounds like too much work, it's also possible to compost without shovelling, stirring or watering -- basically, you just make a pile with layers of greens and browns and keep adding to it, allowing it all to rot without any interference. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more time and space, and it might attract unwanted critters. I frequently poke around in my compost bins because I want to produce the maximum amount of compost in a season. It's better than the bagged stuff money can buy, maybe because of those red wigglers.

If you have any questions about waking up your compost -- or even starting the composting process, feel free to leave comments and I'll be happy to share more details. As a Master Composter/Recycler volunteer for my city, I love to help people learn how to give back to our earth by feeding the fine layer of soil that supports us all.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Gifts from the compost heap part II -- Christmas tomatoes

(To see Gifts from the compost heap part I, click here.)

Here's a wee gardening update about our "experimental tomatoes" that came from the compost heap back in September -- about three weeks ago, we decided that it was costing too much energy to keep our greenhouse warm for four tomato plants (one of which never did set fruit -- I think it was a Brandywine variety that needs more sunlight and heat). So I closed the greenhouse, brought our 3 cherry tomato plants into the dining room, we did battle with any number of fruit flies that came with them (organically -- cider vinegar is irresistible to fruit flies), and waited. And voila, we have some gorgeous little red tomatoes for Christmas.

Lee has been researching ways to store heat with phase-change materials so that the greenhouse won't dip below zero without a heater. It's almost managing to do that already, as we've got two big covered barrels of water which moderate the temperature fairly well (the temp this morning is +1 C (30 F) -- when the temp was -20 C (-4 F) or colder in the last weeks, the coldest it got was -8.3 C (17 F) overnight). Once we have the heating issue solved, the next trick will be to get our light figured out -- I'm suspecting our fourth tomato plant didn't fruit because the sun isn't strong enough -- and likely won't be until March, when I start seedlings all over again. As for these plants, while they're flowering like mad, and I'm finger-pollinating, the blossoms aren't turning into any sort of fruit -- again because our light is low, and the dining room window isn't a good place to set up full-spectrum grow-lights. They'll just have to do the best they can without.

Anyway, we're delighted to be eating our own tasty, organic, non-GMO cherry tomatoes this time of year. I'm so glad I decided to pot those little seedlings from the compost heap; these gorgeous little 'experimental' mouthfuls were definitely worth the effort. Maybe we'll decorate the plants with Christmas ornaments, too... though that might take the attention away from these natural, pretty red and green globes...

Gardening like God does, Part IV

I love rainy days, though they're not the best for running around my yard taking pictures. I'm pretty wet at the moment... but I wanted to show you all the lovely things happening outside.

If you've been following my moodlings for a while, you'll know that I've moved from being a wanna-be tidy gardener with things planted in orderly rows and beds, to gardening like God does. In other words, I've turned too much of my yard into garden and I don't have enough time to whip it all into perfect organization... nor do I feel that neatness is necessary any more. What I have realized is that God doesn't plant things in tidy rows and beds, or grow perfect green rectangles of lawn without weeds, or worry about last year's left-over organic materials (read: natural mulch) strewn around plants and under bushes. She and He just lets the seeds fall where they may, and rejoices when they bloom. So that's what I'm doing, and I must admit that it makes me happier than worrying when something isn't planted in the right place. Since I was small, I was told to bloom where I'm planted, and I'm adopting the same principle for my garden.

Oh, I pull weeds, alright. I have TONS of little elm seeds, dandelions, and creeping charlies, plus I've noticed that clover, daisies, delphiniums and other things need to be pulled up all the time to make space for the stuff that wouldn't otherwise have a chance against the "I-can-grow-anywhere-anytime" bullies (though I must admit I'm having a change of heart about clover on my lawn -- it's green and kinda pretty, Shadow the puppy loves to roll in it, and it fixes nitrogen in the soil, so I think I'll let it stay put). Between maintaining our vegetable garden and weeding everywhere else too, I have plenty to keep me busy. So letting things grow where God plants them only makes sense (if they're not bully plants that want to take over the entire place) -- and I've never had happier bees or birds! They seem to love all the layers in the landscape, tall and short stuff mixed together in one glorious mess, where it's fun to hide and feed.

What makes me happiest is that my daughter has stopped saying, "Mom, don't you think we should clean up the yard?" In early spring, before everything grows, it's hard not to feel that way, except that I know there are plenty of plants under last year's detritus that will grow and hide the leaves and dead-looking stuff. And that dead-looking stuff is actually improving soil conditions by holding in moisture and feeding microorganisms that in turn, will feed the plants.

But what I love most of all are the surprises God gives me. This year, it's flame-like gaillardia, or blanket flowers, that have popped up in several places. The phlox that a friend gave me three years ago has finally decided to bloom. The rhubarb was looking sickly last year, but it's going gangbusters now, and there are purple headed chives and multi-coloured columbine all over the place. My lupins are all purple this year too (where did the pink ones go? or are they still planning to bloom?) and I've never had a lot of luck with growing echinacea, but one has appeared out of nowhere near some daisies. Best of all, there are lots of lilies, rudbeckia,  bergamot, nasturtiums, asters and poppies still to come.

Don't get me wrong -- I love gardens of all kinds, and am very impressed by neatly manicured yards and the huge amount of work that goes into keeping them so perfectly tidy. I have a few friends and relatives whose well-kept yards put mine to shame. But I'm also grateful that I have so many flowers to enjoy, growing right where they've reseeded themselves, right where God and the birds and the wind planted them.

Simple Suggestion #163... Spread a little compost

It's Compost Awareness Week! Which, of course, is a happy time of year for Master Composter/Recyclers like me. What's better than taking our vegetable scraps and other plant-based items and turning them back into food for the soil? Wayyy better than throwing those nutrients in the garbage. Composting allows human beings to reduce our waste AND feed the earth that feeds us!

And it's actually pretty easy. All you need are your vegetable waste, some carbon materials like autumn leaves, sawdust, and last season's garden leftovers (I have lots of them, being a gardener who believes in leaving things as natural as possible), water, and air. Mix all those ingredients together in a pile (you don't actually need a bin, though it keeps things tidier), and an amazing thing happens -- everything heats up (because of microorganisms in the pile) and starts to rot. If you keep the pile as wet as a damp sponge and stir it frequently to give it some air, it won't smell like rotting vegetables, and it will soon look and smell like delicious, nutrient rich dirt that's better than any fertilizer money can buy.

Because we used up most of last fall's compost in various other places in the yard, yesterday, we had 2 yards of the stuff delivered, and my hard-working farm-boy hubby spread it all over our vegetable plot. I have a bit more spreading to do today.

So, in keeping with the week's theme of Compost Awareness, today's suggestion is to spread a little compost around. This time of year, there's lots of compost for sale -- here in Edmonton, groups sell compost for fundraisers, and I know that the Edmonton Horticultural Society will be selling 40 lb bags of the stuff this Saturday, May 11th, from 9 a.m. til 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the old Prince Rupert Community League, 11303 113 St. Get it while the getting's good! And make your soil happy!

My "compost-y" garden -- soon to be dug and planted!

P.S. For more Simple Suggestions, click here.

God and St. Francis talk about lawns

I wish I knew who wrote the wonderful piece below. I'd like to shake their hand and give them some organically grown vegetables from my garden!

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it - sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Ma'am.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about ...

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis!

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