I've been prepping as much as I can figure out how for our garden next Spring. This whole gardening thing is still pretty new and I'm trying to do it as organically as possible. I got this book for my birthday and it has been a HUGE help.
So, I've been adding as much as I can to our compost bin and covered our beds that we have with chicken manure and shavings. I put a LOT of leaves on top of the manure and shavings as well. It should protect the dirt underneath from wind and snow and erosion and break down into compost by spring.
My friends have been a very big help with bringing leaves. We don't have trees in our backyard and our tree in the front is just a little guy so all it's leaves just blew away instead of falling down. *sigh* But I've had plenty to go around with all that people have given me. I'm still hoping for more before the wind blows them away and winter hits.
I put them in Kelsey's garden, a good 5-6" layer. They are also on top of the garlic I planted. (which sprouted already! Not sure how that will end up but I guess we'll see!)
I also had enough to put in the chicken coop. It's kind of an experiment. To be honest, I haven't heard of people doing it, although I'm sure they do. There is about 2-3" of shavings below the 6" of leaves in the coop. I might add in some straw if it gets smelly because of all the "green" compared to "brown" for the deep litter method. But my hope is that it breaks down well and helps keep them warm in the winter. I am not heating their coop with a light this winter. I want it to be as organic as possible and let their little bodies go through their natural cycles. And what's more natural than leaves? :) It's also very pretty to look at. A coop full of leaves and nesting boxes with leaves and fresh eggs.
Happy Fall everyone!
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