Getting dirty about it

Now that I have your attention , or hope that I do ~ this is about garden dirt .....As you may have learned about me by now, I like to do things the easier, healthier and less expensive way. We are blessed to have property that has southern exposure and great growing conditions from May through September ~ a relatively short season, so adjustments have to be made ~ starting plants in containers and bringing them in and out of the house for about a month before its safe to set them free outside.

For several years , we have been working to amend the soil here. Once an apple orchard , it was over burdened with all sorts of chemicals for growing and pest control. For the last forty years, it has just been abandoned , allowing itself to re-forest in the areas that we don't mow. Wildlife abounds and we try to do our gardening in a terraced area by our entry and in containers that we can manage to move about. This proximity to our house keeps the rabbits, deer and other garden loving friends at bay.

We use organic growing practices for our vegetables, herbs and flowers ( which are planted for the bees and butterflies ). Being of the mindset that nothing should be wasted, we re-cycle all of our kitchen scraps into the compost for our gardening needs. This is a photo of the soil in our terraced area. We've had rain for over a week, so its a bit wet and soggy in the photo. We have an abundance of beneficial earthworms and very , very few pests. Our use of vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and crushed egg shells have rewarded us with incredible herbs and vegetables. We don't buy any fertilizer , herbicides or pesticides. All of our needs are met with our simple composting and companion planting plans. Plus, we have a sensible use for our kitchen scraps, so they aren't going in the trash.

Crushed eggshells are a welcome addition to any garden. The shells slowly release their wonderful, steady stream of calcium into the dirt . They can be placed directly in the planting hole of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants to prevent blossom end rot, which is so common in these vegetables. They enrich indoor plants as well, giving them an extra boost of nutrients. It has been shown that crushed egg shells in a border around plants that are attractive to snails and slugs will discourage them from visiting your food. Since our terrace garden is very near our entryway, we just run out with our eggshells , crush them with the garden trowel and stir them into the soil. If you want to wait and do several at a time, rinse them out, place into a sealed container and store under your sink until you have the amount you want to work with. Rinsing will keep down any odor and deter bugs from being interested in coming to see what you have !

Our big gun in the garden is coffee grounds. We drink a lot of coffee and our plants love us for it. It is a free source of nitrogen and although some think it is too acidic, it is actually very neutral on the pH scale. It has essential oils, fatty acids, and nutrient profile that many vegetables, shrubs and flowers need. Its nutrients are released slowly as the fungi and bacteria in the soil break it down. Spinach, corn, tomatoes, roses, camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas are very happy having coffee grounds in their soil. White clover, asparagus fern and geraniums are a few of the very short list that aren't happy with coffee grounds. I don't know how they source their caffeine fix !

Coffee grounds can be turned in the compost pile with equal parts grass clippings and leaves. Stir or turn it weekly for a few weeks and add to your soil. If you use paper filters, they can go into the compost bin, too. We have a short walk to empty ours, so we just dump the filter directly onto the bare soil and turn it in with a trowel or small garden hand tool. ( whatever happens to be what I left near the drop off point !! ;-) ) Coffee grounds seem to deter rabbits and squirrels, making that another perk of their worthiness. Many gardeners apply a thin , like half an inch, layer of coffee grounds around the plant and work it into the soil around the stem and root area to decompose. Any deeper than this would compact too much and cause a compromise in aeration and circulation of the soil. Almost any houseplant will enjoy your daily dose of coffee as much as you do.

So, all that being said ~ Go have yourself and omelette and a cup of joe , then share with your tomatoes and eggplant ! Thanks for getting your hands dirty and stay in the steem of things ! Blessings and peace to you, new community !