Compost is one of the easiest and most enriching thing you can add to your garden soil. Not only does it make beautiful black soil, full of nutrients, for free; composting takes garbage and re-purposes it instead of throwing it in a landfill. We currently have 3 compost bins in different stages of breakdown.
But not everything belongs in your compost container or pile.
Today it is my distinct privilege to welcome Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd.com and the author of Gardening for Geeks. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design and consulting. She holds regular organic gardening classes in California, and has co-taught organic gardening at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. Christy has been a board member of Ocean View Farms Organic Community Garden in Mar Vista, California since 1999, and gardens almost entirely with heirloom vegetables.
So, yeah, she’s basically the bomb. 😉…
I can hardly believe that we are already at this point in the year. Here in Phoenix we’ve had unseasonably high temps and a few weeks have felt like Summer. I had early bolting with spinach and lettuce because of it; but I hate to complain because I had an awesome Fall & Spring garden this year!
I have been avoiding the summer prep work because of the early heat. However, this weekend was exceptionally nice. I took advantage of the cooler temps to get some work done.
Are you ready to start planning summer garden? Here are my tips!…
I know, I know…as gardeners we dread having rabbits in our garden; they eat tender greens and burrow holes. Let’s be
honest, after becoming a gardener you started to sympathize with Mr. McGregor’s desire to off Peter Rabbit.
But a rabbit CAN be your garden’s best friend! Well at least his droppings can be!
Rabbit droppings are filled with nutrients like phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. Not to mention trace elements like sulfur, copper, calcium and magnesium for starters. It really is a natural super-sized fertilizer!
1. You can take it straight from the litter pan and into the garden. They will break down slowly releasing their super nutrients into the soil. You can toss a handful right on top or bury a few inches into the soil.
2. Rabbit waste composts like a dream. Add your pan droppings to your compost pile and give it a nitrogen infusion!!! This is my personal favorite. Why throw good fertilizer in the trash? We currently have 2 cooking compost bins that are mainly rabbit droppings. I have even used “half cooked” rabbit compost when I am filling a new garden bed.
Our youngest holding one of our garden boosters, Winifred rabbit.
3. Brew some rabbit “tea”. Similar to worm tea, a rabbit tea can be very beneficial to your garden. Soak about 1 – 2 cups of droppings in a 5 gallon bucket, stirring once a day for about 3 days. After the poop has settled to the bottom you can use the tea to water your plants. You can also dip a root ball into the tea before you transplant veggies; giving them a fertilizer boost before replanting. If you don’t want to continue soaking the poo after your tea is brewed put the droppings in muslin and create a sort of tea bag that can be removed after a few days (don’t forget to add that to the compost). Make sure to brew your tea away from the house…I learned this the hard way and the flies loved us. 😛
4. Make a warm sanctuary! Not only is rabbit poo great for your garden directly, it is also a prime material for growing red wigglers. Combine your rabbit droppings with other materials like straw, paper, peat moss, etc and you’ve got feed and bedding for those lovely worms. I have to admit this one is still on my to-do list…
5. Rabbits will happily eat some of the greens you won’t. When I pull carrots I reserved the lovely green foliage from the top for my rabbits. This is an awesome treat for them and they’d rather have the greens than the carrot itself.
Whether you decide to have one pet rabbit, a few show rabbits or a barn of meat rabbits; you can use their droppings as a positive and healthy contribution to your gardening efforts.
Well I will start by acknowledging it is Super Bowl Sunday…aka “Thank God Football is over Day”. My husband has been 
battling a bout of bronchitis so he was watching the game in his PJs by himself; poor guy.
I decided to make him some game food (aka junk food); and then I headed out to the garden.
I really haven’t had a lot of time for my garden so far this year. I’ve been harvesting a bit and I did plant the potatoes. But I haven’t done much else. So I evaluated the boxes a bit and decided to work a bit on box 1.
It needed a little pruning, all of which was added to my compost bin. I harvested some Swiss Chard, kale and the last few
carrots in that box. Then I was able to replant 2 boxes with green onions, added about 3 – 4 seeds in the boxes where none grew and I replanted the carrot boxes with some baby Bok Choy. The two Brussels sprout plants have taken off and I am eagerly awaiting the first veggies!!!
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Then I got my first really big harvest of spinach. Out of Box 3 & 4. I was hoping to replant some boxes in those but I lost my light. Hopefully I will get out later this week. AND check out my surprise cabbage – I’m getting a beautiful head on the first one!
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I love being a backyard farmer! I am also so proud to be a coordinator for the Backyard Homesteading Conference. If you haven’t checked this out than I highly recommend you go over and give it a look. Some of the most awesome teacher/mentors in Arizona!
