It’s been about two years since I started gardening in earnest after breaking through the bedrock. The soil still feels compact—clearly short on organic matter. So this year I’m making compost by mixing kitchen scraps, fallen leaves, and a bit of soil. On a trip to the countryside I even got some rice bran for free, so that went in as well.
November 2020
I tossed in the pepper, tomato, and eggplant stems too. I’ve heard grasses like corn add plenty of carbon-rich material and work well in compost. I love this cycle—kitchen waste and fallen leaves returning as vegetables.
Since I added rice bran, the white threads on the surface are probably fungal mycelium. Keep building that soil, little decomposers!
Since the space behind the building was just sitting in the shade, I decided to turn it into a myoga (Japanese ginger) patch. Myoga actually loves partial shade, so it should grow well even behind the building — as long as the soil is good enough. So first, I dug up the hard ground, added plenty of compost and leaf mold, and planted the myoga rhizomes. I wonder if I’ll see any shoots next year! 🌱
