Improve your garden from the ground up! Explore expert advice on composting, organic soil building, mulching, and DIY natural fertilizers to boost plant health and sustainability.
Soil & Compost
Improve your garden from the ground up! Explore expert advice on composting, organic soil building, mulching, and DIY natural fertilizers to boost plant health and sustainability.
There’s something deeply satisfying about feeding your garden with fertilizers you’ve brewed yourself—watching weeds and scraps transform into potent plant food costs almost nothing and works beautifully. I keep several batches fermenting throughout the growing season, and my plants respond with lush growth that store-bought fertilizers never quite matched. Yes, some of these concoctions smell … Read more
I spent my first ten years of gardening guessing what my soil needed, throwing amendments around like confetti and hoping something would work. Some years plants thrived, other years they limped along, and I never quite knew why. Then a fellow gardener convinced me to get a soil test, and it was like someone finally … Read more
Your plants are talking to you every single day—through their leaves, their growth rate, even the creatures living in the soil around their roots. After decades of reading these signals, I’ve learned that most garden problems aren’t really about the plants at all. They’re about what’s happening underground. Healthy soil grows healthy plants almost effortlessly, … Read more
Every garden situation presents unique soil challenges, and I’ve worked with just about all of them over the decades—from rock-hard clay that rang like concrete when struck with a shovel to sandy ground that couldn’t hold water for more than an hour. The wonderful truth is that almost any soil can be transformed into productive … Read more
After fifty-some years of turning compost piles and amending garden beds, I can tell you with absolute certainty: the difference between decent soil and extraordinary soil comes down to one thing—feeding it properly. Chemical fertilizers might give you a quick green-up, but they’re like feeding your garden candy for breakfast. What plants really crave is … Read more
Not every fallen leaf needs to be banished to the curb. Some leaves are little ecosystems that shelter moths, feed soil life, and tuck insects safely through winter. Other leaves bring disease or chemicals that can harm lawns and young plants, so those are better raked away. Let me walk you through which leaves I … Read more
Frost can be a surprise visitor if you’re not ready. Finish these quick tasks while days are still mild and you’ll save plants, time, and heartache. A little prep now means a smoother spring later. Essential Pre-Frost Garden Tasks 1. Harvest Tender Veggies: Protect Your Season’s Bounty If you grow tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, or summer … Read more
One pile of leaves is more than tidy garden refuse — it’s a tiny city. That single heap can shelter a hundred species or more: moths, beetles, salamanders, earthworms, millipedes, spiders, and overwintering pollinators. Bagging every leaf evicts an entire ecosystem your garden depends on for pest control, pollination, and soil health. What Lives in … Read more
I’ve been gardening for more decades than I care to count, and if there’s one practice that’s transformed my garden more than any other, it’s mulching. A good layer of mulch is like tucking your garden beds in with a cozy blanket — it keeps moisture where it belongs, moderates soil temperature, suppresses weeds, and … Read more
There’s something deeply satisfying about using a watering method that’s been trusted for thousands of years. Ollas (pronounced “oy-yahs”) are unglazed clay pots that you bury in your garden soil, and they deliver water directly to plant roots with almost no waste. I first learned about ollas from a friend who gardened in New Mexico, … Read more
