Hi, Thanks for these replies. I am trying to remove all weeds, grasses, etc. and their seeds so that I can have nothing (in my yard) but native grasses, wildflowers, and native fruit trees. I intend to solarize the yard with 2 or 4 mil. clear plastic for say 2 or 3 months starting mid-summer (zone 6b; new jersey). As for piece-mealing or fragmenting the sheeting, how can I word this... this will not create gaps, as I will create a box (not circle) shape area of mulch around the saplings and shrubs. It would be like laying down multiple sheets of carpets so that there are no gaps. Each sheet will be tucked into the earth, side-by-side. The only fear I had was weather solarizing 2 or say 2 1/2 feet away from the new saplings would kill them (they hardly have any roots now and I would think that the roots that did pass beyond the mulch ring (or box, actually) would just be pruned by the effects of the solarizing, yet that the roots within the safety-zone around the trunk would be fine. I could just move them, but I thought that this would slightly delay development for a whole year, being ball-and-burlaped and then put back in their place in the late fall. How do you properly ball-and-burlap a 4' tall sapling - 3 gallons of soil and place it 2/3 in the earth?

Yes I turn my heap after a couple of weeks or so in the early stages. It's impossible to reach the bottom, and forking over the top half only compresses the bottom layers. So I fork out the whole lot into sacks, and then refill the bin so that the top goes in first and the bottom last, thus 'inverting' the heap. After some 15 years composting, I still find that the most difficult part is preventing it from get too wet during the processs. I visited a local Council composting facility 2 years ago, where they compost garden and food waste in greenhouse-shaped houses. Several tons are composted in each house. When the manager opened the door, clouds of steam issued forth, and the compost looked wet and messy. The wetness was, however, only skin-deep. When parted, the underneath looked dry by comparison. As you probably know, the materials have to achieve a temp of about 60 degrees for 2 consectutive days to comply with the directives. As they had fans to carry away the steam etc, I guess that's how the resulting compost is quite dry when the process is complete. Imagine having 10 tons of wet soggy compost to dry out! Regarding worms; I read somewhere that they can 'drag' leaves into their burrows and tear them up. Somehow I can't quite believe it. It's not as worms have jaws like caterpillars. Mind you, it's interesting to put a Lettuce leaf in the vicinity of those 'night crawler' worms as they search for food. Suddenly the leaf starts to move as a worm starts to pull it back towards its burrow.

I'm late to the game, but wanted to share an idea we're doing this year. We're starting some local, neighborhood-run produce markets. They're technically grey-market - someone will turn a garage or shed into a produce stand. Anyone can drop produce by, and they list inventory on a whiteboard. Payments are handled through Venmo, so shoppers pay growers directly through a mobile app. It's a grassroots thing meant for neighborhoods, but I think if you had a handful of these going in town, a professional growers could drop off a steady supply of produce to each one. The folks who host it get to keep any produce unsold after a couple of days, so there are definite benefits for them. We wrote down the business model, if anyone wants to steal it :) http://www.hackyourhometown.com/the-grassroots-produce-stand-that-runs-itself/

hi yippee, I've not done any container gardening except for houseplants and summer containers on the patio, but might be able to answer some of your questions. I'm not an expert, so anyone who has better information than I do is invited to correct me. Plants that go dormant aren't dead, they just stop growing above ground. The roots can continue to grow until the soil freezes solid. Plants need water even in winter, and pots dry out much faster and more completely than garden soil would, so you should water the plants if they are dry when not frozen. Gardeners do water their plants in winter, but usually only recently planted ones. Well established older plants have a large enough root system to survive in the ground. Evergreens need water as much as any other plant. Check the requirements of the individual plants, as some like more moisture than others, and some will rot if too wet in winter. Any plant that is 'not appropriate for you zone' will likely be killed dead if left out all winter. You should bring these plants inside, a garage or cool porch would be ideal unless they are tropical plants, in which case indoors is best. Plants that are hardy for your zone (AND good candidates for container growing) don't need to have their pots kept 'warm'. Insulating mulch is used on garden plants after the ground has frozen to keep it frozen. Freezing and thawing can heave the plants up, disturbing root systems and exposing them to winter damage. I would think that more damage would be done by drying out than by cold temperatures. And finally, plants that are advertised as having 'winter interest' may be deciduous or evergreen. Obviously, the evergreens keep their color, and some turn slightly in winter, add some interest. Plants whose leaves die in winter may drop them, but some plants keep their leaves, brown or otherwise, and can add texture. Some have beautiful branch colors or bark textures, or shapes. Red twigged dogwood and Harry Lauder's Walking Stick come to mind. Here is a link that might be useful: winter plants