Reviews Archives - Soil :: The Dirt Guide

My Nature Hills order arrived in the mail seven (7) days after placing the order. I was eager to get them into soil but we had forecasts for rainy, cool weather. I live in Central Virginia and we had a rather wet, chilly Spring this year. So, I was forced to wait until the weekend.

I planted the bulbs on May 14th. For the last couple of years, the squirrels dig holes in any garden bed that has been raked or dug into. Therefore, I am forced to start all my bulbs in containers on the deck and secure them with chicken wire or garden fencing. It doesn’t look very nice from the outset but once the plants take off, it will be worth the eyesore.

Newly planted bulbs protected from the squirrels

By May 31, we experienced much warmer weather with highs in the 80s and a few days close to 90. On June 13, thirty (30) days after planting, leaves began to emerge from the soil. I moved them into a screened enclosure but also spread a little Repels All on the top of the soil to deter the squirrels.

Caladium leaves emerge from the soil - day 17. — Day 30 – Caladium leaves emerge from the soil

As the caladium plants grew, it was clear that they were outgrowing their pots. While they only had a few leaves on each plant, I transplanted them into larger pots which I placed on the deck knowing their bright leaves would bring some needed color to the space. The rich green and red leaves brighten my mood even on the cloudiest of days.

Just in time for the holiday, a white flower appeared on one of the plants on July 3 which was fifty (50) days after planting. It is July 6 and I have not noticed a flower on either of the other two caladium plants but I will update this post if and/or when that should happen. Nature Hills did not mention flowers in the plant description and I’ve read on other sites that not all caladium plants will produce flowers.

Day 50 - Caladaium flower blooms — Day 50 – Flower blooms

I was quite pleased with the quick delivery from Nature Hills, the health of the bulbs and the beauty of each of the plants. Nature Hills was quite right when it said this caladium would provide “an electric pop of color for those dull shady areas“.

Written by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L. Martin
Paperback

This is overflowing with information about composting in the kitchen and garden. They discuss simple things you can do in the house to collect your kitchen scraps like keeping a 5 gallon bucket with a secure lid just outside the kitchen door. As you prepare your meals, you throw the cuttings from your veggies into the bucket. Easily incorporating the compost process into your everyday life encourages you to continue with the process. Every few days, you will take the 5 gallon bucket and dump it into your large compost bin in the yard.

The authors include wonderfully easy and economical ways to facilitate your composting process from building an easy “sling screen compost sifter” to constructing a worm bin from a plastic storage container to preparing a more complex “Pit of Plenty.”

The Complete Compost Gardening Guide does not promote a lot of expensive products to perform your composting chores. The authors of course do discuss these products but also suggest and explain how you might be able to create the similar product function with cheaper materials. For example, in their discussion of rotating composters like the one pictured below they also explain how to build one yourself using a plastic garbage can and some bungee cords which costs a lot less.

I’ve seen some reviews of the book that state that the book is too complicated for a novice. I don’t think that is true. I think if you read through the book in its entirety you’ll find things that you can do quite easily without too much work. As you see that those things worked and worked well, you may want to take on a few other projects/tasks that seem reasonable to you.

Reading Part 3 of the book which talks about plants for the composter’s garden, I learned that borage is a great plant for composting. This is great for me because borage has those beautiful blue blooms and the deer which are numerous in my area will stay away. During the summer, I can harvest the stems
of the borage and add it to my compost piles.

All in all this is a great book and a wonderful addition to any gardener’s library. Pick up your copy today.

Caladium ‘Kathleen’ Bulbs From Nature Hills

Review of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide

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