Want to know the secret to a green thumb? It is the first thing I teach in the Instant Master Gardener expedition. I’ve put a link to that part of the expedition in the resources section down below.
And I’ll just tell you the punchline right now.
Good, rich, fertile soil.
Yup, soil is the key to the difference between struggling with your garden – and having a ton of fun.
The better the soil, the bigger the crops
The better the soil, the less insect and disease problems.
The better the soil, the more nutritious the produce
The better the soil, the better tasting the food.
The main reason the bio-intensive method is sustainable is its focus on continually improving the soil.
One of the most famous parts of the BI (bio-intensive) gardening method is the “double digging”. Most of the life, vitality, and richness of your soil is in the upper few inches. And down below is often compacted and hard. Novice gardeners will often just take a spade and simply turn their garden soil over – which puts the upper layers of soil down deep where it isn’t doing much good for your plants.
Double digging is a technique for preserving the life in the top layers of soil, and getting access to the lower layers to help loosen it up.
Double digging your beds is only necessary the first time you prepare your garden – and maybe once in a while after that. it is not something you do every season.
Keep all that in mind while you watch the videos in today’s lesson.
Homework:
There are two parts to the homework for this segment of the expedition.
First, select an area that gets at least 8 hours of sunlight. Locate the garden as close to your home as you can. The closer your garden is, the more likely it will be tended. Most gardens are put right outside the kitchen door – that’s why they are sometimes called kitchen gardens. I recommend you start with one small bed say 4’x12.5′ for a total of 50 sq.ft. Put out some stakes and string to define the area. And then prepare the soil by double digging the bed and preparing the soil as shown in the videos below.
Second, if you don’t have them already, purchase a digging fork, a spade, and a bow rake.
Note: If you have a clay or rocky soil, then getting quality digging tools is very important because you will be putting a lot of stress on the tines. There are only two high quality manufacturers of quality tools; Clarington Forge, and Spear & Jackson. They are more expensive, but the good news is with proper care, they can be passed down through several generations.
Bow rakes are not generally used with much force or stress and acceptable quality bow rakes can be obtained at almost any hardware store.
If you have a sandy soil and the lower soil levels are fairly loose and open, double digging is probably not necessary. Or if it is, it can be done with a regular pitch fork because there will be less stress on the tines.