Holidays Are Here

Where has 2014 gone? Even though the holiday season is here, there is no holiday in the garden! How is your rake? It should be well worn by now and all the leaves should be stored in your wire compost bin. Decomposition is a great way to make spring topsoil. Adding vegetable and fruit peels along with coffee grounds and any other organic material will bring richness to the compost mix. A good turning is necessary at least once a week. Don’t forget to make a tight cover over the bin. This will speed the process and also keep rodents and other visitors away.
Now that the leaves have been raked or removed, it is the best time to sow winter grass seed. Make this a fun project for the family with a hand-rotary spreader and a bag or two of seed. Choose a rainy day and run in rows spreading the seed until the whole lawn has been covered. Get a couple of spreaders and let the whole family take turns dancing in the rain. Keep seed moist until it sprouts and then reapply to thin or bare areas. Winter grass will stay green until the heat of summer arrives and will make every winter day feel a little more like spring!
Our next “chore” is to collect goodies for the holiday table. Leaves, magnolia pods, pine cones, twigs and almost anything else you find in the yard can be sprayed and displayed for holiday decorating. The only boundary is your creativity! A good coating with some sort of lacquer will help to make the decorations last until the New Year rings in. Let the whole family participate and see who inherited the artistic gene in your household. There may be some creations you will want to save, but even if their final resting place is the trash can, the memories of “creation” day will be something to treasure!
Reluctantly, I leave my comfortable desk chair to head into the garden and tackle my own garden tasks. My mantra will be, “Work and sweat are good for me and I will be thankful with the end results!” Truthfully, I am thankful for the sights and sounds of nature every day. They remind me that sometimes in life all we have to do is breathe! Happy Thanksgiving! 