JWR:
Just a couple of ideas/notes on gardening, inspired by the recent article on New England Gardening:
Land that was previously “Forested” and cleared is usually poor soil initially for vegetable gardening, even when adding compost and manure. Forested land is fertile when many years of plant residue build up naturally, and then fertile for more trees and brush only usually, but lacking in desired nutrients for vegetable crops. Without the natural “compost” layer the trees provide the soil will become barren quickly from erosion etc. Essential nutrients/minerals to provide a balanced diet for both the vegetable plants one wants to grow to be able to grow “well” will either be lacking or “unavailable” in the form their in for the plant to “use”. The human consumption for sustenance of vegetables grown in these soils frequently will be lacking desirable/necessary nutrients, especially for young children. Local manures and compost will often not add these nutrients (though soil tilth will be much improved) as the manure and compost that come from the “same” soils (local area) so to speak will be lacking in these nutrients as well, unless the animals diets have been supplemented. The quality of the feed the manure producing animal gets in turn affects the quality of the manure you get. Same for plant compost.
This is the case generally all around the country. Even on many “organic” farms unless soil amendments are added. This is not a criticism of organic farming, but rather something every organic farmer already (hopefully) knows are adjusts for. Accurate soil testing at various points throughout the land/garden/orchard is necessary to determine mineral content of soil, and to know what amendments will need to be added. Test your soils now if possible. These amendments can often be “natural/organic” but will often need to be brought in from elsewhere and stockpiled (whether its bone meal or seaweed, fish emulsion, etc.)
Tests done on “farm boys” entering the military years ago showed many deficiencies in minerals/nutrients. These guys worked hard on the farm, ate local produce, and meats, used manures heavily, and still were found to have skeletal problems, bad teeth, etc due to minerals lacking in their soils where they grew up. But they ate “healthy and natural” to a point. I mention this only to make people aware, not to criticize anything in this fine letter George H wrote which I liked, (or to raise anyone’s dander that grew up on a farm!) I hope to simply allow people who are planning ahead to incorporate the need for “good soil” in their planning now before they rely on a subsistence source.
If one is planning ahead for long term survival these nutrient deficiencies must be planned in and compensated for, especially for the children. While a lot of our modern supermarket produce leaves much to be desired, access to diverse food sources is easy now and we can supplement our nutrients through diverse foodstuffs (organic or otherwise) from other locals where nutrients lacking in our local soils are more abundant or have been added, and vice a versa.. This may not be the case in the future, so proper soil preparation and stockpiling now those amendments needed is necessary.
I would avoid weed killers as much as possible as soon as possible (or preferably not use them at all if possible time allowing). Deposits are left in the soil, and the micro-organisms needed to build and maintain soil fertility are destroyed, along with earthworms, beneficial nematodes and fungi, etc. Perennial weeds are hard to contain but judicious limited application of more natural foliage killers and heavy, thick mulching with shallow hoeing will eventually keep weeds down and deplete their roots. This takes years. The point is not to unearth new weed seeds that exist by the thousands in the top layer of soil. For a vegetable garden there is a strong argument to be made for not ever turning the soil at all. See this web page, as deep digging is non productive and destroys natural soil structure and micro-organisms, while bringing up less desirable soils and weed seeds to the surface.
Let leaves compost by themselves for many years and then use selectively as a water holding leaf mold mulch so as not to deplete your soil of nitrogen during the leaf decomposition process (same goes for fresh wood chips). I would where possible cover a desired future gardening plot soil with tarps (or use the cardboard lasagna gardening method) to prepare new areas for gardening the following year- removing some/many trees depending on the intended soil use, composting in place as much deciduous matter as possible (ideally before mature weed seed heads are formed). Also, planting a dense cover group early (be it rye grass, oats, mustard etc depending on your area etc) in the season before planning to use the area for food groups can and will help with noxious weed control as the “cover” crop will smother many weeds and stop them from germinating. Then mulch with the cover crop. And rotate your plot, even if small, and cover crop for the winter again (you can find the best varieties of cover crops for your area by searching the web, and/or going to local feed stores to buy).
I also prefer to have several years of hybrid seeds stored, along with heirloom varieties for the longer run. Why? Many varieties of hybrid seeds were bred for their resilience/adaptability to soil type, weather, and fast growth rates. Under stressful conditions, be it weather, plant diseases, insects, or the “golden hordes”, these hybrid seeds will allow a garden to be planted and produce relatively quickly (F1 hybrids will also give seed that will germinate and reproduce, many not true to their parent stock, but with edible produce nonetheless.)
As an aside, many Internet pundits state that F1 hybrids are sterile, and while some are, many are not, through the efforts of the large seed companies. (The detestable Monsanto GMO company and others have developed terminator seeds.) This audio explains OP seeds, Heirloom seeds, and Hybrids rather well and is a good introduction to plant breeding/seed saving. The woman is from Seed Savers Exchange.
You can read a great forum post at Seed Savers Exchange by ‘caroyn137’ for a brief explanation of F1 and F2 . She explains: “About 90 % of our OP family heirlooms first arose by cross pollination, and then someone had to save the F2 seeds if they liked what they saw, and then plant out those F2 seeds looking for plants and fruits that looked like the initial hybrid they saw and tasted and liked. And that process of selecting the best you see at each generation goes on and on until all seeds sowed give rise to the same plants and fruits, at which time it’s called open pollinated (OP).”
Heirloom plants/seeds are great, I plant them and love them, they are better tasting in many cases, and desirable in the long run for saving seed true to parent stock. However, if you haven’t yet gotten into seed saving, you should do it now, even small scale. And read up on the distances required to maintain general seed stock purity for different vegetables. Learn how to hand pollinate. Build isolation cages/towers to keep pollen away from specific plants/flowers (whether wind-borne or insect-borne.) Also realize that even heirloom varieties may not do well in your area, or your micro-climate. See this site and this site for more information on microclimates.
The best way to really prepare is to plant many varieties of seeds now, heirloom and F1, and see what varieties grow best in your area each year and under different conditions. Find local “heirloom” seeds from local gardeners/neighbors. These will usually already be adapted to your micro-climate. The same goes for berry bushes and fruit trees.
Common sense tells us that what has been growing well nearest you already will do best. Develop your own local climate adapted, “heirloom” varieties. So, I suggest keeping 2-to-3 years of hybrid seed stored as well, especially if you don’t have a garden yet, as well as local heirloom seeds from neighbors, and you can probably always barter the F1 hybrids to others whose heirloom seeds they bought and grew well in the part of the country those seeds were “produced” in, fail to be as productive where they live.
If I may, respectfully, I would suggest watching these videos on YouTube or researching the concepts on the web, (some videos start slow, but give them a few minutes, all very informative):
Lasagna garden Video 1 and Video 2 (good idea, don’t care for the music though myself)
In my opinion one of the best vegetable gardening sites on the web, especially for northern climates (check the links and older posts too) can be found here.
Basic seed saving: here, here, here, and info on seed isolation distances here.
Isolation distances in Organic Seed Production
Another on seed isolation distances.
DIY Isolation cages for seed saving from plants in the garden.
Saving Vegetable Seeds in an Urban Garden. (Read online or contact author to buy)
I would recommend finding, buying, or making a broadfork, for personal vegetable gardens.
No-til farming. (Also see this site.)
Also read Elliot Coleman’s books, such as Four-Season Harvest.
Respectfully, – Pierre M.
Mr. Rawles:
After reading about this gentleman’s (and many other’s, on this site) back breaking adventures in gardening, I would like to direct your reader’s attention to a less labor intensive and more sustainable way of gardening put forth by Paul Gautschi in a film titled Back to Eden. Although it is hardly a new concept in gardening, the easy to follow principles have been, in my opinion, long forgotten. Gardeners, new and old, will benefit tremendously by watching and learning from this film.
Happy Gardening, – Jill N.