First and foremost is the solution to a question I have pondered for a couple of decades: How to grow food when I can’t buy fertilizer. We’ve all seen what happens when we use fertilizer and when we don’t. We’ve seen the large, healthy, plants yielding fruits and veggies. We’ve seen the unfertilized ones that produce only a few fruits, if any, before dying. Fertilizer doesn’t seem to be optional. Just thinking about it brings to mind the verse in Isaiah 5:10:
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
(According to one source, a bath equals about 6 gallons; 1 homer equals 16 ephahs.)
(I also believe that history repeats and we will see Isaiah's conditions in our day. However, I wouldn't mind being wrong.)
I can’t imagine working 10 acres and getting only 6 gallons of juice/wine. Or planting a packet of seed and not even getting a single veggie out of it. Thomas Jefferson noted that in his time the land would only produce food for 15 years before it was depleted. They didn’t understand why.
I appreciated Steve Solomon’s advice in his book, Gardening When It Counts, many years ago and his recipe for complete organic fertilizer, the ingredients for which I could stockpile. I used it for many years. And I mostly had good harvests. But I still had a lot of pest problems.
William DeMille teaches that we can grow food without manmade inputs. (And for what it’s worth, I know he taught this in the class two years ago, but I didn’t quite pick up on it then.) It’s all about the soil. Healthy soil is the foundation for healthy, thriving plants. We can’t honestly expect to grow good food in dead soil. And that’s what most soil in this country is. Completely dead. We can’t expect to kill weeds and pests without also killing the soil. And so commercial growers have to use commercial fertilizer to raise a crop. (Actually, they don’t have to; some are adopting regenerative practices. “Organic” is no longer very organic; acceptable organic pesticides also kill beneficial insects and soil microbes. Regenerative practices do not.)
Of course, commercial farmers interested in adopting regenerative practices and growing good food without herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer inputs can’t and shouldn’t turn on a dime. That could be disastrous. The recommendation is to try the new ways on just 10% of the land per year. It’s heartening to see them becoming profitable and growing healthy food.
And how does that apply to the rest of us? Well, I already did the planting diversity thing to improve the soil. Actually, that’s not why I did it. I did it because Becky suggested integrating flowers and shrubs with the veggies so that the view from the living room wasn’t that of a boring, straight-rows garden. The surprise benefit was far fewer pests and healthier plants. And for what it’s worth, I would not have believed it possible. So in your garden this year, I’m not suggesting turning it into edible landscaping like we did. That might be overwhelming. However, try just 10%. Around some tomatoes, plant some carrots (already a good choice for companion planting.) Add a basil plant. Maybe a marigold to help ward off tomato worms. With those you’d have plants from four different families, the minimum for turning on quorum sensing and secondary metabolites. See what happens. See if the pests plague those plants less. See if the produce tastes better.
Oh, and of course, you can still grow in straight rows. That makes planning and harvesting easier. Just mix in other veggies and flowers. Perhaps even let some weeds grow (but you don’t have to let them make seed).
And what does that mumbo jumbo about quorum sensing and secondary metabolites mean? Tune in Monday. ;)
SNIP Thomas Jefferson noted that in his time the land would only produce food for 15 years before it was depleted.
ReplyDeleteWas referring to cropping cash crops like tobacco and cotton.
Many of his letters were about the ongoing fruitfulness of small farms well tended vs the larger plantations for cash cropping.
He also noted that lands held in common were depleted as none had reason to keep it healthy. The Boston Commons was a prime example.
Jefferson's gardening diary (for lack of a better term) was full of successful and not so successful efforts to improve soil for better results. Monticello is amazing to visit from the historical gardening.
Soil is alive, dirt is dead (or nearly so).
Nearly dead include the "Lush" Scotts Yard "weed free" lawns.
If you're looking for a decent place to start growing a garden LOOK for Dandelions. They are NOT a weed. They were IMPORTED by the early colonists for a SPRING Tonic herb and treasured for their many gifts of health and beauty.
If the soil grows a healthy crop of dandelions, you have SOIL, not dead dirt.
That's the start. All the companion planting and so on, is excellent IF you have decent Soil.
I got the idea that Jefferson's garden notes ought to be in some sort of book. Amazon showed I was right about that. Unfortunately, everything I found was a little rich for my blood. Thank you for clarifying Jefferson's words on the soil.
ReplyDeleteWe visited Mount Vernon many years ago. I would have loved to visit Monticello.