Mainely Mulch.

Hay smells different to lovers and horses.
~ Old Proverb

I am on the hunt for Mainely Mulch "Salt Hay Substitute". Even though I have always lived in deciduous climates, I always come up short on carbon (dry browns) for my compost pile and heavy on nitrogen (wet greens) during the spring and summer months. When I lived in Rhode Island, I discovered and used to purchase Mainely Mulch at the Redwood Nursery in Swansea, Massachusetts. I would keep the mulch in its bag right next to my compost bin, and anytime I added grass clippings or kitchen scraps, I cover them with a few handfuls of Mainely Mulch, and my compost was beautiful. Now that I have moved back to Pittsburgh, my compost pile is again suffering from too little carbon, and I find myself missing Mainely Mulch.


Mainely Mulch is heated in a kiln to kill any or pathogens or weed seeds so you don't need to worry about diseases or volunteer weeds. It's chopped up into thumb-sized pieces so you can easily control the breakdown of the mulch depending on how thick you spread it. Along with Coir, Mainely Mulch is great for organic gardening, and local nurseries should be encouraged to carry these products.

My Monticello Garden Hat.

We will try this winter to cover our garden with a heavy coating of manure. When earth is rich it bids defiance to droughts, yields in abundance, and of the best quality. I suspect that the insects which have harassed you have been encouraged by the feebleness of your plants; and that has been produced by the lean state of the soil. We will attack them another year with joint efforts.
~ Thomas Jefferson, in 1793, in a letter to his daughter Martha Randolph regarding insect damage in the Monticello gardens.

[Photo credit: Luke P. Pieczynski © 2009]

My sister lives in Virginia, and last summer we went to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello (pictured above) to tour his 1,000-foot by 80-foot vegetable garden (pictured below) on his 5,000-acre plantation and estate in Charlottesville, Virginia.

[Photo credit: Luke P. Pieczynski © 2009]

Thomas Jefferson, commonly known as our third president and the writer of the Declaration of Independence, was an avid gardener, so much so that he devised a wind gauge that could be viewed from 5 different places from within his Monticello home so he could be easily aware of the weather conditions affecting his garden. I think that Jefferson would be very pleased to see Michelle Obama's efforts on the Whitehouse South Lawn. Like our First Lady, he, too, prided himself on the diversity and variety of plants within his garden, growing over 330 varieties of more than 70 species of herbs and vegetables, including 23 varieties of his favorite-peas, two of which I am growing this year in my garden— Prince Albert Pea and Marrowfat Pea. I am also growing his Connecticut Field Pumpkin, Carolina or Sieva Lima Beans, and Yellow Arikara Beans.

Along with seed purchases, I also bought my garden hat. I wear it so often that if my neighbors see me outside without it, they ask me where my hat is. It has been great at keeping my face and neck sunburn free, and also blocking the blinding sun from my eyes. It's a perfectly ideal garden hat for spring and fall. But unfortunately I am finding, not so ideal for summer; the top of the hat is not vented, and my head has turned as red as a beet from overheating.

So now I am on a search for a summer/vented garden hat that I will like as much as my Monticello one. I found this Stay Cool Hat. Practical, yes. Attractive, no. I kinda like the Crownless Hat, but worry that the sun will redden and/damage the hair on the crown of my head during my long hours in the garden. I may get an Asian Coolie Hat, aka Sedge or Paddy Hat.

Garden Wisdom.

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself.
~ Marlene Dietrich

When I worked at Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, my coworker Rich Pederson, the City Farm Manager, and I would meet every Wednesday morning at the farm for a co-coaching session. Because we did not have a Program Director, I would listen and help him think through his priority list for the week and help him brainstorm solutions about managing the farm, upcoming workshops, farmers' markets and so on, and he'd listen and help me think about membership drives, fund-raising events, garden tours, publicity and how best to convey the mission and work of the Land Trust.

Rich would arrive at the farm as early as 5:30 am to beat the sun, see the sunrise and spend some time alone before the onslaught of volunteers and visitors arrived and farm chores began. By the time I arrived at 8:30 am, he'd have finished watering and organizing his supplies and tasks for the day. Usually he would need about 5 to 10 minutes to finish up whatever task he was doing, so he'd tell me to take the time to walk around the farm and make observations.

Earlier this year, Southside Community Land Trust nominated Rich for the Natural Resource Defense Council's "Growing Green Award", and asked me to contribute some words about my experience with Rich. This is what I wrote:

"One of the most meaningful contributions Rich has made to the community is to encourage people to be mindful of their surroundings. When a visitor or volunteer arrives at City Farm, Rich invites them to walk around and make observations-- the sour cherry tree is in bud, a lady bug is tending to a sunflower, the wind detached a piece of Remay covering from the tomato beds, the hens are happily clucking away at their feed, a pea shoot pushes it way up through its tiny piece of earth, the radishes are thriving, a hawk is defending its nest chasing a crow above the greenhouse, the main path is soft from rain and showing footprints, the compost has a sweet earthy smell... He then asks what you learned, what inspired or excited you in your quiet moments of reflection around the farm. Each time the person returns to the farm, Rich asks them to repeat the observational tour, to note changes from their last visit. With his keen insight and philosophical nature, he helps connect these observations to their lives, the community and to global issues. The world then changes. You are less careless and more thoughtful with your actions and words, you consider the impact of your choices, you look for ways to nurture, heal and lend a hand, you realize how interconnected and interdependent we are with the environment and each other. Rich teaches you how to be your best self. He leads through example."

When I did my first observational tour of City Farm, I immediately knew that Rich and I were kindred because he had hand-painted signs of his favorite inspiring quotes placed throughout the farm to provide "food for thought". I have been keeping quote journals since my freshman year of high school, and used to paint my favorite environmental quotes with tempura paint on roll paper and hang throughout my high school every April for Earth Day. I look forward to each Spring when Rich adds a quote or two to his farm collection.

Now that I am away from Providence, I am trying to implement what I learned from Rich in my own garden. And as a tribute to Rich, my garden mentor and guru, I thought I would display my favorite quotes.

I love so many quotes, but unlike Rich's 3/4-acre farm, my garden is quite small, so to have multiple quotes hung throughout the garden would be a bit too cluttered for my tastes. So then I tried to choose just one quote, the epitome of all inspiring quotes. A futile effort for sure.

I gave up on the idea of hand-painted signs, and bought a small chalkboard and some white and colored chalk. I can have all my beloved quotes, just one at a time. Choosing the first one was difficult but I finally decided: