Thanks to all who have been working on tidying up your garden plots! They
are really coming along!
If you have a tilled plot and are not sure what you are aiming for, take a
look at the two front plots gardened by France and Dale as they have done a
great job.
Dan got some helpful tips from Charlie Nardozzi about mulch. Charlie
suggests waiting to apply heavy mulch to things like garlic until after the
ground freezes a bit. The reason being that if you put the mulch on now,
the rodents will move in and eat whatever is underneath. If you wait until
the ground freezes a bit before applying mulch, the mulch will still do its
job and the mice will have gone somewhere else for the winter.
In an earlier email I instructed gardeners to spread dead plant debris
loosely around their plots. Now we're wondering if it would be better to
pile it high to encourage decomposition and discourage creating rodent
habitat. Who knows what is best...maybe we should try some of each and see
what happens. One of the many joys of gardening is continually learning
about and trialing different techniques.
Have a good weekend!
--
Hilary Frost Warner
49 Olive Street
Morrisville, VT 05661
(603) 223-9940
