Lots of rain
It poured all of last night and today. It was a soaking and puddling rain, the sort that overflows gutters on not-so-well engineered streets, and overwhelms the storm sewers. Plenty of red 'mud' was flowing from bare or lightly vegetated areas, hardly a good reflection on any anti-erosion efforts.
It wasn't a day for my gardening companion to move more leaves (he's determined to get the pile delivered by the city distributed before we leave for winter traveling).
Nor was it a day to harvest lettuce, cilantro, or French sorrel, all of which still look good.
But it was a day to think about projects to come, gardens to plants, and encouraging other gardeners.
It wasn't a day for my gardening companion to move more leaves (he's determined to get the pile delivered by the city distributed before we leave for winter traveling).
Nor was it a day to harvest lettuce, cilantro, or French sorrel, all of which still look good.
But it was a day to think about projects to come, gardens to plants, and encouraging other gardeners.
A very wet garden here, too. Not a day to move leaves or do anything outside. It must be fun counting down the days to a good trip! gail
ReplyDeleteRed mud, ugh! Hope it isn't too slippery.
ReplyDeleteWait - you're getting leaves delivered? Don't enough fall on your property? What do you do with them/
ReplyDeleteToday was a much better day to move leaves (Tim was happy as the pile is much diminished).
ReplyDeleteBut more leaves are always good. We DO have lots already from our oaks and hickories, but more help smoother the winter annuals and add more organic matter to our woodland areas.
You can never have too many leaves (uh, that's the motto of my gardening companion).
Like the motto! In the last year, I started using leaves as mulch, too. It seemed silly, since I live on a property with lots of trees, to remove the leaves in the fall and then pay for bark mulch in the spring. So I decided to just leave the leaves on the garden beds.
ReplyDeleteBut it's nice to hear an experienced natural gardener endorse the practice. I have been reading Ecology for Gardeners, and while the authors repeatedly recommend the benefits of lots of organic matter for soil, they also talk about decaying leaves as a breeding ground for all sorts of plant diseases. My philosophy is to have a diverse natural garden that mimics nature as much as possible and let the pests take care of themselves (e.g, birds eat insects, predator insects eat prey insects, etc.).
But I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.