and not to criticize, but why are you growing flowers?  they are pretty, but wouldn't you rather like to eat your own veggies right out off the plant?

I'm growing strawberries, blueberries and melons as well as flowers.  But I'm just kind of into shade gardening right now (for no particular reason other than I get into certain things), and that happens to deal a lot with flowers, ferns, etc.  I'm on a flower kick because I'm just learning how to garden, but I'll develop my sunny spots for tomatoes and veggies next year.  That's one reason I'm learning to create a garden without breaking ground-- the only veggie-appropriate spots are in the middle of the yard, far away from established beds.

Oh-- and about the balance, I just got a "toad house" today.  I hope it entices a toad to live in my garden!

ticize, but why are you growing flowers?  they are pretty, but wouldn't you rather like to eat your own veggies right out off the plant?

Not sure what he is growing exactly, but why not enjoy the beauty of flowers and eat them too!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFl … rsMain.htm

http://www.safecom.org.au/permaculture.htm

it talks about keeping things in balance.  climate permitted, you want birds, frogs, snakes, and even bugs in your garden.  you can buy worms to put right in the soil or into your compost piles(a definite must). 

a lot of permaculture systems are applicable to the smallest as well as the biggest space

check out your native beneficial plants(ie. bird attracting, insect repellent, etc.)

and consider nematodes.  they are freakin brutal.  theres a lot of different sites on natural nematode control, so find one useful to your location.

and not to criticize, but why are you growing flowers?  they are pretty, but wouldn't you rather like to eat your own veggies right out off the plant? 

anyways, keep your hands in the dirt and your hat over your eyes

happy gardening

Leaves are very good mulch, from what I've read, but they need to be in half-dollar or smaller sizes in order to break down properly.  It's what Mother Earth uses for mulch, after all.

I like your idea of healthy soil and medicinal plants being part of the immune system.  While tearing "weeds" out of my garden, I found one that was particularly prolific.  I later found out online that its common name is actually "heal-all," because it used to be used to treat so many things.  I've left patches of it here and there in my garden since then.  Its root system isn't very invasive since it skips along the ground, and the little violet flowers are pretty.  I found that there were certain areas where I felt the mental/ emotional tug to "leave the weeds there," so I obeyed those signals.  They were mostly right at the bases of the three medium-sized trees that border my garden, so it wasn't like I was going to plant anything there, anyway. It makes me wonder if the trees need the heal-all to remain healthy, or if it's the soil?

I considered buying the "Edible Forest Garden" yesterday!  I can't remember why I chose "Weedless Gardening" over it.  So funny that you and I are trying this at the same time, and there is a whole movement to stop the carnage of tilling.  I wonder if this is another of the messages from Gaia floating around for receptive people to pick up on?

I'll keep you updated on my process if you'll do the same.  The flower bed in front of my yard is pretty much dead soil.  I added stuff to it, but I noticed while digging that there were almost NO earthworms.  Bad sign.  Consequently, none of the flowers I planted there are doing very well.  I'm hoping that if I use this method it'll spring back to life by next year.

When you spread the leaf material on your garden, did you chop it up, or put them in whole?

Crazy!  Yeah, it was a good read.  I think you're right about people picking up on these messages from gaia in some form. 

I was contemplating the idea of living soil the last few days.  If one accepts the fact that the soil is alive, then what constitutes it's immune system?  Surely tilling and digging the ground destroys all the hard work of the plant roots, bugs, worms and microbes that inhabbit the soil.  This can't be good for the overall immunity of the soil.  If one looks at what happens to broken ground, nature begins to heal itself quickly in a miriad of ways depending on the previous condition of the soil.  What we consider weeds or small native plants begin to set in, colonizing the soil.  Interestingly these plants are typically useful herb species that are also helpful to humans for healing purposes as well.  For instance, in my area, dandilions, thistle, violets, shorel, creeping jenny, plantain, chammomile (just to name a few) all come in to colonize open ground, all of which are useful herbs in some sense.  I have to wonder if these native herbs don't consititute the last line of defense in the immune system of the soil. 

What scares me are these weed and feed companies that use the spray solution on people's lawns.  If you ever get the chance, notice that in the spring the birds will go into these lawns, but once that first spraying occurs, they won't touch the property.  I'll bet if those owners were to dig into their soil a couple days after spraying they'd noticed no earthworms to be found.  They've just devistated the entire ecosystem of their lawn and possibly the neighborhood by these sprays.  Not to mention what happens when it seeps into the groundwater they drink leading to unknown health effects.  *shudder*

As far as leaves go, I just threw them on the ground whole.  I'm considering getting a leaf shreader this fall though.  I know whole leaves tend to be bad for plants because water doesn't pass through them well.  Although in my case, that was the effect I was trying to acheive since I didn't want whatever grass was left in this area to come up this year.  So far it's worked.  I haven't seen any grass, just some of the stronger dandilions.  The leaves should be composted enough by next year where it won't matter.  So from here on out I might shread the leaves since I do want the soil the have good permability. 

I use a lot of straw too.  This also helped keep the leaves from blowing around.  Straw does have good drainage, so I'm not afraid to use a lot of it.  I'd stay away from wood chips or sawdust, unless you're planning on planting something like blueberries.  As wood rots it will lock up nitrogen in the soil, or so I've read.  Manure is great although I haven't found a place locally that will deliver a truckload of composted stuff.  Right now I'm just buying the bags and adding them selectively around some plants.  I like the idea about using urine although I've never tried it.  The neighbor's dogs seem to be doing a pretty good job in that department though! 

Lono it sounds like you don't have enough organic matter in the soil to attract any worms, do you compost all kitchen scraps and garden waste? Dig in plenty of manure and organic matter and by next year you should get your worms back again.

We just moved into this house this spring, and I think the previous owners just ignored it.  I plan to use compost materials directly into the garden, and hopefully it will break down by next year.  I'm still thinking I can salvage this year's planning using the lasagna method, which allows you to plant directly into your newspaper/organic material amendments.

I also use my own fresh urine as a fertilizer, i part urine to ten parts rain water which really works well as urine is high in trace elements like potassium and magnesium and really high in nitrogen.[/mono]

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When I was studying Acupressure, every morning, one of the male student always had his glass of his own, first thing in the morning urine.  He mentioned the next pee is not so full of good stuff.  Only the first squirt but not all of it either. Information he got from from a Buddhist Teaching.?.
Sorry I have no advice regarding gardening, but just wanted to share the pee story

I'll keep you updated on my process if you'll do the same.  The flower bed in front of my yard is pretty much dead soil.  I added stuff to it, but I noticed while digging that there were almost NO earthworms.  Bad sign.  Consequently, none of the flowers I planted there are doing very well.  I'm hoping that if I use this method it'll spring back to life by next year.

When you spread the leaf material on your garden, did you chop it up, or put them in whole?

I also use my own fresh urine as a fertilizer, i part urine to ten parts rain water which really works well as urine is high in trace elements like potassium and magnesium and really high in nitrogen.

It seems like this should be the ideal way to approach any sort of perenial garden.  It mimics the mechanism a forest uses to build up it's soil.  Leaf and drop, leaf and drop, let some animals come along to deficate and it's all good! 

Look up "Edible Forest Garden" on Amazon.  That was the one that got me interested in trying this method.  It does a good job of outlining permaculture principles for beginners, like myself. 

I dislike the standard American "lawn" and I don't like to put in long hours in the garden, so this seemed ideal for me.  So far so good I guess.  I'll know more in a couple years once things really start to break down and the root systems mature.

Good luck!

Now I'm reading up on no-till gardening, and I've ordered a book about it.  The idea is that rather than destroy the eco-system of the soil, you add layers to naturally compost and amend the soil over time.  With the lasagna method, you lay newspaper or cardboard as a weed barrier, then add successive layers of grass clippings, manure or organic material, leaf matter, etc., and cover with straw or hay.  Once you have 18" or so, you can plant directly into this or allow it to "cook" over the winter for next year's planting.

Has anyone used this method, and if so, how successful was it?