Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <boxwood@nelsoncable.com>]

> I heard about the great drought of 2007, and my half acre 
> vegetable garden did just fine with minimal watering.  I know another farmer 
> who doesn't have any watering capability at all!  At best he hand waters new 
> seedlings for a few days and that's it.  He did fine.  It was a bit droughty 
> in August, but all that meant was our jalapeno peppers were hot as hell!
>
> Rob

Rob, I've had the same experience here in northern Virginia: I've heard 
complaints much of the season about the severity of the drought, and 
they always surprised me a bit, since my garden did pretty well (indeed, 
best-ever for some crops--cabbages, peppers). I have to conclude that my 
high organic matter content (8.4% last time I did a soil test) is making 
a big difference when the rain doesn't fall.

And oh yeah, I noticed the same thing with my habaneros as the soil got 
drier at the end of the season: They got so hot they were scary!

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us

"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used."  
~Wendell Berry