Question " where to put tree leaves” is the most popular among summer residents in the fall. I'll tell you how I deal with this.
I DISCOVERED THE USEFUL PROPERTIES OF FALLEN LEAVES A SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND I REALLY REGRET THAT I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THEM EARLIER. WITH THE HELP OF THIS FREE BUT VERY VALUABLE MATERIAL, WHICH APPEARS UNDER MY FEET EVERY AUTUMN, I WAS ABLE TO INCREASE FERTILITY AND IMPROVE THE SOIL STRUCTURE ON MY PLANT, AND ACHIEVE PLENTY OF FRUITS OF VEGETABLES AND GARDEN CULTURES LTUR HAS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED ITS LABOR COSTS IN PLANT CARE
Didn't have to buy
Today, the assortment of gardening stores amazes the imagination, and when looking at the shelves, a lucky person’s eyes widen: here you can buy absolutely everything that will help ease the work on your garden plot, and achieve abundant fruiting of vegetables and fruits. garden crops or lush flowering ornamental plants. But how many of us are so well off that we can afford to buy all these innovations and inventions of modern manufacturers?
Personally, I have a very modest income, and I can’t “show off” in a gardening store.
I would really like to try out the mulching non-woven material that has appeared on sale, buy about two dozen ready-made shelters for insulating plants for the winter, bring several tons of ready-made humus soil mixture to the site and finally improve our poor sandy soil, and also buy many more different useful products that have helped would minimize my labor costs at the dacha.
However, I did not ruin family budget and decided to show ingenuity in dacha activities: I was able to improve the quality garden soil and achieve a decent harvest using free material, namely fallen leaves from your own garden. And for those gardeners and vegetable gardeners who, like me, are trying to minimize financial expenses, I advise you to take note of my story and this fall make good use of leaf litter on your summer cottage.
Fur coat in the garden
The idea to put a huge mountain of autumn leaves to good use arose spontaneously. Instead of burning them, as usual, I decided to insulate a large bed of winter garlic with them. Along the edges of the bed, I first dug in pieces of old slate so that the foliage would not fly away from gusts of wind, and planted garlic in the usual way, and after a couple of weeks, with the onset of a steady cooling, I covered the top of the bed with the leaves left in a layer of 10-15 cm.
Come in early spring I didn’t succeed in going to the dacha to remove the “coat” from the garlic bed, and I was worried that I would be left without garlic this year: I thought that it had probably rotted away under a thick layer of mulch. However, at the end of April I found my garlic in excellent condition.
The seedlings easily broke through the compacted leaf litter and looked stronger and healthier than ever. What was surprising for me was something else: by this time the soil in the rest of the garden had already completely dried out (I was always upset by this unpleasant feature of our sandy soil), but in the garlic bed the soil remained moist and loose. I did not remove the leaves from the garlic plantation - throughout the summer they continued to perfectly retain moisture in the garden after the next watering, which made me incredibly happy. That season I harvested an excellent harvest of garlic and realized that fallen leaves are a real find!
In addition to the fact that it solved my problem with watering (I am a “weekend” summer resident), in addition, after rotting, it made the soil in the garden incredibly loose and soft.
After my successful experiment, I decided to use this free material as mulch for a wide variety of plants. But since I plant other vegetables, except garlic, only in the spring, I began to stock up on autumn leaves for future use. To do this, after the leaves fell, I filled old iron barrels, compacted the contents as much as possible and tightly closed them with lids.
I collected leaves only in dry weather: the wet material rotted during the winter, and I needed mulch. In the spring (after the seedlings appeared in the beds and grew a little, and also after planting the seedlings in the ground), I opened the barrels and covered the leaves between the rows of all vegetable crops without exception - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, carrots, daikon, etc. After subsequent moistening from a watering can, they covered the ground with a dense layer 3-5 cm thick and for a long period relieved me of the need to water the plantings. If before plants during the summer drought they somehow survived from Saturday to Saturday in anticipation of my arrival at the dacha, but now they grew by leaps and bounds, because thanks to such mulch, the moisture in the soil after watering on the weekend was retained for the entire next week.
Foliage for insulation
Because the Orchard, located on my personal plot, occupies quite a vast territory and annually by autumn gives a large number of fallen leaves, I decided to find other materials for this free material, no less useful options applications.
Leaf litter is perfect for building “warm” beds, in which I sow vegetables and herbs in the spring to obtain ultra-early products. To build such a structure, I first dig a trench about 40 cm deep at the planned location, stacking the top fertile soil layer separately to the side.
Then I place small branches left after pruning trees and shrubs, stalks of corn and sunflowers at the bottom of the recess. After this, I fill the trench to the top with fallen leaves and soft-stemmed weeds without roots and seeds, sprinkling them with layers of earth 7-10 cm thick and sifted wood ash, and then pour the solution generously 
any EM drug prepared according to instructions.
I fill the contents on top with fertile soil, obtaining an earthen roll about 30 cm high on the surface of the plot, and cover the finished bed with black film.
During the winter, the contents of such a bed settle with the first rays of the spring sun under a black film and when exposed to soil microorganisms begins to actively decompose, releasing heat. The soil in such a bed warms up in the spring at the most early dates, allowing you to sow vegetables a month earlier than usual. Already in the first ten days of April, I remove the film from the ridge, slightly loosen the soil and plant this or that crop. To protect tender seedlings from spring return frosts, I install arcs over the bed and cover them with thick spunbond. Thanks to such warm beds, each of which serves me for 3 to 4 years, I get fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, early ripening root vegetables and a variety of greens much earlier than my neighbors in the country.
DIY leaf humus
IN last years prices for manure and humus began to “bite” quite strongly. In addition, my attempts to purchase such organics were not crowned with anything good: not only that one day, instead of the ordered fresh mullein They brought me a truckload of ordinary soil, mixed with a bunch of weeds and branches, and along with the purchase they also “gifted” me with numerous May beetle larvae - malicious pests, with which I then had to fight for a very long time.
Therefore, in order to save money and being wary of such unpleasant surprises, I decided to start preparing leaf humus, to which, as it turned out later, all crops, without exception, responded very well.
For this purpose, in a remote but sunny corner of my plot, I built a spacious compost bin from pieces of tin.
I pour it into it in portions in the fall. autumn leaves and sprinkle with a small layer of earth. In order to neutralize the acidic reaction of the future fertilizer in advance, I sprinkle the leaves with wood ash, chalk or dolomite flour. I spill each layer generously with a urea solution prepared at the rate of 20–25 g per 10 liters of water, and place a new batch of leaves on top, sprinkled with a deoxidizing agent and soil, which I also spill with a nitrogen solution. I fill the compost bin to the top with litter, cover the top with film to prevent the nutrients from being washed out by sediment, and leave it like that until spring.
Over the next summer season, I periodically remove the film from the compost bin for ventilation and regularly spill the contents with water, preventing it from drying out or becoming waterlogged. By autumn I get young humus with a small amount of leaf blades.
If you leave the fertilizer in the compost bin for another year, then by the end of the next season you can get fully ripened humus - a homogeneous loose and crumbly soil mass with pleasant aroma. But personally, I decided to use young leaf humus, which ripens at vegetable beds or in the trunk circles of trees and shrubs, feeding the plants with the necessary macroelements and humic compounds, and after the leaves fall, I rush to stock up on a new portion of leaves and put them for composting.
Cheap Shelters
Fallen leaves came in handy for constructing winter shelters for heat-loving plants and young seedlings of garden crops. I no longer remember buying expensive ready-made shelters: free leaf litter, having excellent 
thermal insulation properties, successfully replaced all these newfangled inventions and eliminated unnecessary expenses.
To this end, after leaf fall on a clear day, I rake up dry fallen leaves and place them in large polyethylene bags to protect them from getting wet. With the onset of steady cold weather, I begin preparing the plants for wintering. For this purpose, pre-pruned heat-loving vines (covering grapes, actinidia, clematis, climbing roses, honeysuckle honeysuckle, etc.) I remove from the trellis, twist the shoots compactly and lay them on the ground (I carry out this procedure only in dry weather). I fall asleep on top lashes “head over heels” with stored dry leaves and cover with a thick film, the edges of which are firmly secured to the ground with metal pins or sprinkled with a layer of earth. I also sprinkle dry leaf litter on the beds with garden strawberries, bulbous flowers and capricious perennials, I cover the top with polyethylene, attach its ends around the perimeter and leave it like that until spring.
To protect against winter frosts root system recently planted seedlings, as well as heat-loving berries and fruit trees, I use another method - I stuff garbage bags with dry leaves, I tie them tightly and lay them out close to each other in the tree trunks of the plants.
In the spring, with the arrival of warmth, I remove the shelters, but sometimes I leave some of the leaves under the bushes and trees, which I scatter in an even layer in the circle around the trunk so that they retain moisture in the soil longer from the melting snow. And if spring turns out to be too cold, and return frosts threaten to destroy the flowers of early ripening berry and fruit crops, I leave a shelter of leaves in their trunk circles for a longer period, thus slowing down the thawing of the soil and delaying the flowering of plants.
Foliage from - under which trees?
Having assessed beneficial features fallen leaves and started using them for the purposes described above, over time I began to experience a shortage of such material in my own garden. Therefore, in order to stock up on enough litter to mulch your garden and vegetable garden, 
preparation of humus, construction warm beds and insulating plants for the winter, she began to bring the missing part from the deciduous forest located nearby.
But when filling bags with forest leaves, I try not to take litter from aspen, oak, willow and hazel, since they contain tannins that have a depressing effect on cultivated plants. And here are the leaves fruit trees and berry plants from my own garden, as well as birch, rowan, alder, linden, maple and ash litter, I use for my own purposes without fear.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that fallen leaves tend to acidify the soil when rotting. Therefore, when using this material for mulching (especially on acidic soil) deoxidizers will have to be periodically applied to the beds - wood ash, chalk, lime, dolomite flour, etc. (the application rates of such preparations must be calculated according to the instructions, depending on the pH level of each specific area).
However, even in this case, you should not give up such an excellent mulching material: a layer of leaves, spread between the rows of vegetable crops and near-trunk circles of garden plantings, protects the soil from washing out, weathering and drying out, reduces the number of waterings and eliminates the tedious procedure of loosening and removing weeds . After rotting, such mulch will make heavy clay soil more loose and permeable, and will add such a valuable property as moisture holding capacity to sandy soil.
Care should be taken to use leaf litter as mulch only for personal plots located in regions where prolonged rains often occur: an excessively thick layer of leaves can cause waterlogging of the soil and, as a result, increase the risk of plant damage by fungal diseases.
ON A NOTE
I would like to warn those summer residents who decide to adopt my experience against using garden leaves from under those garden trees and shrubs that were affected by diseases this season. It is better to burn such litter, since when used as mulch or composting material, it will cause the spread of infection throughout the garden plot.
Foliage - cannot be removed
Gorgeous Golden autumn ends with the trees shedding their leaves and going into hibernation. And the gardener is in thought - what should he do with the fallen leaves? The answer to this question is not as obvious as it seems. There are pros and cons to preserving leaf litter under trees, to destroying it, and to recycling it. The best decision, as always, you will have to search based on specific conditions.
On the one hand, fallen leaves are an excellent coat for tree roots, but on the other hand, they are an excellent place for pests to overwinter...?
Under a rustling blanket
In the forests, no one removes fallen leaves. Nevertheless, they grow vigorously wherever natural conditions and people give them even the slightest opportunity. Consisting mainly of leaf litter, forest litter is the most important part ecological system. By losing leaves, trees fertilize themselves. They return to the soil everything that the roots took, and add to this a huge mass of synthesized organic matter. The vital activity of many insects and microorganisms quickly turns fallen leaves into humus, maintaining soil fertility. In a way, the decomposing layer of fallen leaves is a compost heap distributed throughout the forest.
In addition, rotting leaves retain moisture and generate heat. Therefore, under a layer of forest litter, the soil in winter is more moist, loose and warm than on open places. This improves the wintering conditions of trees and shrubs, preventing the roots from overcooling. Moreover, in warm soil the roots continue to work in winter. They suck in little by little nutrient solutions, but they are not sent upstairs, but accumulated in concentrated form. In the spring, when buds need a lot of energy to bloom, these reserves will be very useful. That is why spring birch and maple sap has a distinctly sweet taste - it is the roots that send winter “preparations” to the branches.
In addition, the gardener is not satisfied with the simple natural balance of beneficial and harmful insects. A wormy apple can give life to new shoots, that is, it will retain its natural function. But the consumer wants to get not only seeds, but also clean and beautiful fruit.
Therefore, the gardener’s first concern is pest control. Some overwinter directly in the layer of fallen leaves, others in the top layer of soil. Apple flower beetle, gooseberry and currant moths, raspberry weevil, spider mite and many others find refuge under the leafy coat. It also preserves the causative agents of all bacterial and fungal diseases that plagued the garden in the summer: scab, septoria, powdery mildew, anthracnose, coccomycosis and many others.
Mice and voles thrive in a thick layer of fallen leaves. They are also capable of causing considerable damage to the garden and flower garden. These insatiable rodents damage the bark of young trees and shrubs, flower bulbs and rhizomes of wintering vegetables.
Rakes and destroys!
It turns out that it is wiser to remove the foliage from under the trees. How
what to do with her next? First of all, you need to assess the condition of the leaves. If they have visible damage from diseases and pests - black and rotten spots, gnaws, etc. - then such leaves must be immediately removed from under the trees and burned. They are not even suitable for compost or as insulation!
It is better to destroy the leaves if the site is located near a busy highway or in an environmentally unfavorable area. Foliage catches and accumulates over the summer harmful substances, which have absolutely no reason to go into the soil.
If it is not possible to safely burn the leaves, they can be taken to a landfill or buried in the ground.
If there have been no disease outbreaks in the garden and the foliage looks healthy, then you can leave it under the trees until spring. It is desirable that the gardener have the opportunity to care for the garden during the winter, quickly responding to the vagaries of the weather.
It is imperative to remove fallen fruits from under trees and bushes - they will become breeding grounds for diseases and attract mice. In the fall, foliage should be sprayed with a 5% urea solution; it will both slightly disinfect the litter and serve as a fertilizer. You can also use a weak solution of Bordeaux mixture. They also need to treat the trunks and crowns of trees.
If autumn is very dry, then the leaf litter and the soil under it should be thoroughly watered and wet. This will start the processes of decomposition of the foliage, and the moisture will also benefit the tree.
Unstable winters can help good service in the fight against wintering pests. During the thaw, you need to rake the leaves to the side and loosen the top layers of soil with a rake. With subsequent freezing, some of the pests that overwintered in the soil shallowly under the cover of leaves and in the foliage layer will die. Afterwards the sheet fur coat can be returned to tree trunk circles, providing cover for the roots.
During snowless winters, you need to periodically loosen the caked layer of leaves. This will also worsen the wintering conditions for pests.
After heavy snowfalls, the snow around the trees should be trampled down. At the same time, the layer of leaves underneath will also become denser. This will make it difficult for rodents to move.
In the spring, the remaining leaves from under the garden trees will need to be removed and sent to compost heap or bury it in the ground. This should be done as early as possible, as soon as the snow melts. Night cold will no longer be able to seriously damage the trees, but wintering pests, deprived of a warm blanket, will not fare well. Particular care must be taken to rake away the remaining foliage from the bases of gooseberry, currant, and raspberry bushes.
We use foliage in a homely way
Healthy foliage can and should be used economically. This is a good “carbon” filler for compost, which should be alternated with layers of quickly decomposing garden and kitchen waste. Inside a properly laid compost bin, the temperature rises high enough to kill most pests and pathogens if they are present in small numbers. After a year, the foliage in the form of compost can be returned to the trees and enrich the soil with nutrients that were formed after the foliage overheated.
A good solution would be to lay leaves at the base of warm beds. In this case, it is better to mix the litter with grass and vegetable stems, moisten it and add a little nitrogen fertilizer or manure. Under the top layer of soil, decomposition processes in such a laying will continue even in winter. By spring, an excellent bed for planting cucumbers and zucchini will be ready.
Dry healthy foliage is an excellent heat insulator. It can be used as winter mulch in the flower garden and vegetable garden. Leaves can be used to cover the foundation base, compost heap, and overwintering container plants.
Technical progress
It’s great if the farm has a mulching lawn mower. With her
With help, you can immediately turn dry fallen leaves into fine cuttings, which will almost completely decompose over the winter. It can be put into compost, raised beds or leave it in the garden.
Leaf cuttings make an excellent mulch even for the lawn. If the lawn is covered with leaves from trees growing nearby, then in the fall it is enough to walk directly through the leaves with a mulching mower and leave a mixture of leaf and grass cuttings on the lawn. But whole leaves should be removed from the lawn so as not to cause damping and the appearance of bald spots.
: Autumn garden: a lot to do! Svetlana Vasilievna...
Fallen leaves in autumn create an incredibly pleasant rustle underfoot while walking through a garden, park or forest. The temperature is gradually dropping, and it's time to prepare the garden for winter: harvest apples, pumpkins and chrysanthemums. What to do with the leaves?
To those who are engaged organic farming and is interested in everything related to growing vegetables, fruits and berries without adding chemical fertilizers, you will be interested in information about the benefits of fallen autumn leaves, their use for preparing mulch for flowers, bushes, trees and garden beds, as well as methods for their preparation and storage .
The yellow and red leaves that the trees have shed are rich in minerals that the trees have been drawing from the depths of the soil since the spring. They serve as food for earthworms and beneficial microorganisms in the garden. The leaves lighten heavy soils and help retain moisture in sandy soils. They serve as an excellent cover for the soil around flowers and a heat insulator for delicate plants. They add carbon to the compost, which balances the nitrogen.
There are several ways to put dried leaves to work in your garden.
The benefits and preparation of fallen leaves for use in fertilizing the garden
Shredded leaves take up much less space
First of all, try to chop up as many leaves as you can. If you do not have a special unit for shredding them, you can successfully use a lawn mower. Just wait until as many leaves as possible have fallen from the trees onto your lawn and run the lawn mower over them a few times. Make sure that each leaf is cut into at least five (or even better, ten) pieces. Such grinding is threefold beneficial. Firstly, it increases the area for beneficial microorganisms to access and work. Secondly, the crushed leaves do not stick together into a continuous layer that is not penetrated by rain, which allows air to penetrate through them. Thirdly, you will significantly reduce the volume of fallen leaves.
Before the rain falls and the weather is dry, you can collect the crushed leaves in bags for later use in the spring. They will be an excellent raw material for creating mulch (a protective layer on the soil around plants). By the way, such mulch looks great in the spring, bringing unique colors to the garden and invaluable benefits for the soil. Many people use .
The rest of the leaves can be used as a covering material to protect plants from winter cold. For example, for roses or for a bed of garlic planted in the fall. You can also fill the beds with dry autumn leaves with great success, adding organic fertilizers or (if available) compost. The layer created in this way should be lightly pierced with a fork to allow air to penetrate to the soil (for the work of aerobic bacteria). By spring, there may be almost nothing left of this layer, but the plants planted in the garden will receive soil enriched with “food” that is healthy for them.
A rake speeds up the process of collecting leaves
You don't always have time to chop leaves in the garden. Often you have to rake up whole leaves and transfer them, for example, to a compost heap. Use special ones for this fan rake or hand rake attachments for conveniently grabbing large quantities of fallen leaves and moving them to another place.
By the way, leaves added to the compost perfectly balance the level of nitrogen in the heap, created, for example, from discarded food scraps or freshly cut grass. The foliage also prevents the compost from compacting and getting wet.
Leaf shredders
If you have a large garden and an excessive amount of fallen leaves each fall, you may want to consider purchasing a leaf shredder. What is it for? Your garden will only benefit from this. And here's how.
Recycled leaves can be used to insulate heat-loving plants for the winter. By creating a fifteen-centimeter blanket, you will protect them from winter frosts and cold winds. If you cover vegetables that are not afraid of frost (carrots, cabbage, leeks and beets) with dry autumn leaves, you can dig them up throughout the winter (if necessary, of course).
If you leave the chopped leaves on the beds, they will become an excellent treat for earthworms, which, eating them, will do a lot of useful work in your garden, digging and loosening it for you and turning the soil into humus.
The leaves can be used to make special compost. Gather the shredded or whole leaves into a large, fenced pile. If the leaves are crushed, they will rot faster, and if not, then after 1-3 years the fungi will still do their job, and the leaves will rot, turning into compost, which smells the same as fallen leaves in the forest. This compost is rich in calcium and magnesium, and can absorb three to five times its weight in water, reminiscent of sphagnum moss.
Not all fallen autumn leaves are created equal
Be careful with the leaves of some trees. , eucalyptus, camphor tree contain substances that slow down or prevent plant growth. They can be used in the garden, but only after going through the composting process.
Our grandmothers, growing garden strawberries, or strawberries, as we used to call them, did not particularly worry about mulching. But today this agricultural technique has become fundamental in achieving high quality berries and reducing crop losses. Some might say it's a hassle. But practice shows that labor costs in this case pay off handsomely. In this article we invite you to get acquainted with the nine the best materials for mulching garden strawberries.
Succulents are very diverse. Despite the fact that “little ones” have always been considered more fashionable, the range of succulents with which you can decorate modern interior, it’s worth taking a closer look. After all, colors, sizes, patterns, degree of prickliness, impact on the interior are just a few of the parameters by which you can choose them. In this article we will tell you about the five most fashionable succulents that amazingly transform modern interiors.
The Egyptians used mint as early as 1.5 thousand years BC. She's different strong aroma due to the high content of various essential oils that are highly volatile. Today, mint is used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetology, winemaking, cooking, ornamental gardening, and the confectionery industry. In this article we will look at the most interesting varieties of mint, and also talk about the features of growing this plant in open ground.
People began growing crocuses 500 years before our era. Although the presence of these flowers in the garden is fleeting, we always look forward to the return of the harbingers of spring to next year. Crocuses are one of the earliest primroses, whose flowering begins as soon as the snow melts. However, flowering times may vary depending on the species and varieties. This article is dedicated to the earliest varieties of crocuses, which bloom in late March and early April.
Cabbage soup made from early young cabbage in beef broth is hearty, aromatic and easy to prepare. In this recipe you will learn how to cook delicious beef broth and cook light cabbage soup with this broth. Early cabbage It cooks quickly, so it is placed in the pan at the same time as other vegetables, unlike autumn cabbage, which takes a little longer to cook. Ready cabbage soup can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. Real cabbage soup turns out tastier than freshly prepared cabbage soup.
Looking at the variety of tomato varieties, it’s hard not to get confused - the choice is very wide today. Even experienced gardeners He's annoying sometimes! However, understanding the basics of selecting varieties “for yourself” is not so difficult. The main thing is to delve into the peculiarities of the culture and start experimenting. One of the easiest groups of tomatoes to grow are varieties and hybrids with limited growth. They have always been valued by those gardeners who do not have much energy and time to care for their beds.
Once very popular under the name of indoor nettle, and then forgotten by everyone, coleus today is one of the brightest garden and indoor plants. It is not for nothing that they are considered stars of the first magnitude for those who are primarily looking for non-standard colors. Easy to grow, but not so undemanding as to suit everyone, coleus require constant supervision. But if you take care of them, bushes made of velvety unique leaves will easily outshine any competitor.
Salmon backbone baked in Provençal herbs is a “supplier” of delicious pieces of fish pulp for light salad with fresh wild garlic leaves. The champignons are lightly fried in olive oil and then sprinkle with apple cider vinegar. These mushrooms are tastier than regular pickled ones, and they are better suited for baked fish. Wild garlic and fresh dill get along well in one salad, highlighting each other’s aroma. The garlicky pungency of wild garlic will permeate both the salmon flesh and mushroom pieces.
Conifer tree or shrubs on the site is always great, but a lot of conifers is even better. Emerald needles various shades decorates the garden at any time of the year, and phytoncides and essential oils, released by plants, not only aromatize, but also make the air cleaner. As a rule, most zoned adults coniferous plants, are considered very unpretentious trees and shrubs. But young seedlings are much more capricious and require proper care and attention.
Sakura is most often associated with Japan and its culture. Picnics in the canopy flowering trees have long been an integral attribute meeting spring in the Land of the Rising Sun. Financial and academic year here it starts on April 1, when the magnificent cherry blossoms bloom. Therefore, many significant moments in the life of the Japanese take place under the sign of their flowering. But sakura also grows well in cooler regions - certain species can be successfully grown even in Siberia.
I am very interested in analyzing how people's tastes and preferences for certain foods have changed over the centuries. What was once considered tasty and was an item of trade, lost its value over time and, conversely, new fruit crops conquered their markets. Quince has been cultivated for more than 4 thousand years! And even in the 1st century B.C. e. About 6 varieties of quince were known, and even then methods of its propagation and cultivation were described.
Delight your family and prepare themed cottage cheese cookies in the shape of Easter eggs! Your children will be happy to take part in the process - sift the flour, combine all the necessary ingredients, knead the dough and cut out intricate figures. Then they will watch with admiration as pieces of dough turn into real Easter eggs, and then with the same enthusiasm they will eat them with milk or tea. How to make such original cookies for Easter, read our step by step recipe!
Among tuberous crops, there are not so many decorative deciduous favorites. And caladium is a true star among the variegated inhabitants of interiors. Not everyone can decide to own a caladium. This plant is demanding, and first of all, it requires care. But still, rumors about the extraordinary capriciousness of caladiums are never justified. Attention and care can avoid any difficulties when growing caladiums. And the plant can almost always forgive small mistakes.
We have prepared a hearty, incredibly appetizing and simply easy-to-prepare dish for you today. This sauce is one hundred percent universal, as it goes with every side dish: vegetables, pasta, or anything. Chicken and mushroom gravy will save you in moments when you don’t have time or don’t want to think too much about what to cook. Take your favorite side dish (you can do this in advance so everything is hot), add some gravy and dinner is ready! A real lifesaver.
Among the many different varieties We will tell you about three of these most popular vegetables, which are distinguished by their excellent taste and relatively unpretentious growing conditions. Characteristics of the eggplant varieties “Almaz”, “Black Beauty” and “Valentina”. All eggplants have pulp medium density. In Almaz it is greenish, while in the other two it is yellowish-white. They are united by good germination and excellent yield, but in different time. Everyone's skin color and shape are different.
The leaf fall season will begin very soon. The magnificent spectacle of changing colors will amaze any viewer. But, at the same time, it is worth looking at the foliage not only as beautiful decoration. You should think about how leaves can help your garden. If you have a lot of fallen leaves in your yard, why not put them to good use?
Eight Ways to Use Autumn Leaves
Colorful foliage precedes the time when leaves will plummet to the ground. They will rustle under your feet and give off a pleasant smell, and the wind will sometimes push them to create crazy dance figures. However, autumn leaves can be considered freely available organic fertilizer, lying right in your yard. The main thing is not to use leaves affected by diseases.
Mulch
Use leaves as protective mulch. The leaves are able to form a good thermal insulation cover for a safe wintering perennial plants or root crops found in the ground. A layer of leaves allows garlic to be planted without sprouting and prevents plant tubers from emerging from the soil during freeze-thaw cycles.
Weed control
Use leaves as a weed control opportunity during spring period. Shredded or left whole leaves will be an excellent way to make mulch for your vegetable crops, berries and ornamental shrubs. Not only will they effectively suppress weeds and help maintain soil moisture, but they will also prevent new weeds from spreading.
Compost
Make compost from the leaves to enrich the soil with nitrogen. Alternate a 7-10cm layer of old leaves with a 2-3cm layer of fresh grass or other green leafy waste. If you want to speed up decomposition, grind the leaves.
photo:Leaf compost
Leaf compost – special kind leaf compost, a favorite of some gardeners. This method of making compost involves collecting leaves and storing them in plastic bags or baskets. Keep the leaves moist and let the mushrooms begin to multiply in this environment. After two or three years, the leaves will decompose into a dark substance containing large amounts of minerals.
Shredded leaves
The simplest solution. When crushed, the leaves quickly decompose in the spring and add valuable organic substances and minerals to the soil. The leaves are a rich source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and other trace elements that tree roots extract deep into the soil. The leaves contain twice as much minerals as manure. Great amount The organic matter they contain can be used to improve soil structure. Humus can ease heavy clay soils and increases moisture retention on dry sandy soils. No gardener should miss this opportunity to feed the soil for free.
photo:Storing root vegetables
If you have a cool, damp place, you can store carrots, beets and other root vegetables between layers of dry, crisp leaves. Make sure that each layer of leaves does not become too soggy.
Make a playground
Many children have a lot of fun jumping into large piles of leaves. Once upon a time, leaves were very often collected using rakes, forming huge piles, which were then burned. The smell of burnt leaves, winter apples and baked potatoes is sure to awaken your memories. So why don’t you give your children and grandchildren the same wonderful holiday.