Soil Health
When the soil is healthy, the plants are Happy & we
want happy plants!J
After planning your Organic Vegetable Gardens, it's a good
idea to search your area for your best Resources - look for compost, lawn clippings, hay and tree
cuttings, as well as Horse manure or Stable Straw, all of
which are great! You can either mix in your materials with your soil, (necessary
before each crop goes in) or use as a Mulch.
Try your neighboring Farms, or Stables, or even better, make
your own compost & mulch. We discovered a natural source of Horse Stable Manure & Straw, and also, composted Hay
just down the road.. there is plenty around. We also
have two of our own horses & chickens, so we utilize their 'by-products'... J
Chickens are easy to keep, & look gorgeous pecking in the yard. Make sure they live away from the Vegetable Garden however, because they Love
young seedlings.
Before you plant your crops, mix in quantities of your compost
or Horse Straw... make sure that whatever material you mix into the soil
is mostly composted, otherwise it can burn young plants. Horse manure is
particularly strong, though Chicken Manure is the strongest of the two, but very
effective in building soil health..
After planting your young vegetables, mulch a good amount of
Straw, Hay, Compost etc. on top of the soil but not on the plant, thereby maintaining soil moisture,
& greatly enhancing plant
growth & ultimate soil health. As the plant grows, the Mulch gradually
composts down, so when your crop is finished, & you prepare to add further
compost before a new crop, your soil will already be moist & rich, with
great worm activity - so easy. Do this every year, & your soil will
very quickly become phenomenally rich & loamy.
You will discover the enormous benefit of Mulching
after trying it once. Our Organic Gardens hardly need watering, except
when the plants are young. The soil is so rich & dark, we have no
cracks in the soil, & we can dig up our fresh Potatoes with our hands.
When a crop comes out of the soil, mix in further compost
or light mulch material before re-planting the vegetable of your choice, then
mulch on top again to protect the young seedlings.
Make sure to re-plant with
a different type of Vegetable - called Crop Rotation. For instance, you should not plant Potatoes
in the same soil more than once in every 2-3 years. A lot of nutrients are
leached out, and need to be replaced before planting again. Legumes should
not be planted twice in a row either. Instead, plant Brassica for example.....
After using the healthy soil for some time, leave that area
to 'fallow', or to rest for some time. This allows for increased worm
activity, an increase in nutrients, & lighter, richer soil - the Earth needs
to catch Her breath sometimes also.
J
See also :
Organic
Gardening for a full list of organic
gardening subjects.
