First of all .... what a NEAT and ORGANIZED garden!

Second ... I've done something similar.... only the OM goes in a pathway, topped with wood chips. Soil sifted from the pathway goes into the garden. Been doing this for years and works well in my climate. I see that wouldn't work for your pathways....mine are more 'woodsy' looking ....

Third .... Is there a reason besides the local supply of compost for abandoning a regular compost pile? It seems easier, especially for the bulkier/woodier stuff. Not to mention compostables from your house. I do 'cold' [NO TURN] composting, thus the 'easy' part.

Anyway .... your garden is beeeootiful!

Loribee,
You are awesome, I Love You Man ;-)
I'll bet your hands have to be killing you after all that cutting, you crack me up ;-)
BTW... Nice Cabbage in the background ! !
If I may ask the "question of the day", why aren't you planting something in that spot, Peppers,Tomatoes,Jicama,etc etc... That bare spot would kill me ;-)

and yes, what you are doing is absolutely fine, ..........other than being a big friggin' waste of viable and useable growing space ;-)

Thanks, Barb and Jon!

Barb, I know composting is easy, but for me it just seemed to be a big pain in the butt. Mostly, I'm too lazy to keep taking kitchen waste out to the compost pile on a daily basis. I keep a can under the sink: Too lazy to keep dragging it out every time I want to throw something away. I know that sounds silly coming from someone who just spent 1/2 hour cutting up peas and broccoli leaves, but one is a project to amend a garden bed (no problem) the other is a daily chore (problem). Plus, I have a hard time making enough, so I'm in a spot where I'd need to buy additional anyway.

But I don't like the idea of wasting good compostables, so admittedly, I'm in the midst of experimenting what kind of composting is going to work for me. This is Plan B, there might end up being a Plan C or D!

(Does that make any sense at all? LOL)

And LOL Jon! I'm a mosaic artist, so my nipping and cutting hand is in darn good shape, LOL As for the vacant space, I actually pulled the broccoli a little earlier than I normally would have because of those very sad looking tomatoes you see. I experimented this year by putting a couple tomato plants on the "cool" side of my garden, and they don't look pleased at all (definitely not as nice as the others I've got planted a mere 4' away). In the hope of uncurling those angry leaves, I thought maybe the broccoli was crowding them so I yanked it (sacrificing what might have been one more batch of side shoots).

I've got cabbage that will go there in a couple months, but you've left me curious: Aside from bok choi (which would bolt this time of year) I've yet to find a veggie that would mature and be done in 60 days or less. Any ideas?

WONDERFUL garden & in bed compost.
I am with Jon, plant some southern peas or a ground cover & chop it in just before you plant again.
You Could show us one of your mosaic pieces, also.
We would love to see art work, must be nice, if it is as good as your garden.

Loribee,
I know you are in California (I was born in Torrance and have lived in San Diego,Fallbrook,Poway,Ramona,Escondido,Pacific Beach,Fallbrook, Santee,El Cajon and LaJolla, and of all those places, Sept 1st is not the start of the Cold season, where do you live that gets so cold so fast ???

At this point (If I was you ;-)
I would buy 1 Gallon plants from the local nursery , in that spot I would plant 6 Variety's of Peppers,
or
a 1 Gallon SunGold and feast for months on those Golden Nectars of Sunshine.
or
Potatoes or sweet Potatoes

or install a quick trellis and plant a couple of Cucumber varieties ... my faves are Lemon Cucumbers or Burpless

YUMMMMMMMM

Italian Dressing ...YUMMMMMM

{{gwi:288728}}

{{gwi:288729}}

{{gwi:90900}}

Loribee, I just want to say how beautiful, tidy and neat it all looks. I think you told me before, but I've forgotten.... what is the material on your paths between the beds?

And the stones... beautiful!

Thanks, jolj!

Jon, I want to grow those beets that come up with $100 bills on them! Where do I get that variety?? LOL But seriously, I'm in a fog belt in the San Francisco bay area and our weather is on the cool side. Many folks around here can't even grow decent tomatoes, though surrounding my beds with the light rock has given me good results. I've got peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes in the other beds but they won't be done producing until October, maybe even November if I'm lucky. Way too late for my fall broccoli and cabbage. But I do really like the idea of throwing down some cover crop seeds and chopping them in.

Jenn, the rock is called "Sonoma Gold Fines" and that's probably a local name given I'm in Sonoma County. I'm not sure what it might be called in other areas. I call it "poor man's decomposed granite" because it compacts almost as nicely as the granite, but it costs less than half the price.

And thanks for the compliments on the stones. I make them when I have leftover concrete, or just when I feel like cranking out a bunch of something in one day. I will ultimately have my entire garden pathed with them.

Some of the other things I've made (with much support and advice from the wonderful artists over on the Mosaic & Stained Glass forum!):

Mushrooms
{{gwi:288730}}

Stools
{{gwi:190072}}

And now I'm trying my hand at sculptures using armature and concrete. Mr. Sea is my current work in progress:

{{gwi:288731}}
{{gwi:288732}}
{{gwi:288734}}

It's what I do in that little green building ;-D

Thanks much, by the way, for all the help and advice here! I really love this forum!

Oh, and Jon, that was not nice posting a big yummy pic of steak and lobster when I haven't had dinner yet. Suddenly, our Sunday night pizza doesn't sound very appetizing! ;-D

That was for my Birthday....on Mothers Day = 2 for 1 ;-

You have a lot of Talents ;-) Lots ! !

Many people have abondoned the concept of pile composting for that of sheet composting and that works too. The key is to recycle all of your yard waste and not throw away the valuable nutrients that yard waste contains. Sheet composting means that handling of yard waste is only done once or twice not multiple times that pile composting may require. Mulching is another means of trench composting.

Ahh, a fellow Taurus (I'm May 18th). Happy belated birthday, Jon! How appropriate that two Earth signs are hanging around a soil forum. LOL!

Kimmsr, thank you for the confirmation.

"Sheet composting means that handling of yard waste is only done once or twice not multiple times that pile composting may require."

I think this is exactly the difference for me. Honestly, I think it's the collecting of kitchen waste that I really don't care for. It's messy, smelly, and without the space in my little house for a larger composting can, it seems I was constantly running my coffee can out to the yard, rain or shine.

This option worked out so much nicer. After all, it's the point in time when I'm pulling out spent plants that I've got a vacant space in my bed and a bunch of yard waste in a pile. The only thing I wonder is how soon I could plant something. I've heard that when material decomposes, the process sucks nitrogen from the soil. I may have counter-balanced that by adding the manures. Do you all really think I could just put some plants in right now? I had figured I should give it 30 days at least to break down.

(Though, now that you've told me this is called "sheet composting" I can go back and search the forums again. I knew there were conversations about this, I just wasn't using the right term!)

Hi Loribee,
My best friends birthday is May 18th, I knew I liked you for more than one reason ;-)

I have very expansive perennial beds and I practice what I call in-situ compost. In the fall and winter I do my clean up by cutting the perennials down, cutting up into 4-5 inch pieces and throwing them back down. They are mulch until they break down. There are a couple of plants that tend towards wilt or disease here (peonies!) that I don't do that with. I've even learned that I can do this more quickly with my mulching mower - anything I can get the mower over is that much less I have to bend over and take care of.

I have a similar practice duing the summer when I'm deadheading except that instead of just throwing down I try to push it down so it has contact with the ground and is hopefully a little hidden. My gardens are very full & lush. If spent flowers are showing, it looks trashy to me.

I think this is very similar to what happens in the forest. My motto is "the less you take out, the less you have to replace" in terms of nutrients/nitrogen, etc.

If you are taking 4" of soil out of your garden I don't think you have to wait to plant. By the time seedlings or seeds get that far down, the material will be broken down. Even if you were planting down that far, I don't think it hurts, look up lasagna or sheet composting if you doubt.

Your garden look lovely and you are obviously a very thoughtful gardener.

Loribee - love the mushroom! Yes you can put the new plants in now without waiting for breakdown since there is so much loose stuff for the plants to root into. The bed will be so fertile - What are you going to put in? Whatever you plant should help shade out unwanted weeds prior to your fall planting.

Thanks much for the helpful advice! Eileen, I like your motto about not taking anything out. I really think that's true. In fact, I'm even contemplating a HF shredder that Jon Hughes flashed around a while back. I'd love to throw tree leaves and spent yard waste into something like that and have beautiful crushed mulch come out.

As for what to plant, I'm not really sure. I plan to put cabbage or broccoli back in around the first of August, so I'm not sure what I could put in that I could do away with in 60 days. It was mentioned to seed a cover crop then chop it into the soil, but I haven't had a chance to look into exactly what cover crop would be ideal. (Suggestions welcome!)

I dump kitchen waste and buckets full of coffee grinds randomly all around my different raised beds and the worms devour it in a few days, you should see the castings. Everything is growing like gangbusters...

In many places dumping kitchen waste on garden soil can be considered a healthy hazard, so it should always be buried. Kitchen waste is known to draw flies and vermin when left exposed to the weather.