Carter's Water Garden


Using All These Leaves 🍁 🍂 Carters Nursery Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN 38305

I have been asked a few times on the radio lately about composting, so I went back in the archives and pulled this up. This was 1st published over 10 years ago!
A big blowing storm just came through and left plenty of leaves 🍁 to get us all started…

“Fall is one of my Favorite seasons! Cooler weather, fall planting and gardening and all the great family gatherings and food are wonderful. Fall is also a GREAT time to start a Compost Pile. All those leaves, plants and grasses that you have to cut back and all of the upcoming holiday food scraps add up too a great supply of usable components in a compost pile!
Starting a Compost pile is quick , easy and won’t cost you anything to get started! Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments and you can use it instead of chemical fertilizers. Compost improves soil structure, texture and increases the soil’s water-holding capacity. Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils to retain water. The organic matter in compost provides food for microorganisms, which in turn keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.

Once the process is complete you can use this free resource as mulch, soil amendments, top dressing for your lawn, to make compost tea for veggies & more. | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, Tennessee

It’s easy to get started .

-Bag your grass clippings or mulch up all those leaves for the compost pile!

-Save those kitchen scraps and add them to the compost pile. Kitchen scraps are typically high in nitrogen, which helps heat up the compost pile and speed up the composting process. Egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels and scraps are good candidates for the compost pie. But DON’T add meat, grease or other animal products!

– With a compost pile, bigger is often better. Heat builds up with a bigger pile, but you don’t want to get much bigger than about 3 feet by 3 feet, if it’s too big it can be hard to work around. Multiple piles may be in order .

– Aerate your compost! If you are composting with a pile, or in a static (non-tumbling) compost bin, be sure to mix up the contents so that the pile gets oxygen and can break down effectively. Turn it with a pitch fork from time to time .

– Don’t let the compost completely dry out. A compost pile needs moisture to keep the composting process active , BUT , don’t keep it too wet.

– Too much of any one material will slow down the composting process. If you have all leaves, all grass clippings or an overload of any other single type of material, it can throw off the balance of the pile. It’s best to keep a balanced mix of green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) materials.

When ready, this compost will be wonderful for the whole garden!

Good Luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!”

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

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Gardening Ideas & Tips : A Reboot From The Bill Way Show…

I do a weekly Gardening Show on the radio with Seabass (The 180) @ 101.5fm radio. It’s a call in talk show where people ask questions about all sorts of things. Last week “Lasagna Gardening” came up and it brought back some old memories from way back when… Here’s a Blog I wrote about Lasagna Gardens back in the day with Bill Way. 2009 Or so I believe. Bill was a HUGE Lasagna Gardener 😊 Enjoy –

 

“My friend, Bill Way, turned me onto this idea of simple, organic style gardening and I think it is really catching on here in my neck of the woods. It’s not a new idea really, just a cool take on an old one
 Best thing is, IT WORKS! Below is a very simple breakdown on ‘How To’ make your own Lasagna Garden
 ENJOY!

There’s no hard and fast rules about what to use for your layers, just so long as it’s organic and doesn’t contain any protein (fat, meat, or bone). Just as with an edible lasagna, there is some importance to the methods you use to build your lasagna garden ‘Layers’. You’ll want to alternate layers of “browns” such as fall leaves, shredded newspaper, peat, and pine needles with layers of “greens” such as vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings. In general, you want your “brown” layers to be about twice as deep as your “green” layers, but there’s no need to get too picky about this. Just layer browns and greens, and a lasagna garden will result. What you want at the end of your layering process is a two-foot tall layered bed. You’ll be amazed at how much this will shrink down in a few short weeks.

Lasagna gardens are a bit less work than a conventional garden. And they are a great way to get rid of grass clippings and leaves 😊

– The basics of making garden lasagnas are simple:

– Don’t remove the sod or do any extra work, like removing weeds or rocks.

– Mark the area for your garden using a water hose or a long rope to get the desired shape.

– Cover the area you’ve marked with wet newspapers, overlapping the edges (5 or more sheets per layer).

– Cover the paper with one to two inches of peat moss or other organic material.

– Layer several inches of organic material on top of the peat moss.

– Continue to alternate layers of peat moss and organic material, until desired thickness is reached.

– Water until the garden is the consistency of a damp sponge.

– Plant, plant, plant and mulch, mulch, mulch.

 Ingredients For A Lasagna Garden

 Anything you’d put in a compost pile, you can put into a lasagna garden. The materials you put into the garden will break down, providing nutrient-rich, crumbly soil in which to plant. The following materials are all perfect for lasagna gardens:

 Grass Clippings
 Leaves
 Fruit and Vegetable Scraps
 Coffee Grounds
 Tea leaves and tea bags
 Weeds (if they haven’t gone to seed)
 Manure
 Compost
 Seaweed
 Shredded newspaper or junk mail
 Pine needles
 Spent blooms, trimmings from the garden
 Peat moss
 Straw
 Hay

If it’s too late in the season this year for you to start one, there is a whole summer of grass clippings and veg. scraps to get started with and FALL is coming with tons of leaves to use! With all this FREE organic material at your fingertips, that you have to dispose of anyway, put it too good use! You won’t regret it!

 Here’s to the Life Abundant!

 

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

YouTube pg. –
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10 Year Repost – Starting A Compost Pile | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, Tennessee

I have been asked a few times on the radio lately about composting, so I went back in the archives and pulled this up. This was 1st published 10 years ago – To the day! đŸ’„
A big blowing storm is coming thru tonight, ie; A leaf stripper! 🍂 Plenty to get ya’ started😉

“Fall is one of my Favorite seasons! Cooler weather, fall planting and gardening and all the great family gatherings and food are wonderful. Fall is also a GREAT time to start a compost pile. All those leaves, plants and grasses to cut back and all of the upcoming holiday food scraps add up too a great supply of usable components in a compost pile!
Starting a Compost pile is quick , easy and won’t cost you anything to get started! Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments and you can use it instead of chemical fertilizers. Compost improves soil structure, texture and increases the soil’s water-holding capacity. Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils to retain water. The organic matter in compost provides food for microorganisms, which in turn keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.

Once the process is complete you can use this free resource as mulch, soil amendments, top dressing for your lawn, to make compost tea for veggies & more. | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, Tennessee

It’s easy to get started .

-Bag your grass clippings and mulch up all those leaves for the compost pile!

-Save those kitchen scraps and add them to the compost pile. Kitchen scraps are typically high in nitrogen, which helps heat up the compost pile and speed up the composting process. Egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels and scraps are good candidates for the compost pie. But DON’T add meat, grease or other animal products!

– With a compost pile, bigger is often better. Heat builds up with a bigger pile, but you don’t want to get much bigger than about 3 feet by 3 feet, if it’s too big it can be hard to work around. Multiple piles may be in order .

– Aerate your compost! If you are composting with a pile, or in a static (non-tumbling) compost bin, be sure to mix up the contents so that the pile gets oxygen and can break down effectively. Insert a few pvc pipes to get oxygen to the core and Turn it with a pitch fork from time to time .

– Don’t let the compost completely dry out. A compost pile needs moisture to keep the composting process active , BUT , don’t keep it too wet.

– Too much of any one material will slow down the composting process. If you have all leaves, all grass clippings or an overload of any other single type of material, it can throw off the balance of the pile. It’s best to keep a balanced mix of green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) materials.

When ready, this compost will be wonderful for the whole garden!

Good Luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!”

 

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com

YouTube pg. –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw

Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775

Pinterest pg. – https://www.pinterest.com/cartersnursery/



Free Compost! | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN

FALL is one of my Favorite times of the yearly ! Cooler weather, planting, gardening, fire pits, football 🏈 and all the family gatherings – Wonderful!

We are finishing up a beautiful Fall Color Show! But, like they always say – Fall color is here today & gone tomorrow…

All this beautiful color has gave way to the incredible yearly leaf 🍂 fall… That’s why Fall is a GREAT time to start a compost pile!  All those leaves + all the plants and grasses that we have to cut back + all of the upcoming holiday food scraps = a great supply of FREE usable components in an ‘all natural compost pile!

We have organic vermicompost and supplies at Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN

Starting a Compost pile is quick , easy and won’t cost you anything to get started! Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments and  its natural! Plus you can use it instead of chemical fertilizers to feed your veggies & other plants.

Make your leaf cleanup meaningful & productive by starting a compost pile or two.

PLUS –

  •  Compost improves soil structure & texture, plus it increases the soil’s water-holding capacity.
  • Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils to retain water.
  • The organic matter in compost provides food for microorganisms, which in turn keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition.
  • Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.

Keep it simple. Layer your lawn clipping, leaves & kitchen scraps to make great FREE compost!

It’s easy to get started
-Bag your grass clippings and mulch up all those leaves for the compost pile!

-Save your kitchen scraps and add them to the compost pile! Kitchen scraps are high in nitrogen, which helps heat up the compost pile and speed up the composting process.

– Egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels and scraps are good candidates for the compost pie. But DON’T add meat, grease or other animal products!

– With a compost pile, bigger is often better. Heat builds up with a bigger pile, but you don’t want to get much bigger than about 3 feet by 3 feet, if it’s too big it can be hard to work around. Multiple piles may be in order .

– Aerate your compost! If you are composting with a pile, or in a non-tumbling compost bin, be sure to mix up the contents so that the pile gets oxygen and can break down well. It helps to turn it with a pitch fork from time to time .

– Don’t let the compost completely dry out. A compost pile needs moisture to keep the composting process active , BUT , don’t keep it too wet.

– Too much of any one material will slow down the composting process. If you have all leaves, all grass clippings or an overload of any other single type of material, it can throw off the balance of the pile. It’s best to keep a balanced mix of green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) materials.

When ready, this compost will be wonderful for the whole garden!

Good Luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd. 
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. –

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw

Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775

Pinterest pg. – https://www.pinterest.com/cartersnursery/