Harvesting the Cool Weather Crops-Spinach

I've been harvesting spinach for a few weeks now.  I keep a small pair of scissors right in my Square Foot Garden box so they are always handy.  I use the scissors to cut the outer leaves of my spinach plants. This is better than clipping off the entire plant because it will actually keep producing for weeks.  In fact, after the first trimming, the plant will quickly put on even healthier leaves.  There are other crops that you can harvest this way as well such as chard, leaf lettuces, beet tops (greens), cilantro, and parsley. Bring your freshly clipped spinach into the house and wash it well. Mel's Mix as our garden soil makes washing easy because the soil does not stick to the leaves like heavier soils do. Put your washed spinach into a ziploc bag.  It is so fresh that it will stay edible for at least two weeks in your frig.

Learn to Compost for a Self-Reliant Garden

If you know how to compost, you can feed your Square Foot Garden organically and without cost.  You don't need to buy expensive fertilizers or plant food.   You can harvest healthy and prolific vegetables from year to year.  Compost should consist of a variety of ingredients like dry grass, newspaper strips(not glossy), leaves, straw, chicken,rabbit or horse manure(a neighbor might have some!), wood shavings and sawdust, waste from spent vegetable plants, dead flowers and clippings.  From your kitchen you can add in celery waste, potato, carrot and banana peelings, pineapple rind, apple cores, wilted lettuce, broccoli stalks  and the list goes on.  Be sure to always chop things up as small as possible and that will hasten your compost production. Manure is important because it causes the breakdown of  your compost more than anything else.  A compost pile needs to heat up in the center. Turn it often to spread that heat around.  It also needs to stay moist.  You can have a nice ready compost in about six weeks or less depending on how often you move it.

Compost Happens!

There seems to be an attitude by most that making compost is a complicated thing to do. I want to shout out to the world that it is not....compost happens on its own... everywhere! The key is getting in on that action and controlling it in your own yard.  If you try to buy Compost, it can be hard to find in stores but it is EASY to make.  Start right in your own yard and in your kitchen.  Do you peel potatoes or carrots? Save these peelings in an attractive kitchen composter that can sit on your counter. In fact, save ANY vegetable waste. When it gets full, take it outside to your compost bin or pile.  Composting is so easy, it can be done in a simple pile,you dont even need a container. Sure a container will look neater but its not necessary. Do you mow your lawn? Do you have leaves from trees? Do you have weeds in your yard? Save these great compost ingredients! Add them to a pile and get started today!  More composting tips to come...