In the comments of a recent post, one of my readers mentioned the mint that was exploding out of her garden. It reminded me of this post and what fun it was!
Tag: plants
Plant a Mint Bowl
On a recent trip to my local nursery I found these unique varieties of mint! I planted them in a terra cotta bowl and labeled them with copper plant markers, to keep track of the different varieties. As I was planting and rustling the leaves of the mint, it smelled wonderful in the air and my hands smelled so fresh.
The chocolate mint has a strong sent of mint with just a hint of chocolate and it is delicious sprinkled over some freshly chopped strawberries. The apple mint is a little more subtle and tastes delicious in a glass of ice water. Crush a few leaves between your fingers and drop them in the water, then swirl it around a bit. It makes a great summer afternoon treat. The sweet mint is wonderful dropped into a glass of strong black sun tea.
I just love the way it looks when different varieties of the same herb or flower are all planted together. Have you ever done that? What are your favorite plant mixes?
Gardening Journal: Killing Weed Seeds and Bugs in Compost
Ideally your compost pile will heat up enough during the decomposition process to kill most of the unwanted bugs and weed seeds that get into it. Sometimes this isn’t the case and you need a little extra help. You have a couple of options, some are more harsh than others and you want to balance your desire to kill the weed seeds and bad bugs with your desire to maintain the life of the beneficial organisms that are part of your compost.
Prevention
First and foremost of course, is trying to avoid weeds seeds and bugs making it through the decomposition process in the first place. One of the ways that you can ensure weed seeds are killed, is to put them in the hottest part of the compost pile, the center. If you’ve plucked some weeds from your garden that have gone to seed, make sure you bury them in the center of the pile and not along the outer edges where it doesn’t heat up as much.
Pasteurizing in the Oven or on the Stove
Sometimes weed seeds and bad bugs make it past the decomposition process, that’s when you can turn to pasteurization. This process is similar to sterilization and solar sanitization, but it is done at a lower temperature. The idea being that you heat the compost enough to kill the weed seeds and bad bugs, but not so much that you kill the beneficial organisms that you have worked so hard to cultivate. Work in small batches using fully decomposed compost and be forewarned, this process may make your house smell. Best to do it on a day when you can open the windows and let a breeze in!