Photo courtesy of Karolina Grabowska / Pexels

Is a gardener’s “work” ever done? (Notice the word “work” in quotes.)

There is a lot of time spent gardening, whether it is in the garden, prepping soil, reading about ideas for improvements and clever ideas, or assessing tools and proposed techniques. I think “obsession” might be a better word choice for some. Although the weather is a bit on the chilly side, my obsession continues.

If leaves have fallen or blown into the garden, accept the gift and let them stay. They should not be bagged and carted to the landfill. The landfill is full enough. The leaves break down and return to the earth, building up the soil by adding humus. This helps with water retention during the hot growing season.

You can continue adding to your compost pile to improve the soil during the cool months. Garbage and leaves would be a minimal yet still valuable addition to the pile. If you have access to chicken, cow or horse poop, add it, too. The poop is “hot” and can burn plants when added directly to a growing garden. If you add it to your compost, the valuable nutrients will remain as it decomposes and gets mixed in with the decomposing garbage and leaves.

There are several ways to have compost piles. The most organized way is to have sections within the composting area. Each section is its own pile; the separation is determined by degree of decay. When you want to add a compost dressing to the garden, the newly created humus is easily and quickly available.

Some of us aren’t that organized. I am happy to have a pile that I just add to. My daily garbage of vegetable peelings, old vegetables, coffee grounds and tea bags all go in. I periodically top it with cardboard or discarded newspaper, or leaves. Every once in a while, I turn it. Now the heat from the decay will attract critters and reptiles. Keep your eye out.

If you get a rotating barrel for composting, the compost is kept off the ground. It is easy to fill, and it is easy to rotate as the barrel turns on a crank.

The bottom line here is to replenish or build your soil. This is becoming a major marketing thrust. The studies have shown that the nutritional value of our food has steadily declined since the 1950s. You will notice individual and business efforts to reverse this. If you are old enough to remember your grandparents gardening in the 1950s and ’60s, try to incorporate their techniques. They were composting and building their soil using methods that ensured nothing went to waste.

This is also the time to order your seeds. There are so many catalogs and resources. Perusing and assessing next year’s plantings is a wonderful activity to do inside, in the warmth, over the short, cold, winter days.

To quote a popular verse from an under-read book: To everything there is a season . . . a time to plant and a time to uproot.