This is the most important principle in growing your own food. Really if you get just his one thing, you’ll be far ahead of almost every other gardener out there. In this first segment of the Instant Master Gardener Expedition, you’ll learn the one BIG SECRET to having a Green Thumb! Truthfully though, it’s not really a secret. But IT IS one of the single biggest factors to success in your garden.
Homework:
Go out to your yard and dig around a bit and look at the soil. It is fairly common for there to be several different soils types in different areas of even a suburban yard, so check around in a few different spots.
Next time you visit a garden, dig down a little bit (without bothering the growing plants too much). What does the soil look, smell, and feel like? Many older farmers would taste a bit of soil and be able to tell you the ‘sweetenss’ of it – i.e. how well it would grow crops. How happy are the plants? How vibrant are they? If you know the gardener, ask her what she is using to fertilize her garden.
Marjory writes: While on a tirp to Cuba, I visited with an old tabacco farmer. His big green fields of tabacco were planted in an orange clay soil with little organic matter. From the inconsistency of his somewhat poor soil, and the big green crops, I knew he was using chemicals for fertilizers. I asked him and he verified that yes, he added both chemical fertiliazers and insecticides. With just a little practice, you’ll be able to spot the truth like this too.
Notice some of the landscaping around commercial buildings (most of which is maintained with regular checmical routines). The plants may be green, neatly trimmed, and look ‘perfect’, yet you’ll notice they seem to lack vibrancy. There is usually little bird or insect life around them. Now go visit an organic garden which is based on growing good soil and feel the alivness of the garden with its varied colors. And see all the butterflies, flowers, and life buzzing around.
BTW, to see a full adventure report on the trip to Cuba here is the link http://growyourowngroceries.