I think of it as a neighbourly Saturday, that weekend day this month. It began with cutting up one of the garden鈥檚 pumpkins, steaming the cubes tender, and making a pie for neighbours down the street who听had generously repaired a听section of my old, dilapidated fence that had fallen over in a听storm.
It had been a long time since I鈥檇 been in their home, when previous neighbours lived there. Rick and Mary are gradually carrying out small renovations while retaining the unique character of the interesting old house.
On my way home, I encountered a new neighbour walking her dog and cat. We had a good visit, the four of us, on the street as we discussed the renovation of听her newly acquired, long neglected garden. Tanya and her partner are on the right track, in my view. They are clearing out plantings of dubious value and digging over emptied plots. That鈥檚 a useful autumn project, one that creates a clean canvas on which to visit, over the winter, visions of听possibility.
A short while later that day, a听neighbour directly across the street phoned to offer me leaves for the garden. Kim and her husband had left fallen leaves on听garden beds to break down there, but they had raked them off pathways to produce six bags full.
I was thrilled. My garden has so much forest in and around it that almost all my fallen leaves are liberally blended with cedar droppings, which are not suitable for composting.
When I asked why they didn鈥檛 want the leaves to compost for themselves, I was told that the husband refuses to compost on the property for fear of attracting rats.
I explained that rodents in compost piles are not commonly a听problem as long as the heaps are kept free of vegetable and fruit trimmings from the kitchen, which are best dug into holes or trenches in the garden. There, they decompose rapidly under a substantial cover of soil to create a spongy, moisture-retaining mass. Potatoes in particular thrive when planted in the spring over kitchen parings placed in trenches and covered with soil over the winter.
It鈥檚 true that certain neighbours on the street have had problems with rodents attracted to bird seed spilled over the ground; however, only once have I come across a rat in one of my compost heaps.
Eye surgeries had left me briefly unable to wield a shovel to听bury my kitchen vegetable and fruit trimmings. Instead, I pulled aside some composting materials in a heap, emptied the trimmings container into the shallow depression and covered them over. Enter the rat.
Those bags of gift leaves set me up for several hours of bliss. It was a sunny early November day, warm enough for working in听a thin, short-sleeved shirt. I听decided to make leaf mould.
First, I emptied one of the fully decomposed (鈥渇inished鈥�) compost heaps onto the equally finished one next to it. Pumpkins had grown in both through the summer and early autumn.
Then I laid a bed of straw over the cleared area and topped it with a layer of leaves followed by a few shovels full of compost. I听continued building the leaf compost pile with alternating leaves and compost and left the heap uncovered to receive a little rainfall before covering it loosely with a tarp.
Even after many years of gardening I am still always struck by a feeling of complete contentment whenever I鈥檓 tending to听the five compost enclosures located in a line against a back yard fence.
Composting brings with it a feeling of rightness, and of power. One could even call it a godlike occupation: Creating earth that will nourish life.
听
GARDEN EVENTS
Holiday workshops. Patio Gardens, 6536 West Saanich Rd., is offering the following workshops in December. For more information and to register visit patiogardensvictoria.ca or call 250-652-8338.
鈥� Winter Hanging Basket, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Create a moss hanging basket that will last past the holidays and through the winter. All materials are supplied, Cost is $ 50.
鈥� Kissing Ball, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Hang a kissing ball to welcome visitors. All materials are provided. Cost is $49.
鈥� Holiday Centrepiece, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Entertain in style with a fresh and festive centrepiece. Materials supplied. Cost $49.
