winter gardening

We are in a very experimental phase in gardening right now. We have barely kept alive some seedlings inside the house under a grow light. Our lettuce and greens made it through some very cold and freezing days outside under some clear plastic cover. They are alive but not growing much. Our most recent move was to locate some free mulch from a tree trimmer. We contacted them recently and they gladly dropped off a huge load that was already steaming hot with decay. Daniel and the girls have been wheeling it down one load at a time and we will now let it sit and try and monitor the composting process by managing moisture content and adding whatever other food we have to encourage microbial life.

Here is a picture of the heap. We did not even know this was a possibility until recently but we are certainly thankful that our local tree guy was willing to dump this stuff. For you gardeners and/or landscapers who have the space it may be worth looking into this arrangement in your local area if you need mulch for beds or want material for composting.