| Just got on this forum (usually read Ozarks Region) and I'm sorry no one has responded. As changable as Missouri weather is and as late as it is now, I don't know if you would get much growth from anything you planted. Why not start collecting leaves and such from your neighbors' yards and just pile them on your garden? There will be much more decay through the winter than you would think possible then next spring, pull the remaining leaves aside to plant your crops. May I suggest Pat Lanza's book "Lasagna Gardening" or Ruth Stout's "How To Have A Green Thumb Without An Aching Back." Both authors are proponents of deep mulch gardening and sheet composting although Ruth is without doubt the mother of these systems. Also check out the Soil, Compost and Mulch Forum on this site. To get a jump start on fertility next spring, you could get a bag or two of alfalfa pellets at a feed store to spread on your plot before you spread the leaves. If you can shred them or a neighbor kindly shredded them as they gathered the leaves, all the better. I've been gardening on this farm for 10 years now and I still add plenty of shredded leaves, grass clippings, manure and spoiled hay to my gardens every year. The closest to fertilizer that I use is activated compost tea. More about that on the soil, mulch, compost forum too. Good luck. |
