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The growing season has finally arrived, the spring bulbs are in full bloom and gardening is underway! It’s garden prep time. You may have already put some seeds in the ground but because it’s been so wet, I’ve wanted to let the soil dry a little more before prepping it for planting. Working with wet soil is no fun and not recommended; it’s bad for the soil structure and for the gardener! Especially with our clay soils, everything becomes a mucky mess. As many of you know, soil is the foundation of your garden. We must learn to become growers of soil in addition to growers of food. Taking care of our soil means healthy plants that are less susceptible to pests and disease. One question that frequently comes up in my workshops is, ‘should I till my garden?’ Indeed, that’s what you always think you’re supposed to do, right? Till the garden, plant your crop. Farmers have been doing it for ages. Aren’t we supposed to take a garden fork or a rototiller and get in there, break up the soil and churn stuff around? In my short video today, I talk about why tilling your garden every season isn’t a good idea and what I do instead. So click on the video below to find out more. Then, I would love to hear from you. What garden prep methods do you use? What have you found works best to help with soil fertility and structure? Leave your thoughts or questions in the comments below!
2 Comments
Jim Baerg
4/26/2017 11:30:58 am
Kareen, I typically plant a cover crop in the fall after finishing my vegetables. In the spring, the rye and vetch are very robust. What methods to you suggest for spring planting, both seeds and starts? In the past, I've turned over the green growth into the soil a month early, I've pulled the plants, shaken off the dirt from the roots, and put the green matter through the compost, and sometimes with starts, just dug the starts into the existing growth, opening up enough space for the new plants to thrive. What do you suggest?
Kareen
4/28/2017 10:55:40 am
Hi Jim, cover cropping is a great idea in terms of growing more of your nutrients and keeping that soil covered in the late fall and throughout the winter. That definitely helps with decreasing soil erosion. I might not till it in though in early spring. Instead, just cut it back and leave the roots in the soil and perhaps move that material to the compost pile or use it as mulch in the garden bed. Continuous tilling over time will decrease your organic matter and destroy the soil structure. I like your idea of opening up just enough space for your seedlings and keeping the cover crop growing in the rest of the bed. i imagine you cut it back periodically during the season? Have you found that method to work well in terms of the yield of the veggies that you plant? For areas where you're going to seed, I might just cover those with compost and leaves in the fall and then pull that back in the spring in order to be able to seed in there directly. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions! Leave a Reply. |
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