About this time of year the battle with the fall leaves begins. The muted colors are beautiful while dangling in the branches of trees. Next, leaves become a sticky, slippery nuisance on the sidewalks, hood of our cars and on top of our favorite plants.

Chico residents can rake the leaves into neat piles near the street and eventually they will be picked up.

However, a portion of that tree litter can be used in your yard. Last year we swept a big pile to the edge of the cyclone fence.

The fact that the pile sat there for a year has more to do with oversight than good soil intentions. The result was a weed-smothering mulch mat, and eventually some good leaf mold.

A Monterey Bay Master Gardener article, http://tinyurl.com/j9xkqgy makes a good case for adding leaves to the compost pile. Ideally, the gardener would rake the leaves into small rows, then run over them with the lawn mower. If the mower has a catch bag, you can easily dump the leaf confetti into the compost pile.

Most people don’t keep their compost pile hot enough to cook weed seeds, so try to keep weeds out of your leaf mounds.

Great garden gift

Thank you, thank you to my friend John who dumped the ginormous California Master Gardener Handbook ” on my chair at work a few weeks ago. I haven’t had this much fun reading since “Taylor’s Weekend Garden Guides,: Soil and Composting.”

When it comes to allowing leaves to decompose, the garden book recommends adding nitrogen, which could mean steer manure or synthetic nitrogen. This replaces nitrogen that is lost when leaves decompose.

What to do with clay soil

For many years, Bob Scoville has been my Glenn County go-to guy for plant information. I gave him a jingle this week to talk about leaves. As is sometimes the case, we ended up talking about other things.

On Bob’s side of the river, much of the soil is heavy with clay. You may notice your soil is heavy clay if you use garden soil in pots. When the plant dies and the soil dries, the dirt looks like a giant hockey puck. I think this is actually how curling was invented.

People with heavy clay soil might dig a hole and fill it with water. It could be hours before the water drains.

Bob’s solution on the west side of the river has been to add bags and bags of gypsum. We’ve talked about this before, but perhaps not in as great of detail. Gypsum is material you find in sheetrock, which makes up the walls in your house.

Bob buys gypsum for about $6 for a 50-pound bag at Northern Star Mills in Chico. “I just bought eight more bags last week,” Bob bragged.

The material looks like white flour and in the winter he sprinkles it on soil beyond the canopy line of his fruit trees. That’s where the roots reach. A good ratio is one pound per 10 square feet, he noted.

Bob gets very excited when he talks about is Alberta peaches. Apparently they should be entered into the world fair, and he’s intent on producing another mouth-watering crop next year. Having great soil is important.

I envision him working late at night, humming incoherently, wearing a white 19th Century bed cap – as each fist filled with gypsum is unleashed into the air, the sky is filled with a white mist.

When he’s not sprinkling, Bob also mixes gypsum with compost to work into the soil.

Why gypsum works

Good soil has four requirements, Bob explained – minerals, organic matter, water and air. Gypsum helps loosen the soil and minerals are made more accessible to plants. After five or six years, and many years of gypsum, Bob said his heavy clay soil has improved.

Leaf mold

Leaf mold sounds like something yucky you would scrape away with a spackling knife. However, leaf mold is basically a pile of leaves that you have allowed to sit in pile for a long, long time. See my example above.

This brief and informative article from Tulare/Kings counties Master Gardeners, http://tinyurl.com/zehpxt k notes that leaf mold “mixed in with your garden soil will improve soil structure, increase water retention, and provide a super habitat for good soil organisms like earthworms and beneficial bacteria.”

You can also used leaf mold as a compost, once the soil looks like crumbly black cake.

If you’re someone who doesn’t like to look at a rotting pile of leaves for a year, the master gardeners suggest packing a black plastic bag as full as you can with leaves. Before tying the bag, thoroughly wet the leaves with the spray from a garden hose. Next, poke some holes in the bag. Finally, hide the bag out of view and out of full sun. Sun will cause the bag to deteriorate. You can venture into the bag seasonally and give the leaves another good squirt of water.

Just about the time you have given up on the project, the leaf mold should be ready and good to use on your garden beds.

Yes, it’s time to plant spinach, kale and other cool-weather crops.

Tuesday was World Teacher Day, which was perfect for a visit to the garden at Sherwood Montessori school. Several of the students showed me their tall, taller and tallest green, leafy vegetables, planted in a series of raised beds outside their classroom doors.

They put the plants in a few months ago, and there was enough for many a salad.

However, I got the impression these 9, 10 and nearly 11-year-olds were so proud of their garden talents, they would rather look at the plants than eat them.

During my visit, the kids were digging holes near the drip irrigation recently installed by garden helper Burt Levy. Next they carefully transferred small plants of spinach, kale and broccoli, with the patient guidance of my friend Luisa Garza.

I almost overstepped my boundaries as I instinctively reached to pluck the flower from a 2 1/2 foot tall, red lettuce plant.

If that job is to be done, it’s a job for the children, Luisa said.

That’s a bad trait of mine. When I attend a backyard barbecue, I pull other people’s weeds.

No help needed

Wednesday was picture day at the school, and groups of students decided to dress in costumes. Our class had chosen Harry Potter, and many of the children had lightning bolts drawn on their foreheads. Others wore men’s ties.

I asked one boy about a plant with some particularly large leaves. My guess was that this was chard. It was broccoli.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I grow broccoli it might double in size before winter sets in. Next, my broccoli plants stall in the yard, waiting until one spring morning when I’m not paying attention. Then, the plant suddenly bolts and I get flowers and no food.

For the school garden, these plants were put in the ground at the beginning of the school year, one child informed me.

The best time to plant seeds is in July, according to the UC Davis planting guide.

If we want spinach in March, now is the time to put seeds in the ground. Or we could plant small plants, as was the case this week.

Also, sow fava beans now for an April harvest.

Extra touches

While we were talking, Luisa encouraged me to pet the small marigold flowers. These were signet marigolds, which have a citrus scent. The flowers are also edible. What fun to sprinkle some colorful (and citrus-smelling) petals on ice cream or in a salad.

However, it is the French marigold, and not the signet marigolds, which repel nematodes in the soil. The University of California Integrated Pest Management folks have more information on this topic at http://tinyurl.com/zf2j42 v.

Fruits vs. veggies

Another lesson on Luisa’s plate this week was knowing which foods are fruits and which are vegetables.

We generally consider cucumbers, squash and beans to be vegetables, while the true definition has these foods as fruits.

As the children sat around an outdoor picnic table, Luisa explained that fruits grow from a flower and have seeds. The fruit category includes avocados, cucumbers, mangoes and tomatoes.

The list of veggies includes the parts of the plant that we eat, including leaves, roots, stems and buds.

After my confusion with chard and broccoli, I searched online and learned that broccoli leaves are indeed edible. Some people cut out the center ridge, then add the rest to a stir-fry, just as you would prepare spinach or bok choy. The flavor of broccoli leaves is like broccoli florets, only mild. The leaves also are packed with similar nutrients. One raw ounce of broccoli leaves packs 90 percent of your Vitamin A needs, 43 percent of Vitamin C, and even some protein.

Just for fun, I clicked a few more times online and learned that many people will also sauté squash leaves.

Careful, of course, because the leaves of some plants, including tomatoes, are toxic.

One more lesson

One more thing I learned Tuesday is that some of the best teachers, like Luisa, are those who are having the most fun.

If you’ve had a successful growing season, you might be looking at your summer vegetables with a bit of sadness. Squash and tomato leaves are turning crisp at the edges.

In my yard, the cooler weather means another (and maybe the last) flush of cherry tomatoes. We finally have yellow squash because we have become adept at hand fertilization.

What’s next?

Jerry Mendon, at Mendon’s Nursery in Paradise, said it’s not too soon to make the switch to winter vegetables.

Lettuce, spinach and chard all grow well through the winter months. They slow down as each month gets colder, then leap upward as the weather warms in spring.

Right now, while the air is still warm for germination, seeds can be planted each week for a staggered supply.

Potted veggies

If you don’t have a black plastic truck bed liner filled with soil, you can grow loose-leaf veggies in pots.

I’ve been extremely happy with Tuscan Baby Leaf kale the past few years. You trim off the leaves several times a week, and the plant responds by providing more leaves.

Just like most vegetable plants, the bugs will find you. Yet, pests usually don’t get unmanageable until the end of the plant’s normal life cycle.

When damage is light, I’ll flip over the leaves and look for clusters of eggs. Sometimes I’ll spray the plants with a bottle filled with water and half a tablespoon of dish soap.

If I’m eating my vegetables with my eyes closed, for fear I will watch myself eating bug eggs, it’s time to yank the whole plant.

The squash, for example, is reaching its critical bug mass about now.

The new growth is covered with colonies of squash-sucking bugs. I spray with soapy water and am hoping to get a few more squash before Halloween.

Jerry Mendon assured me there will be a new batch of bugs that love fall vegetables.

Cabbage butterfly, for example, will land in the yard like Mary Poppins taking a ride on an east wind.

“As soon as a plant goes in, she is there,” Jerry said of the female cabbage butterfly.

These are the small, papery white butterflies, which often come in twos and threes. They dance delightfully in the yard, spreading cheer (and dumping eggs on anything edible). Like most caterpillars, these will gobble up leaves of Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, as well as kale, Jerry confirmed.

If it gets too bad, Jerry suggests Sevin dust (an insecticide). However, my plot of veggies is small enough I can usually spray and hand pick.

Greens and cold

Winter greens should be able to survive all but the coldest of cold.

Kale and lettuce seeds can also be tucked in among other plants. Just make sure you don’t plant some obscure exotic salad mix. You could yank the lettuce and throw the weeds in salad.

Cool season ornamentals

On the topic of Kale, Jerry just couldn’t say enough about ornamental winter kale. You could technically eat these plants, but they’re on the bitter side. Their beauty, however, is in bright winter color.

I told Jerry that winter kale had been a disappointment because they plants became a gathering spot for slugs.

The solution to this, Jerry said, is to mulch with cocoa bean shells. The shells are sharp and would do serious harm to a slug (or snail) silly enough to cross the cocoa bean shell terrain.

Another bonus, the mulch smells like chocolate for a little while. A bag is about 10 bucks.

By the way, Mendon’s has their seasonal sale, 40 percent off from Oct. 13-22.

This week I phoned my friend Angela Handy, who knows most things gardenesque. The day I reached her she said she was spending a lazy afternoon, and spoke with such a relaxed drawl wondered if she was sitting in massage chair.

Could she help me with some ideas for fall planting, with an emphasis on plants that are drought-tolerant?

“My yard is always drought-tolerant,” Angela said. “I have spots I never water in the summer.”

Once she gets home from her job at Prestige Nursery, she doesn’t want to spend time watering. She brings home many plants, as one would imagine. Some thrive and some die, she said languidly.

Great. So what would she choose for filling in bald spots, where plants have died after years of drought?

A plant that came to her mind quickly is creeping wire vine, AKA Muehlenbeckia. Once established, the plant has almost no watering requirements, she said, especially in the shade.

The plants will also survive in the sun, even within close proximity to hot concrete, Angela said.

The plant has a reputation for being a invasive, but Angela said she “is not scared of it like I am with Vinca minor. (periwinkle).

One idea, which she may or may not get around to, is to plant creeping wire vine in green strips along the driveway.

People like driveway strips to allow water to percolate into the soil, rather than run down to the storm drain.

Maintenance required

The key with drought plants is that they still need watering during that first year. That’s why planting in the fall is ideal. The rain falls and the roots of the plant have a chance to grow. When the weather warms, you’ll still need to water, but not as often.

More plants to neglect

Angela said she’s had great luck with euphorbia. I looked this up and another name for euphorbia is “spurge.”

Many of us know spurge. It’s a spindly weed that really does grow in the cracks of the sidewalk.

About a year ago a truckload of dark gravels was delivered to my yard. There are so many spurge weeds now growing in the gravel, I’m wondering if the company sprinkled the rocks with weed seeds before the visit.

Yet, the good kind of spurge, euphorbia, can make great plants to fill in gaps. They’re known for having interesting clusters of flowers and will grow in almost any soil, except heavy clay, Angela said.

She said she is also quite fond of purple fountain grass. However, this particular plant will die back in a cold snap.

The Master Gardeners of Sonoma County suggest this plant as an alternative to lawns, http://tinyurl.com/j9qktxk.

Yet, be careful. A similar plant, Mexican feather grass, is on the University of California Master Gardener’s radar for being evil and invasive, http://tinyurl.com/z4r9ry5. This online resource suggests Mexican deer grass instead, or blue grama grass, http://tinyurl.com/jumkwxw.

Foxtail fern, or Myers’ asparagus fern, is a welcome volunteer in Angela’s yard. If you know asparagus ferns (a popular house plant in county fair entries), this fern is similar but different. The plumes include short needles and the plumes are more compact, rather than open and wispy. Angela has several plants in part sun, partial shade, and they have done well.

One thing to keep in mind is that each person’ yard is different — different soil, exposure to wind and sun. Each yard has a different person at the end of the hose.

Angela said she has killed just as many plants as have survived. Yet, she’s probably just being hard on herself.

One consistency in her gardening life has been roses, because most will survive neglect. As with all plants, there will be more reward if plants are given exactly what they need.

Many of the important things in life are done in quick bursts, followed by long periods of periodic maintenance.

Examples include:

• Finding a relationship.

• Searching for a job.

• Building a raised garden bed.

• Cleaning out the refrigerator.

Achieving those first results requires a huge effort or a lot of money. Yet, we enjoy the benefits for years to come. More examples include major home improvements, earning a college degree and liposuction.

Good garden weather

The past two weekends have been perfect for working in the yard. One Sunday I started in the morning before I had combed my hair, then realized it was noon and I had dirt all over my pajamas.

When I look around my yard I see several projects that required many hours of work. Mixing sand and soil for my wheelbarrow cactus garden was a big pain. However, all I need to do now is brush away a few leaves.

This week we planted star jasmine along the ratty metal fence. If all goes well, a privacy hedge will grow, overflowing with fragrant flowers and glossy leaves.

Twenty years ago I helped plant a needle-nosed ivy along an ugly concrete wall. Now I see a wall covered in green.

I could keep going with examples, but you get the point. While the weather is nice, why not do a big garden project? The rewards will continue for years.

Words on ornamentals

All summer I have resented the fact that we are growing eggplant. My boyfriend claims that he loves the purple fruit, yet it hangs there, untouched, sad, faded and now limp.

I don’t like eggplant unless it’s slathered in sauce and cheese or served as a sushi taco at Izakaya Ichiban.

To try to solve the eggplant excess problem, I’ve been exceedingly nice.

Could I add eggplant to his half of the veggie stir fry?

No thanks, my boyfriend said.

How about some fried eggplant with eggs?

Nope.

I must have taken a happy pill the day I offered to try using sliced eggplant instead of lasagne noodles.

He said he didn’t want to heat up the house by turning on the oven.

My new strategy is to consider eggplant as an ornamental plant.

If that’s the case, I can harvest the beautiful fruit and give them to a third-grade teacher for craft projects. One clever mom with a website, http://tinyurl.com/zdxdv8o, uses buttons and flat thumbtacks for eggplant faces. Many foods can be carved into disposable ink stamps. Dried eggplant-head dolls?

Judging from Pinterest, I could be a pioneer in eggplant crafts, because my search turned up very little of interest.

More vegetable news

Several weeks ago I contacted Bob Scoville, my go-to source at Glenn County Master Gardeners. He helped with some tips on how to fertilize squash by hand. I know this topic is a jarring departure from eggplant, but squash is actually an interesting topic.

Bob also forwarded a fact sheet about the history of squash.

We all think of zucchini, for example, as an Italian fruit. However, squash comes from the Americas.

Seeds and other squash parts dating back 8,000 years have been found in Mexican caves.

American Indians shared squash with European settlers, the pamphlet states. The Europeans brought seeds back to their countries and helped make new versions. That’s where “zucchini” comes along. In the late 1800s a new type of squash was bred in Milan, and later brought back to the United States in the 1920s.

Zucca is the Italian word for squash and zucchina means little squash.

The University of California pamphlet gives zero information on how to use zucchini in third-grade crafts.