According to the Iowa State Extension Service 2011 Calendar:
Gardening is GOOD for you because it's Sustainable!
Gardening offers numerous opportunities to be environmentally friendly. Start by cutting back on pesticides and commercial fertilizers in your yard and garden. Select pest-resistant plants and use cultural practices like mulching, spacing plants appropriately, and removing diseased plants to help control insect and disease pests. To reduce storm water runoff, collect water in rain barrels or divert water into rain gardens. To improve your soil, try composting garden debris and kitchen scraps and incorporating the compost into garden areas.
These first few weeks, thoroughly water newly planted evergreens before the ground freezes, and plant a windowsill herb garden. Take time to winterize your lawn mowers and clean your garden tools.
Indoors, rotate your houseplants to prevent one-sided growth.
By next week, you might think about purchasing 3-foot-high fencing for rabbit protection, should they be a nuisance, and, if you have strawberries, mulch the bed with three to five inches of straw.
Before Thanksgiving, you might want to cover the bottom portions of hybrid tea roses with soil, and mulch newly planted perennials to prevent frost heaving.
Thanksgiving guests coming to your home? Create a vegetable centerpiece for your table.
Happy Thanksgiving!
