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compost balance

Why Some Compost Smells in Spring

March 11, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

Why Some Compost Smells in Spring

The moment the snow melts and the garden wakes up, the compost pile sometimes delivers a shocking surprise. Instead of the earthy aroma of rich soil, the air suddenly fills with something that resembles a swamp, a barnyard, or worse. That smell doesn’t mean the compost pile has failed, but it absolutely means something in…

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Filed Under: composting Tagged With: backyard composting, compost balance, compost maintenance, compost pile care, compost tips, compost troubleshooting, garden compost problems, green and brown materials, ompost smell, organic gardening, soil health, spring composting, sustainable gardening

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saving pepper seeds

How to Save Pepper Seeds Before Frost Damages the Plants

When frost threatens your pepper plants, most gardeners immediately think about harvesting the peppers—but this may also be your last chance to collect next year’s seeds. Saving seeds from a favorite plant costs practically nothing and can turn one successful pepper into dozens of potential plants next season. The catch is that saving pepper seeds…

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tomato plant cleanup

What to Do With Tomato Plants After the Final Harvest

That last tomato may be off the vine, but your tomato season isn’t quite finished. What you do with those tired, brown plants now can affect disease pressure, garden cleanup, and even where you should plant next year’s crop. Simply leaving old vines sprawled across the bed until spring may allow infected plant debris to…

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wildlife-friendly garden cleanup

How to Clean Up Garden Beds Without Removing Every Habitat

Fall garden cleanup used to mean cutting every perennial to the ground, raking out every leaf, and leaving beds nearly bare before winter. We now know that some of what looks like garden debris is actually valuable shelter for bees, butterflies, moths and other beneficial insects spending winter in our yards. That doesn’t mean you…

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bulb chilling time

Bulbs That Need Chilling Time Before Spring Blooms

Those bags of tulips, daffodils, and crocuses appearing in garden centers every fall aren’t being sold months early by accident. Many familiar spring-flowering bulbs actually need an extended period of cold before they’ll develop and bloom properly, which is why gardeners traditionally put them into the ground before winter rather than waiting for spring. The…

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