Keeping Your Soil Healthy

    Dirt is dirt, right?  Well, yes and no.  Dirt is dirt that doesn't have much natural live organic activity.  You don't want to plant your precious vegetable seeds into dirt.  What you need is soil, which is dirt that does have healthy organic life.  There are ways to make dirt into soil and it really comes down to keeping your soil healthy from the onset of use.

     To begin with, soil is a composition of weather-beaten rock, minerals, decayed plant materials and other organic ingredients. All this takes a long time to develop naturally but can be damaged by our action or neglect in a single season. If you are lucky enough to have good growing soil, nurture it by learning how to take care of it and keep it alive. There are a myriad of excellent organic gardening books available.

     As plants grow, they take nutrients from the soil by using their roots and change those nutrients to usable materials to grow new roots, leaves, flowers and fruit or vegetables.  All serious gardeners are custodians of the soil, taking the time to replace the nutrients as they are used up by the vegetation they have grown.


    For soil to be healthy, it should contain a balanced mix of air, water, nutrients and organic matter. There are a couple things we can do to protect this mixture.

   Adding organic matter on a regular basis is probably one of the most important things we can do. Adding compost, cover crops (Managing Cover Crops Profitably is an excellent book on cover crops) and animal
manure can:

• increase the soil's capability to hold nutrients.
• make food available to plants over a longer period of time.
• lessen the amount of nutrients lost by erosion or leaching.
• provide micro-nutrients that are needed by plants in small amounts.
• release nutrients already in the soil by increasing the action of  beneficial microorganisms

• increase the water-holding capacity for sandy soils.
• increase the drainage of clay soils.
• save money.

     Adding organic fertilizer to our lawns and gardens at the right time and in the right amounts helps replenish the nutrients our gardening plants have used. Do not apply fertilizer to lawns until we get a good soaking rain, and for  safest, long-lasting results use organic fertilizers. The wet soil puts the nutrients into a solution and helps distribute the nutrients to the plant roots to be absorbed.  If you use organic compost, apply no more than 1" over the top of the lawn or as a side dressing to your vegetable plants. Too much can over feed your plants resulting in poorer fruit or vegetable production.

    Install a good water irrigation system, drip watering system, or soaker hose system to water your lawn or garden on a more consistent basis. This will help prevent over watering which can be as damaging as under watering. The roots of plants require oxygen and any soil that is waterlogged will be lacking oxygen. By insuring that the proper amount of water is applied, you can insure that the tilth of the garden will remain open and porous, thus allowing for better drainage and better nutrient uptake by the plants.

You can also keep you soil healthy by not letting it become compacted.  A few simple guidelines to help prevent compaction are:

•  Don't use a garden tiller when the soil is wet.  This causes clumping and ruins the composition of the soil. Once this starts happening, it takes a long time to get the soil back to good health.  You can tell if it is too wet to till (or even to dig by hand) if you squeeze a handful and it forms a ball of mud in your hands.  If it is crumbly, then you can go ahead and work it.
• I feel that tilling is best done in the Fall.  You can clear your garden beds of plant debris and put it in the composter.  If you choose instead to shred the debris with a garden shredder, you can work it back into the soil immediately, saving you time and energy as well as giving the soil some much needed food for the winter. Your soil will be ready to plant earlier in the Spring since your basic soil preparation is done. Sowing a cover crop in the Fall, like winter rye, is another way to keep your soil healthy. This "green manure" as it is often referred to, gives valuable nutrients and organic matter to the soil when it is tilled under in the Spring.
• Finally, do a soil test every couple of years as a minimum.  I suggest contacting the local college or university  agriculture department or your state agriculture department for a complete laboratory test periodically in addition to testing with a soil test kit on your own.
• Remember, only use organic fertilizers or soil amendments to "grow" your soil. If you keep your soil healthy, it will keep you healthy!  Happy Gardening!

Growing Your Own Plants From Seed

I know it is early November but I am already planning the vegetable garden for next spring. It is a quiet time now and we have a bit of reprieve from the hustle and bustle of working in the gardens outdoors. It is a good time to reflect on the harvest from this year and determine what I can do better next year. I've saved some seed from the heritage type vegetables and thought maybe you would like to know how to utilize the seed you may have saved (or bought) to get an early start on your garden for the upcoming spring. Feel free to print this and keep it handy for reference.

You'll save money and get a real sense of satisfaction at the same time if you grow your garden plants from seed. Seeing healthy seedlings sprout from your soil is exciting. To ensure you don't lose the seeds you've gone to so much trouble to save and sow, here are some tips to consider.

Prepare small pots or cell packs, as they are sometimes called, with a good quality potting mix. (I like the clear dome style trays because they diffuse the light for proper germination and I don't have to search for something to make a cover that fits.) You can make your own mix if you prefer, using equal parts of coarse river sand, garden soil and vermiculite. Vermiculite is especially good because the tiny roots of your seedlings can penetrate the soft, water-holding grains and so when they are transplanted, they take their moisture with them. This helps to prevent transplant shock.

Make rows or indentions for the seed by pressing a pencil or piece of dowel into the mixture. Sprinkle the seed in and cover lightly with sand. Using warm water, gently water well with a spray bottle. Keep covered and damp until the seeds have sprouted. I place planted trays under flourescent lights in the house so the seeds will have sufficient heat and light to germinate. You can put specially designed heatmats (NOT a heating pad) under the trays to help maintain an even temperature. Remove the cover when the very first seedling appears. If you wait until all the seeds have sprouted, you'll end up killing the first ones that came up because they will overheat. Be sure to keep the seedlings damp while they are continuing to grow but don't over water. If they are too wet, they may not grow at all.

There are some variations on the above tips. You could use a cardboard egg carton (no styrofoam) and sow one seed in each segment. Then, when they are large enough to transplant into a larger container, cut the segments apart with a craft knife and plant the whole thing. The cardboard will soon rot away and in any case, the roots can penetrate it while it is damp. I use the small peat pots for this and plant everything into the garden so I don't disturb the delicate roots. Almost any seed can be sown in this manner, but it is especially good for vegetables if you want to get a jumpstart on the garden. One caveat. Not all vegetables (corn for example) transplant well. The garden books or the seed pack will tell you if the seed is best planted directly into the garden or if it should be started indoors. For a terrific book on this subject,you might want to check out The Vegetable Gardner's Bible by Edward C. Smith.

If you have saved seedling containers from previous purchases, you can re-use them. I recommend washing them in hot soapy water first and let them dry in the sun to sterilize them. It is easier to transplant from the sectioned containers since the plant roots aren't all tangled together.

You can use seed sprouting to get your plants started as well. This is particularly helpful for larger perennials and trees that take a long time to germinate. Soak the seeds in hand-hot water for 3-4 hours. Once it has started to swell, place it gently in a clear plastic bag with some barely damp sphagnum moss. Seal the bag and leave in filtered light until you see the roots growing. Transplant into a 3" pot and allow to grow until the size dictates an even larger container. Some seeds, such as beans and peas, require darkness to germinate. These can be placed in a cupboard. (It is best to only sprout beans and peas a day or two before you plan to plant them into the garden. The full-sized plants do not transplant well.) Delicate seeds can also be sprouted on a damp paper towel that has been sealed in a plastic bag. Be sure to keep them out of direct sunlight so you don't cook them! As soon as they have sprouted, transplant into growing medium and keep covered and warm until the first seedlings appear as above. I use the small peat pots for this so I don't have to handle the plants any more often than necessary.

Purchased seeds are usually sprinkled with fungicide, so if you are growing your own, watch to make sure no mold develops. If it does and the seed is too small to wipe the mold off, you may have to start over. Mold only develops if there is too much moisture in the bag.

Next time we'll talk about plant rotation and planning the garden bed. Until then, have fun thinking about your next garden!

Arlene Kaye