permaculture

["Kathy Evans" <evansdk@earthlink.net>]

If you're working on a small scale and have an area you want to garden
"someday", compost alone makes a huge difference, and by compost I mean
"throw anything in the heap and ignore it", except meat. I've composted my
clay soil in this (suburban) location for 18 yrs, granted it took a long
time to get a good garden, granted I'm a do-little gardener (Ruth Stout is
my hero), but now my soil is terrific. Have added chicken yard compost too.
Have raised beds. Have never been remotely scientific or methodical about
compost. Some years it's just leaves and kitchen waste. This year I started
asking a  neighbor for grass clippings so it's lotsa grass. I never turn
it. This way is slow but the good news is if you're very lazy or busy and
in no hurry, good soil will still happen. Uh, eventually. Time substitutes
for hard work and scientific method? My new "plan" is to start leaving
compost around the edges of the yard, in case I ever learn what edible
perrenials might grow in clay soil/shade. Meanwhile, I love learning this
stuff for someday when I become a real farmer.  Kathy in St. Louis