So, Halloween is over, even though the candy remains and the jack-o-lanterns are beginning to slump on the porch, looking like they're nodding off while on duty. You say you were going to throw them away? Forget putting them on the curb -- jack-o-lanterns are great additions to your compost pile. The main thing to remember about composting your jack-o-lanterns is that it's best to chop them up a bit, and then cover them with a nice, thick layer of straw or leaves so that they'll break down over the winter, and also so they don't attract rodent pests to your pile. In all honesty, though, the squirrels seem to enjoy my pumpkins more before Halloween, when I want to keep them nice and free of rodent bite marks, than after. It's almost a guarantee that after October 31st, my resident squirrels have gone from craving pumpkin to jonesing for tulip bulbs. Or maybe my squirrels are just messing with me... But, I digress. My point is: compost those pumpkins! They decompose very quickly and add a bit of "green" matter to the pile during a time of year when "browns" are in abundance. Do you compost your jack-o-lanterns?

Did any of you happen to catch "The Botany of Desire" on PBS last night? I had the DVR set, and happily, the kids were (mostly) asleep so I was able to watch more than I thought I'd be able to. While I kind of zoned out during some parts of it (not much interest on my part about growing a certain weed (ahem) but still impressed at the ingenuity of the growers of said weed) I did enjoy the segments about the apple and the potato.

What I appreciated most of all, from a gardener's standpoint, is that Pollan makes a strong case that we are part of nature, not standing apart from it. That as much as we may believe we have a modicum of control over the natural world, it has just as much control over us. It's a viewpoint I've believed in since I started gardening as a teenager, and I think it's one that most die-hard gardeners have. As much as we may try to control what happens in our garden, nature will do its own thing. We can try to restrict where the Nigella grows, but it's almost a guarantee that it will pop up somewhere totally different, and usually in a spot that does more for the plant's own self-preservation than it does for the aesthetics of our garden. Such is life in the garden.

Besides the overarching theme of "plants doing what they can to survive," I was happy to see Pollan make the point again and again about the danger of monocultures. There was also quite a bit of discussion about GMOs, especially in the segment about potatoes. I was very, very happy to see that the documentary profiled an organic potato farmer who was doing everything right and succeeding amid the conventional farms he was surrounded by.

If you weren't able to watch "The Botany of Desire" last night, it will be re-broadcast several times in the upcoming week or so on most PBS stations. Check the website for information about the show, as well as the broadcast schedule.

Did you watch "The Botany of Desire?" Have you read the book? Thoughts and opinions, please!

I'm putting together my editorial calendar for November, and, rather than just writing about the topics I find interesting, I want to hear from you! There will be a few polls this week so I can gauge your interest in a variety of topics. Today, I'm wondering which vegetables you want to learn to grow organically. Please take the poll, and if I haven't included a vegetable that you're interested in, please tell me about it in the comments. I appreciate your input!

It is my favorite time of year, which may be a surprise, considering how much I love my garden. And while it's bittersweet, putting most of my garden to bed is a lovely experience when it can be done in cool, crisp weather with hundreds of flame-colored leaves drifting down around me.

There is, of course, a more practical reason for my love of fall. All of those leaves go to work in my garden, improving my soil. I have six large shade trees on my lot, and I still find myself stealing my neighbor's leaves off of the curb. It's a sickness, I tell you....

Anyway. There are five main ways I use leaves in my garden:
1. Shred them with a lawn mower (or a chipper/shredder, if you've got it) and use them to mulch garden beds after the ground freezes.

2. Shred them and dig them into your garden beds. They'll break down over the winter, and your soil will have received a nice dose of organic matter.

3. Make a lasagna bed!

4. Keep a bag or a few buckets of them, and set them aside to add to your compost pile throughout the winter. Anytime you add food scraps or other "green" stuff to the compost pile, throw some leaves in there, too.

5. Make leaf mold.

Leaves also work well in your vermicomposting bin, but don't add too many, because they can mat down and create an anaerobic environment for your worms.

Do you hoard your fall leaves? What's your favorite way to use them in the garden?