In Search of Real Compost

This morning I spent a bit of time in my son’s back yard taking pictures. I want to remember all the work I have put in these few months here. I am so going to miss having a yard to play in but I won’t miss the heat. This is high desert where the winds blow fiercely and it can get cold enough in winter to freeze typical California plants.

Two years before I had spent several weeks here and planted the whole perimeter with Bougainvillea. I expected the thorny vines to climb and cover the chain link fence keeping possible intruders from climbing over as well as hide the ugly fence. Most of them froze and died the first winter. When I checked with the nurseryman, he said they were required to carry them but did not encourage their use in this area. Big box stores won’t tell you those things. I only buy from the nursery now. A few plants have been saved and seem to be getting a second chance.

They were beautiful!

We decided to plant some hardier shrubs for privacy and maybe to give some protection to the Bougainvillea. We’ve lost one of the new shrubs already and I can’t figure out why. I think it was too much water or maybe it was too little.

I love gardening and I like to do it organically. So I’m big into composting kitchen green waste. Now, we have no structure for building compost at my son’s so I figured I’d just dig holes and bury the green waste letting it decompose underground. Surely that will help amend the soil at some point. I picked different spots all around the yard to bury the green waste that will eventually feed the shrubs and trees.

A funny thing happened on the way to decomposing. I have odd little plants all around the yard that are not weeds but I’m not real sure what they are. One looks like it might be a squash of some kind from the seeds I buried.

Some kind of squash maybe?

It could be a tomato

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s trying to eat the rosemary

 

I also have something that may be watermelon attacking my rosemary. Wonder how that happens with seedless organic melons?

So it’s obvious that I need to work on my composting skills. Though growing stuff I haven’t really planted seems to come natural. Maybe I’ll get it right on my next trip down. I know you can buy compost in a bag. Just like making my own and seeing what happens. Happiness in the garden is the surest path to health.

The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. ~George Bernard Shaw, The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, 1932

From my heart to yours,
Marlene