After what seemed like setback after setback, we finally finished expanding our vegetable garden! Andrew did a great job on the fence, especially considering our downward sloping yard. But perfection is not necessary, as long as the goal is achieved: a fence to keep out the critters (human and rodent and canine) and to prevent the inevitable trampling of small plants if a fence were not there.  And though I would love to have started everything from seeds this year, it just wasn’t do-able. If things go well, we will try for it next year.

Here’s what we planted:

Broccoli, broccoli raab, 3 different varieties of tomatoes, 2 varieties of kale, rainbow chard, rhubarb, beets, purple and orange carrots, garlic, beans, butternut and straight-neck squash, red bell peppers, rosemary, oregano, dill, basil, parsley, thyme, red cabbage, and cucumbers, as well as edible flowers throughout. Who knows if our seeds will all come up, but I certainly hope so! What a bounty we will have if they do! Milo and Oliver helped my finish the path leading up to the gate yesterday afternoon and had a lot of fun pouring the sand for the stones. It feels incredible to be finished with the hard part. Now… we wait (and weed and water and sing to)!

The ground in our back yard has finally thawed enough for us to start up our composting again. We have one pile going strong, and though cool temperatures at night will likely keep the decomposition rate pretty slow for the next month or so, I am continually surprised by how quickly kitchen scraps break down in that big old pile of dirt!

So, I thought I would provide a few tips that we have learned over years of composting, and in return, I would love to hear some of your tips, if you compost!

• Keep the dirt-to-scraps ratio high: I keep ours at about 1/3 dirt, 1/3 scraps from the kitchen, and 1/3 other organic matter (including dried leaves, grass clippings, and other discarded plants- excluding weeds with seeds, unless you want a pile of dandelions growing in your compost area). This keeps the odor of decay completely at bay, and discourages critters.
• Do not add any sort of meat or animal feces! There are good kinds of worms (earthworms, for instance) and bad kinds (um… maggots… you don’t want those). If you decide to add cow or horse manure, make sure is is seasoned (dried out)
• Good examples of kitchen scraps to add to your compost: eggshells (I crush ours first and they literally disappear within a day), veggie and fruit peelings (but not citrus), coffee grounds, even wilted flowers from your home (see mini daffodils above)
• Be sure to keep your compost pile turned (every couple of days) and moist (if you are having a dry spell, I do recommend gently watering the pile, or the earthworms will go elsewhere)

Do you compost? I am always amazed by how easy it is. You don’t need a compost container at all, just a pile! And also, I am reminded every season of how much food waste goes into our trash when we don’t compost. Pretty amazing stuff!

Check out this post from a year ago on composting for extra tips on starting your own compost pile. 

Winter around here has been strange weather-wise. We have had our share of snow and freezing cold days, but then we get a break from cold and the warm sun thaws everything out, if only for a day or two. On these days, the boys and I spend every minute of daylight outdoors. Every ounce of bad mood is erased within minutes (and I mean for me as much as for them!).

We spent one such day out in our muddy garden, digging for worms and more productive work for me- I took down the shabby makeshift fence surrounding our vegetable garden with dreams to expand in the spring, then edged out a space in our yard to double the size of last year’s garden and build a proper fence. Removing the grass will be the next big job, especially if we plan to do that all by hand rather than buying or renting a tiller. Little by little, it will get done!

Don’t let the grumpy face fool you- he was having a blast, but I caught him mid-story, feeling empathetic toward a poor earthworm he had accidentally sliced in half when trying to dig… poor little guy.

Dreams about spring are what I have right now… our new CSA farm share starting up, the opening of the spring farmer’s market, early planting of greens in our veggie garden, fence-building and composting, long walks and daffodils, snowdrops, and tulips blooming (if the neighborhood cats didn’t kill all of our bulbs with their nasty pee). It is around this time of the year that I often struggle. The end of February and beginning of March seem to signal I’ve had all I can take of winter. Let’s hope spring is right around the corner!

Have a happy weekend!

Milo’s face says it all. Basically, aw, man, how did we get into this mess?! We turned our backs on the vegetable garden in August and September, only lightly tending to the produce that was giving us what we wanted. But even the kale had wound and wrapped its way up through weeds and the raspberry bushes reaching for the sun in an attempt to survive. Our tomatoes stopped producing ripe fruit long ago, and our mint and basil had gone to seed a month ago.

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful autumn day here in St. Louis– warm in the sun, cool in the shade. Bright sunshine and perfect gardening weather. And with lots of storms on the horizon this week, the boys and I decided to tackle the inevitable job of garden clean-up. Right after I put Emil down for a nap, we got to work.

With specific instructions on which plants to leave alone (the basil, chard, and chives might last a bit longer), I sent them in and let them pull, dig, explore, and destroy. And while I know they enjoyed planting the garden, I believe they found that un-planting the garden was more fun!

Plus, they found all sorts of treasures, like snail shells and a live snail; earthworms; rolly-pollies; and a few toys given up for lost months ago.

But the best part was just getting plain old dirty. Emil joined us and added to the fun, and we worked late into the afternoon as the shadows grew longer and the light faded and I realized, elbow-deep in mud, that I had not given dinner a good thought yet. Ah, life goes on without us realizing it sometimes, you know?

Now it’s time for a few fall crops, don’t you think? We will definitely be planting some kale plants, perhaps some broccoli too. Have you had any luck with planting fall crops this late in the game? If we have another extremely mild winter like we did last year, we might find these crops more worthwhile than expected. Or… it will be a complete disaster. Happy fall to you!