The end of the harvest

My daughter is home from college for fall break.  She's missed gardening and harvesting, although there wasn't much, so we went out together to gather what was left.  We brought in 4 pie pumpkins, 2 huge candy roaster squash, a few straggling zucchini, 2 odd gourds and 3 more spaghetti squash.  I'm glad she had the chance to be a part of that because she put so much care into the garden before school started.

Now it's time to start making plans for next year's garden.  Bring on the seed catalogs!  My lasagna beds will need more layers with a little more density to prevent them from drying out too quickly if we have a dry spell.  But all in all, I was pleased with them.  The straw bale beds left a little to be desired but I think they just needed to decompose more before being planted.  Now they are starting to perk up and look a little more healthy.  In hindsight, a little lime may have helped.  But I have time to think about it and decide what I'd like to add for next year.  I'd like to start a regular compost bin too.  We had one years ago but I need to build one with two bins so I can turn the piles easier.

I'm planning to put in an outdoor worm bin because my population has outgrown the large plastic tub.  I think I'll keep the tub in the garage for winter feeding but I'd like to move the majority outdoors.  It's amazing to watch what happens to all the kitchen scraps in just a short amount of time. If you have kids in your home, you should start a worm bin with them to turn scraps into vermicompost.  There are some wonderful books out there by Mary Appelhof.  She's written books for educational means that work really well in a homeschool environment.  And if you are a Gary Larson fan, his book "There's a Hair in My Dirt! ~ A Worm's Story" is sure to bring a smile to your face and a giggle from the kids. 

If you are interested in any of these books, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider purchasing them from the Amazon link on my blog.  I've included a lot of my favorite gardening and herbal books on the scrolling list that links directly to Amazon.  If you decide to purchase the book from there, the cost to you is the same but I earn a few cents for each one.