Winter is rolling in, and in many zones, our once-prolific tomato and cucumber plants are well past their prime. While the summer growing season is over, gardens still benefit from a little TLC before the snow falls. Here’s how to prepare your garden for the winter to prepare for next year’s harvest.
Mulch
The cold-weather cycle of freezing and thawing can cause something called “frost heaving,” whereby buried roots get pushed out of the ground. Providing some kind of groundcover keeps the temperature of your garden soil regulated, and protects it from winds and snow during the winter. It reduces germination of weeds in the spring, which means less weeding for you. You can purchase mulch from a garden center, or use a material you already have on hand, like bark, straw, fall leaves shredded with the lawn mower, pine needles and grass clippings — you’ll remove it in the spring to allow new growth to return. After the first frost, apply about six inches of the groundcover over your beds and around perennials, especially around young perennials facing their first winter.
Dig Up and Store Bulbs
Many bulbs that bloom in the spring can make it through the winter, like crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips. But when it’s time to plant these, it’s time to dig out some others. “Tender” bulbs — many of which are tropical plants that bloom in the summer, like cannas, dahlias, elephant ears and gladiolus — won’t survive a freeze. After frost has browned the leaves of the plant, dig up the tubers or roots within a few days. To prevent damage to the bulb — which can let in disease – dig out the entire plant, leaving a large clump of soil around the bulb. Using a fork rather than a shovel can also help prevent damage.
After digging them out, cut off greenery and remove the soil from the bulb, then let them dry out for about a week indoors out of direct sunlight. Pack the bulbs in a cardboard box, wrapped loosely in newspaper, peat moss, sand, coconut coir, sand, vermiculite, or sawdust so they don’t touch. Store in a place that stays somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees, like a basement, root cellar, or unheated garage. It’s a good idea to label them too so you know what you’re planting come spring.
Bundle Up
Not all plants need to be wrapped up in the winter, but some benefit from it, like young evergreen and deciduous trees. At the end of the winter, intermittent freezing and thawing can split the bark of young trees. Wrapping up their trunks with a crepe paper-like wrap at the beginning of the season can prevent them from injury. Mice and other small rodents love to gnaw at the bark of young fruit trees, so wrapping the lower trunk with a tree wrap designed to keep out pests can keep them protected.
Spread Compost
Late fall is the perfect time to use those veggie scraps and yard clippings that have been decomposing in your compost pile. Before the ground freezes, spread about 3-6 inches of compost over your garden. This helps keep the soil warm, and continues to add nutrients to it throughout the winter, leaving you with a rich, fertile base for spring planting. If you’re planning to mulch, spread the compost first, then add a layer of your mulch material on top to prevent the soil from eroding and weeds from creeping in. There’s no need to fertilize, however — compost is a soil conditioner, but fertilizers won’t do much for the soil besides encouraging growth that’ll just get killed in the cold.
Get Plants in Tip-Top Shape
Trees and shrubs will fare much better in the winter if they’re healthy. Make sure they get plenty of water before the first frost, and use organic material to mulch the soil around their base to protect the roots from freezing. However, don’t prune their branches, as this would expose tissue that won’t have time to heal before it’s cold. Trim back any diseased, damaged, or slimy parts of perennials and other plants so they’re healthy, or pull them up entirely if the problem is extensive in order to prevent diseases or pests from overwintering in your yard.
While you’re at it, it’s a good idea to weed as much as you can in the fall, which will limit the amount of weeds that grow back in the spring. Just make sure to throw them in a separate pile from the compost, as most home compost systems don’t get hot enough to kill weed seeds.
Prune Perennials
Many perennials should be cut back in the winter after the first frost or two, but left about 4-6 inches tall. Because energy from the upper parts of the plant sends energy to the roots to store for the cold months, make sure you aren’t cutting back too early — wait until the first frost that kills off the tops of plants. Some perennials are susceptible to rot and disease in the winter — bee balm and phlox are susceptible to powdery mildew, and bearded iris can host iris borer eggs during the winter. In general, most spring- and summer-flowering plants can get cut back and mulched around the base. However, certain perennials like euphorbia and hellebores shouldn’t be cut back, so make sure to check the needs of your specific plants.
Leave What You Can
Letting some plants be can help cultivate a diverse backyard ecosystem, even in the winter.
Plants with seed heads — like coneflowers, sunflowers, and thistle — for example, can continue to provide food for birds and insects well past their prime. They might also provide a place for some butterflies to lay their eggs, as butterflies choose plants where their young will be able to feed once they hatch.
Keep Up the Hardier Veggies
Winter weather might mean saying goodbye to tomatoes and cucumbers, but many veggies are frost tolerant, and even taste better when grown in the cold weather. Many greens — including Swiss chard, mustard greens, kale, collard greens, and arugula — may grow through cold temperatures above freezing, but some can last through the winter in a cold frame. Root veggies like radishes, onions, kohlrabi, garlic, celeriac, carrots, and beets can also grow right through cold weather.
The post How to Get Your Garden Winter-Ready appeared first on EcoWatch.
https://www.ecowatch.com/home-garden-winter-preparation-tips.html
Thoreau wrote in Walden that “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in,” which reminds us that life is short and nature fills it beautifully. What are you looking for that can’t be found during an afternoon in nature?
Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.
The post Earth911 Inspiration: Time Is but the Stream appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-time-is-but-the-stream/
Green Living
Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action
Turn back the clock with this classic interview that will get you ready for Spring yard care planning. A lawn may be beautiful but it can take a heavy toll on the environment, accounting for between 30% and 60% of residential water use in the United States. Rob Moir, Ph.D., is president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ORI works with residential lawn owners to heal damaged ecosystems by restoring coastal areas to lessen the destructive impacts of climate change. The benefits of a natural lawn reach far beyond reduced local water pollution, eliminating chemicals that can contribute to cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cellular diseases. Natural lawns are also better for local pollinators and store much more carbon than heavily fertilized lawns. If you considered removing your lawn to play a part in the battle against climate change, this interview may change your mind — a healthy lawn is a powerful carbon sink.
The Ocean River Institute is recruiting Massachusetts communities, town by town, to take a pledge to follow natural lawn practices in the Healthy Soils for Climate Restoration Challenge. You don’t need to live in Massachusetts to participate and learn about the alternatives to the traditional, chemical-intensive lawn practices that use Roundup, a source of glyphosates that kills soil-dwelling fungi and local pollinators, and fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers. You can learn more about the Ocean River Institute at www.oceanriver.org.
Rob has contributed many articles about climate change and the history of environmental change since this interview, including:
- Finding a Northwest Passage to the Sea
- Turning the Tide—How Land and Water Shape Our Climate Future
- Learning from Captain Scoresby’s Ten-gallon Fir-Cask
- Earth Savvy?
- Let the Ground Keep Falling Rainwater
- The Sultans of Swag Versus Looking at Clouds from Both Sides Now
- Subscribe to Sustainability in Your Ear on iTunes and Apple Podcasts.
- Follow Sustainability in Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on May 30, 2022.
The post Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-the-ocean-river-institutes-natural-lawn-challenge-for-climate-action/
Choosing your perfect gown can be one of the most exciting decisions for your special day, but for the eco fashionista, it can be a challenge to find a dress that fits your values and style — but these brands have exceptional sustainable wedding dresses you’ll swoon over!
Using earth-minded materials like hemp, cruelty-free peace silk, deadstock recycled fabrics and vintage lace, and producing consciously, either in small batches or handcrafting each individual piece made-to-order, the brands below meet high standards for transparency, ecological sustainability, and fair labor.
[For more sustainable wedding dresses, check out this guide to secondhand wedding dress sites!]
Note that the guide contains affiliate links. As always, we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability we love, that we think you’ll love too!
1. Christy Dawn
Dreamy dress brand Christy Dawn does not disappoint with their romantic bridal collection! Each piece is more swoon-worthy than the next.
Their three sustainable bridal gowns are made from regenerative silk charmeuse —sourced through BOMBYX, an innovative silk producer using best practices — and colored in a beautiful pearl silk with non-toxic dyes. Each dress is ethically cut and sewn by makers in Los Angeles earning living wages, as with the rest of Christy Dawn’s collections.
The Britta Dress and Fitzgerald Dress are 1920s inspired while the Athena Dress is a more modern (but equally romantic) option. All of these dresses are made-to-order with an estimated timeline of 4 weeks.
Conscious Qualities: Regenerative silk and organic non-toxic dyes, ethically made-to-order in Los Angeles
Price Range: $2,500 – $3,000
Size Range: XS – XL
2. Pure Magnolia
Blending the traditional with the modern, Pure Magnolia designs classic-inspired sustainable wedding dresses with contemporary touches. And each dress is made in their Canadian studio by seamstresses earning fair wages from eco-fabrics, such as organic cotton and hemp silk.
The brand sources recycled fabrics whenever possible as well, and recycles their scrap fabric through FABCYCLE.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, locally and fairly made, recycles scrap fabrics
Price Range: $845 – $3,300 CAD
Size Range: 0 – 28
3. Lost in Paris
Lost in Paris crafts each of their creatively designed bohemian-inspired gowns ethically in their Sydney, Australia studio. Unconventional yet undeniably striking, Lost in Paris’ dresses are made from vintage lace and cotton.
Investing in a dress from Lost in Paris is seamless — the brand offers at-home sample try-ons, offers train and sleeve adjustments on several styles, ships their dresses worldwide for free, and even accepts returns. Oh, and, if one of their ready-made sizes doesn’t work for you, you can get a dress designed to your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses vintage lace, locally made
Price Range: $950 – $3900 AUD
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing options
For More Slow Fashion Content:
4. Wear Your Love
Wear Your Love creates feminine, effortless dresses in their Northern California studio that are — in contrast to the majority of wedding dresses on the market — actually comfortable! The brand’s free-spirited designs are made with soft, earth-minded fabrics like organic cotton and each dress is made to order for each bride to their exact measurements.
There are also customizations available for each eco-friendly wedding dress such as train or no train, skirt or sleeve linings, back coverage, skirt style, and more.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model, locally and transparently made
Price Range: $680 – $1,700
Size Range: N/A; dresses are made to your measurements
5. Larimeloom
Based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Larimeloom crafts exceptional custom-made dresses by hand in their atelier. The brand creates comfortable minimalist dresses from durable natural fabrics and colors them with natural or non-toxic dyes.
Larimeloom has also implemented zero waste design techniques, cutting their patterns strategically in order to minimize fabric waste.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, zero-waste designs, natural fabrics and dyes
Price Range: 650€ – 2,650€
Size Range: XS – XL
6. Sister Organics
Sourcing quality earth-friendly natural fabrics like organic hemp and cotton, Sister Organics creates classic, eco-friendly wedding dresses for UK-based brides.
Each dress is made to order in England, so you can select a pre-defined size, customize the length of a size, or get an entirely different dress made for your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model
Price Range: £125 – £390
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing
7. Indiebride London
Indiebride’s vintage-inspired sustainable wedding dresses are delicate and romantic yet free-spirited, offering a unique collection for the bride that wants to skip the conventional wedding gown and choose a piece that fits their individual style.
The brand’s conscious wedding dresses are handmade in London using majority natural fibers and can be altered or customized to your specifications.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses many natural fabrics, locally made
Price Range: £1,200 – £1,700
Size Range: 8 – 16 (UK sizes)
More Resources For Your Eco Wedding:
10 Secondhand Wedding Dress Sites for the Eco Bride
7 Ethical Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement and Wedding Rings
17 Brands with Conscious Dresses (great options for bridesmaid dresses in here!)
The post 7 Best Sustainable Wedding Dresses for Your Special Day appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
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