Spent Brewery Grains as Compost or Soil Amendment

Question from Ica: My friend is a brewmaker and has tons of the filtered barley grains they use to make beer. Would this be a good soil admendment? Also should it be composted or can it be added directly to the garden? Answer from Pat: Spent brewery grains...

Message From Pat

Dear Reader: This site contains more than one thousand answers to garden questions on a wide range of subjects common to Mediterranean climates. Among them, we hope you find the answer to your question.  Please take this opportunity to share your experiences,...

Pre-Compost or Trench Composting

Question from Sharon: I’m here on the central coast of CA and we have citrus trees, pomegranate, and fig in our yard. No official compost pile yet, but what about grinding up citrus rinds and fava bean pods, etc. with the lawn mower, and burying...

Right Mulch for Beach Plants

Question from Jokhanah: I am caring for a parking strip planted with grasses, Russian Sage, Lavender and the like. It is near the beach and needs a mulch to keep down the weeds — bark doesn’t seem right — too “forresty”. Saw...

How to Create a Hot Compost Pile

Question: I have a compost pile and nothing I do heats it up. What could be the matter with it? Answer From Pat: If you have already read and are following the instructions on compost in my book (pages 97 to 99 and other references in index. Also the...

Horse Manure Compost

Question from Dave: I have a very reliable and steady source of horse manure (1 quarter horse, 1 draft horse and 1 shetland pony) and an equally reliable source of pine needles. Using the old compost addage “something green and something brown”...

KugelKulture

Question from Maria: I was reading early on, about Kugelkulture, where the wood (not necessarly chipped ) is deeply dug into the soil and even covered with a lot of soil…..Yes, will use a lot of Nitrogen in the process , but I did understand ...

New Gardener – Composting for Two

The Jora composter works fine with a few caveats. It takes a man or a very strong and handy woman to put it together. Be sure to fill with equal parts carbonaceous and nitrogenous waste and chop up all materials prior to filling. Keep slightly damp and...

Choosing a Drum Composter That Really Works

Question from Jan: I heard you speak @ Temecula Valley Garden Club (both times) and enjoyed it immensely. I recently moved and can’t find my notes (oh no!) Would you mind refreshing my memory about the composter your daughter researched? I’m...

Shredder/grinder for Green Waste for Composter

Question from Jan: Back with a question about composting. I’m so amazed that my first garden ever worked out well (and I DID cover it with it’s own house)…will have to send photos. Now I’m ready to take the remaining stalks, branches...

Compost Pile Too Hard to Turn Over

Question from Mara: When I try to turn the dirt over in my compost pile, the pitch fork just gets stuck, and I can’t turn the soil. It seems like there are small roots keeping the dirt from being loose. I have to pull really hard to get it up. I...

Aspergillosis or Fungus Diseases of the Lung Caused by Earth-born Pathogens in Soil and Compost

Question from Robin: I am an old friend of Nancy Schibanoff and Sharrie Woods. Have known them both close over 25 years…as our sons grew up together. Sharrie told me about a lecture you gave within the last several months about being careful not...

When to Spread Compost Under Fruit Trees

Question from Mark: I have many young fruit trees , many types of citrus (orange, blood orange, lemon, lime) AND pomegranit, Avacado, fig, apple and stone fruits (nectarine and peach are both fruiting)… I received some very high quality compost...