I just put 2 - 3 inches of compost on my garden beds

magnoliablossom

I don't have a compost pile yet, so I bought some Leaf Mold Compost from Nature's Way.  I read in my Southern Kitchen Garden book, that I am supposed to let the compost sit for about 60 - 90 days before planting so that it will "mellow."  Now I can't wait to start my plan of what and where to plant!

What kind of prep are you guys doing for your spring/summer gardens? 

Also, do you have a compost pile or did you make a composter?  Which do you recommend for someone with 144 sq feet of garden space? 

 

 

kastle

a) I've never heard about letting already decomposed compost "mellow" before planting.  I mean, sure, you can't plant when stuff is still decomposing but I would imagine that commercial leaf mold should already be properly cured.  Otherwise, it's just leaves...

b) I will add compost to our beds & that's the only prep for the veggie garden. 

c) We "made" our compost bins by drilling 1/4-1/2 in holes all over black trash cans.  We have 2: One that we're adding new scrapes to & one that is sitting & curing/decomposing.  Otherwise, we'd have to screen it before applying (this relates to the "mellow" of 60-90 days)

curlydoglover

Well, right now the ground is frozen solid, so I'm drawing up landscape plans and proposed changes for some beds we're re-doing this year.  This also involves perusing various perennial books, websites, etc. to find the plants we want.

We also have some large-scale builds/projects planned for this year.  One is adding removable screening lattices to our deck/arbor (which we're going to design and make ourselves).  We'll probably start building it this Feb.

I've also been coming up with our veggie garden plans.  Since we expanded our crops this year, that required some re-shuffling and additions to planting companions.

 

Once the ground is thawed, we need to order and add compost and soil to our 3 raised beds and rake/till that in.  Then I'm sure prep work will start on the landscaped beds we're demo-ing.  We're also over-seeding the last of the lawn, so that'll happen once it's warm enough.

We have a large compost pile - 48 square feet.  But the size of it is more appropriate to our level of landscape/garden (3/4 acre, 375 sq. ft. of veggie gardens).  It's a 3 bin rotation system.  One bin is mainly for items that require longer time to compost (woody plants, etc.).  The other two rotate year to year as to which one has usable compost and the other is being filled with "softer" scraps.

 

dirtyred

I just have a compost pile.

It takes a little longer to get going, but it's good for lazy people like me.  I don't turn it or anything, I just pile stuff on it (I cover the new material with some of the old).  If it gets too dry, I water it; if it gets a little squishy and smelly, I add some leaves or newspaper.  As compost is made, the pile sort of flattens and the best compost is pushed out around the edges.  I just scoop it up and use it.

After two years, this thing is a compost-producing monster!  Watermelon rinds completely disappear after two weeks.

 

CollegeGrrl219

I drilled holes in a plastic tote and I throw compost in there. It's a smaller version of the trash can compost.