Something to Think about when Planning your Garden

here are some compiled notes for your good reading.

Healthy Soil, Food and People

Why Grow Organic?
"I believe that a whole new era of agricultural research is in the making-one that will benefit our country at large far more than all of the research of the past has done, one that will more nearly help to create a healthy society and keep it in close touch with the land from which it gets its strength and sweetness..."

-- J.I Rodale in Pay Dirt, 1945
CHEMICAL VS. ORGANIC
Soluble chemical fertilizers are made up of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) in the form of mineral salts in a quick-release form that, when dissolved in water, suppiy major nutrients only. Plants need more than these three minerals for optimal growth. (Minerals control the metabolism of cells in plants, animals and man.) Some 16 elements are now commonly considered essential, and over 56 have been detected in plant life.
Plants given artificial fertilizers obtain fast growth, causing them to appear lush on the outside. Lush growth, however, produces watery tissues, which become more susceptible to disease and the protein quality suffers.
Most chemical fertilizers are synthesized from non-renewable resources and petroleum products, such as coal and natural gas. Expensive to manufacture, approximately 2% of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. goes into the maufacture of nitrogen fertilizer. Others are made by treating rock minerals with acids to make them more soluble. chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides now pollute the majority of water sources in the U.S. and have been directly linked to many forms of cancer, birth defects and other illnesses.
When chemical fertilizers are put into the soil they dissolve and seek natural combinations with minerals afready present. New combinations glut or overload the plant, causing it to become unbalanced. Others remain in the soil, many in the form of poisons. While using artificial NPK fertilizers can give plants an impressive jolt of growth, they do nothing to address the more important issue of providing full biological and nutritional support for the plants, as well as the microrganisms, bacteria and other life forms in the soil.
FROM ROBERT RODALE:
Robert Rodale, former editor of Organic Gardening magazine said, "Feeding a plant artificial fertilizers is basically the same as feeding a person intravenously." Plants, like us, can't survive on junk food, either. Rodale also emphasized what science has always conlirmed: a successful garden begins with healthy soil, "Ninety percent of all garden failures are caused by poor soil," he said.
DID YOU KNOW?
A 1987 National Cancer Institute study showed that in households where home or garden pesticides and fertilizers are used, children are up to 6 times more likely to develop leukemia than are children in non-pesticide homes.
The American Medical Association showed that in 1990 deaths in the U.S. due to toxic pollutants and contaminants equaled the number of gunshot and motor vehicle fatalities combined.
-- In 1991, the EPA completed a 5-year study entitled "The National Survey of Pesticides in Drinking Water Wells." The reports stated that more than half of the 94,000 drinking water wells in the U.S. contained nitrates from fertilizers. The most commonly detected pesticide was Dacthal, an herbicide used on lawns.
-- An estimated 14 million Americans regularly drink pesticide-contaminated water.

A Little Something for your Reading Pleasure

Here is some information we use in our Community Education Class materials.

Growing food is fundamental to sustainable living and good health. Fresh food is simply better; flavors, vitamins and enzymes decrease rapidly as food ages.

The majority of people who live to a ripe old age, and who seem to enjoy good health right up to the end, seem to spend a disproportionately large amount of time puttering around in their gardens, and comparatively little time out driving around in traffic or managing the hostile takeover of corporations.

There is a lot to know about growing food, and information varies depending on geography, climate, etc. It takes years to become an accomplished farmer. We will simply guide you to the resources that you need in order to do it.

But first, a few basic principles:
* Pick a sunny location. Most food does not grow well in the shade. You need at least six hours of direct sun a day to be very successful.
* Establish buffer zones. Your garden may need protection against wind, automobile traffic, deer and other pests. Hedgerows, fences and perimeter beds can help. Surrounding a garden with perennial herbs confuses pests with its strong scents. Fencing a garden with pollen-bearing perennials provides critical habitat for the predatory insects which keep pests in check. Establishing the perimeter first can help ensure success when actual crops are planted.
* Establish permanent pathways and garden beds. Arrange beds running north - south. A good-sized bed is 3-4 feet wide and as long as you want it. (If it is much wider than four feet, you will not be able to reach the center without stepping or kneeling in the bed.) Cultivate your beds year after year, adding compost and organic fertilizers as needed, and rotating crops. Do not walk on your garden beds as it compresses the soil.
* Build your soil: This is the cornerstone of sustainable farming and gardening. Healthy soil supports good plants. The best way to build healthy soil is to add lots and lots of compost. You cannot add too much compost to your soil, but if you add too little, it will get hard and your plants will be puny and weak, and thus susceptible to disease. If you cannot make enough compost (most homeowners fall into this category), then buy it from your city, a local farmer, or your neighborhood landscape supply house. A few sustainable businesses have developed products out of recycled plastic which help urban and suburban residents compost.
* Buy a good spading fork: The digging fork is by far the most useful cultivation tool. You will use it every day for digging new beds, re-digging old ones, cultivating around crops and trees, even weeding and pulling out nasty unwanted trees and cactus. The best forks have big, fat forged steel heads; short, stout, unbreakable handles and a D-grip.
* Cultivate diversity: Monoculture attracts pests; so grow a little of everything. Learn which plants grow together, and which do not (the science of companion planting). Harvest your own seeds and purchase heirloom variety plants. Keep a steady stream of flowers available to feed predatory insects (which need to eat even when there are no pests in your yard); multitudes of small flowers feed more predators than big, showy flowers.
* Water carefully: Plants show many of the same signs when over-watered as when under-watered. Established plants typically prefer deep, infrequent watering; that is, soak, let the soil dry out completely, then soak again. Check the soil to be sure. Dig down six inches. If the soil will hold in a ball, then it does not need to be watered. Daily, shallow watering causes or exacerbates many plant diseases, including blossom-end rot.
* Learn about Integrated Pest Management. Avoid using chemical pesticides and fertilizers, which already plague the commercial food supply. Most homeowners wind up misusing chemicals far more egregiously than farmers.
* Learn how to tell when fruits and vegetables are perfectly ripe.

One very easy thing you can do to reduce your impact on the planet, and bolster your gardening efforts, is to compost. Compost makes rich fertilizer and mulch out of yard waste, food scraps, tree trimmings, old lumber and even certain types of paper. You can even compost human wastes, although you may not want to use that to grow vegetable crops.

Here is a view of our '08 garden.


More later ... for certain!

Thinking about Spring in the middle of Winter

One of the best things about us 'crazies' that garden for fun and for cutting food costs is being able to dream about summer. Even now in the dead of winter, looking out the window at snow galore and Mr. Temperature in the mid 20's,

we are planning the start date for the '09 food garden.We've been working on the garden patch for over a dozen years and committed to the sustainable approach six years back. Last week over a glass of Merlot, we re-calibrated the garden design drawings and picked a start date, March 21st for those who circle dates on the calendar.

We usually get a 'fake spring' in the last week or so of February but the veteran farmers ignore this attempt by Mother Nature to get a last laugh at the rookies, so we do also. I mean you could get out and try to dig some ground but just below that 1/2" of muddy stuff, you'll still encounter frozen earth; good soil, with lots of nutrients but hard as an ice cube just the same.