 |
| Gruss an Aachen - Greetings to Aachen, a beautiful rose that tolerates shade. |
Our neighbor needs their lawn mowed, so our helper will have more work. That couple will have a neat lawn again. Kids no longer ask, "Do you want your lawn mowed. Need your sidewalks shoveled?" My grandchildren volunteer to rake leaves, and they like earning money in helping out. They are from another age.
 |
| Green kale is full of vitamin C, K, and A, calcium, and fiber. |
Our helper is excited about the next garden expansions. One is to create the second garden, stage left, out the back door. That will grow vegetables. Chris wants kale, which she loved before it became popular. I have dug green kale out from under snow drifts - and it very nutritious.
The second expansion is for Gruss an Aachen around the base of the maple tree in front. I have already put solar lighting on the tree, which was easy to do.
The gardening neighbor and I regularly discuss our plans and methods.
One of the best books I read on organic gardening came from the Midland Library - Compost Gardening by Shewell-Cooper. Once I caught his message, the follies of osterizer gardening were laid bare.
The British are at their best in writing about military history and gardening. They boast of lawns that have been managed for 700 years. They love gardening. I read the profile of the typical 17th century English gentleman. That included joking and gardening. I said to Mrs. I - "That's the English in me." In fact, the whole profile read like a bio.
Germans are also great gardeners, but the British enjoy being quirky. The best joke of all is to garden contrary to trends and shock people with the results.
Shewell-Cooper did all his gardening the same way. He created vast compost heaps and only put them on the top of the soil, arguing that the earthworms would pull it down. He used compost to amend the soil and to serve as mulch. I do not have production facilities for bins of compost, so I reverse the process. I mulch to create compost on top.
 |
| Do not confuse the soil God created with cake dough mixed at high speed. |
I recall a clergy friend bragging about mix-mastering autumn leaves into his garden each fall. I was appalled, but kept that to myself, except for brief interruptions of "But" and "Of course you..." He was enjoying his delirium.
Opinions do not matter in Creation gardening. The creating Word established rules for all time, which are only set aside for miracles, not for fads. The best soil is in the top 12 inches. Earthworms travel to the top to pull down debris, digesting organic material and depositing the casts on the surface or in their tunnels. There are many types of earthworms, and their digestive habits vary somewhat. They are united in their ability to chew tough material, digest it, grind it down in their tiny gizzards, and sweeten it with their calcium glands.
Picture the dormant garden in autumn. There is an abundance of leaves to cover it. If someone is blessed with indestructible sycamore leaves, he can mow them into fragments and mulch the entire area with fragments. What will happen next? The insulating and moisture holding leaf blanket will reduce the stray weeds and add them to the process. Sowbugs, pillbugs, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, mold, bacteria, and earthworms will begin their work.
During winter, the cold weather bacteria will continue to work. Protected by the blanket of warm organic material, the soil creatures will continue to work, weather permitting. Digestion creates warmth Snow makes bacterial work easier, since the crystals trap heat, as the Eskimos learned. Composting requires moisture, which is never lacking here during winter.
While others are pining for spring, the composting gardener is working all winter - or having it done for him. The foundation for all growth and nutrition is being laid by the soil creatures, especially when the workers are blanketed and protected by leaves, newspapers, garden trash, and lawn clippings.
What do people send away from their property? Stacks of newspapers, bags of leaves, and grass. They starve the soil and try to make it up with inorganic compounds.
Water conservation begins with adding humus (organic matter) to the soil. The humus is a gelatin-lie sponge that holds water and keeps the soil stuck together. When people see household trash as an investment in their soil, the results of gardening will change. The leaves, grass, and newspapers will disappear into the soil, and healthy soil will beg for more.
