The ScrapDogs Newsletter: October 2026 🛏️
**NEW DATE: COMPOST PARTY!**
 
Our annual Compost Party has been postponed to Sunday, November 8th. We hope you can join us for a fun raffle, free snacks, and general compost shenanigans 🥳
Putting Your Garden to Bed
As the days grow shorter, the sweaters come out, and your harvests begin to slow, it's time to start putting the garden to bed. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep your garden healthy through the winter and even stronger for next year:
🍅 As your harvests start to wane and frost kills off your sensitive crops, such as tomatoes, beans, and squashes, begin to pull out the plants and add them to your yard waste pile or compost bucket, or burn them if they've shown evidence of disease. Your hardier vegetable crops, such as brassicas, can be left and enjoyed much later into the fall, especially with some row cover or other protection. That said, most annual vegetable crops should not be left in the garden over winter, as diseases and pests can make a cozy home in them until next year.
🍂 Most perennials can be left in the garden over the winter though! Be sure to leave vegetative material that can be home to beneficial insects and critters, including tree leaves, flower stalks, and ornamental grasses.
🛏️ Before the ground freezes, add a thick layer of compost (~2") to your winter-readied beds, then cover with a layer of straw or other mulch to prevent soil erosion, nutrient loss, and weed development. You can also consider planting a cover crop to restore nutrients and retain soil structure through the winter.
🚰 Turn off your water! At this point in the season, and given recent rainfall, it's best to save your water and protect your system from freeze damage. Clean and store your irrigation elements, garden tools, and empty pots – your 2027 self will thank you!
Plus: Mulch!
Don't forget, we've got hemlock bark mulch to beautiful your beds too. At only $55/yard delivered*, we've got your back when it comes to sprucing up your garden! (Oops, wrong evergreen.)
*3 yard minimum order
Funding for School Waste Projects
Do you have a student, teacher, or school administrator in your life? Make sure they know about ecomaine's eco-Impact Grant program! Through this program, schools and non-profit organizations serving students can receive up to $7,500 for sustainable school programs.
The deadline to apply is October 20th – just enough time to dream up your perfect school composting project!
Composter Shout-Out: MSAD 28/Five Town CSD
Speaking of schools who compost, we're giving a big shout-out to the MSAD 28 / Five Town Community School District for composting with us! With the help of teachers, school administrators, cafeteria staff, and the students themselves, food scraps are collected from the kitchens and cafeteria and composted at our site.
The district serves students from Camden, Rockport, Hope, Appleton, and Lincolnville, who are learning first-hand that reducing their carbon footprint and rethinking their waste can be not only easy and effective, but totally normal!
Comments