And now a word from Mark Cullen--Leaves, a garden goldmine!

Leaves: a Great Canadian Gold Mine!

Expert in gardening Home Hardware
www.markcullen.com

tumbling composter 5010-512

If you remember anything about gardening, remember this: Well-fed soil produces the healthiest and best looking plants. Fertile soil will not only lead to vibrant blooms, verdant foliage and an abundance of fruits and vegetables, it will also eliminate the need for pesticides.

All soils benefit from a yearly application of organic matter, otherwise, they will become less fertile over time. I recommend that you add at least 3/4 to 11/2 inches (2 - 4 cm) of new organic material to your garden beds each year, in either spring or fall. Leaves are an excellent choice as they are readily available at this time of year. I add generous quantities of fallen leaves or finished compost — which is the same thing, only cooked longer. Check out the new Mark's Choice® tumbling composter at Home Hardware.

Apply fallen leaves to the surface of your garden soil, four to six inches (10 - 15 cm) deep. I spread leaves as winter mulch around most of my perennials. This insulates the soil and eliminates weeding in early spring. Every fall, I also spread a layer of leaves 2 to 2 1/2 inches (5 - 7 cm) deep over my entire vegetable garden. Come spring, I rototill the leaves into the garden, which adds valuable organic content to the soil.

Large leaves, such as maple and catalpa, can form thick mats, keeping water and air from the soil, and some leaves, such as oak and beech, take a long time to break down. Chopping leaves into small pieces increases air circulation to the soil and speeds up decomposition. To chop leaves, run them through a shredder if you have one, or run over them with a lawn mower. A power mower with a grass catcher makes this task easier, as you can collect the shredded leaves as you go. Make sure that your mower is set at its highest setting, and keep in mind that dry leaves shred more easily.

How to collect seeds and save them properly

This is the best time of the year to collect seeds from your favourite plants. Clean them, sort them and save them for planting next year. For many of the plants in your garden, this is easy and great fun. Annuals that reproduce nicely from seed gathered from your garden include zinnias, many marigolds, portulacas — which self-sows at my place! — cosmos, four o'clock's, euphorbias, some nicotianas, sunflowers and virtually all of the large seeded varieties that are not hybrids. Vegetables that produce well from seed include beans, tomatoes, peas and most large seeded plants. My favourite perennials from garden seed include the native echinacea, some rudbeckia, Russian sage and bee balm.

NOTE:

Seeds from hybridized annuals,vegetables and perennials will not reproduce true in colour or growth habit to their parent plant. However, sometimes the results are interesting!

Collecting, drying and storing garden seeds

1. Let them mature. The whole reason – the ONLY reason from the plant point of view – that a plant produces a bloom is to produce seed. And, the only reason that it produces seed is to reproduce. It is a basic law of nature: plants, like animals, have an inherent need to multiply or, at least, to perpetuate the species.
2. Remove when dry. After the seeds have dried (and before the birds eat them), remove the seed head (the finished blossom) from the plant and bring it indoors. Remove the seeds from the seed head or pod and place them on a screen or in a ceramic saucer. Do not use a paper towel as they will stick to it.
3. Place in a sunny window for seven to 10 days.
4. Package up the seeds. Put the seeds in individual envelopes and label them carefully (don't skip this step or you will regret it next season) and place in a tightly sealed jar.
5. Store the seeds in a cold cellar or in the veggie crisper in your fridge.
6. Most perennial seeds can be stored for a long time in the freezer. I do not recommend this for annual or vegetable seeds. You can experiment with some and you may be surprised at the germination rate of the 'frozen' ones come spring.

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