Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

I agree, Ken. "Permanent bed" works well in every way including no-till.
Most of use aren't blessed with deep, healthy soil to start with and need
those amendments, and we need to cut amendment and water costs and labor by
concentrating them on growing beds instead of wide spaces between tractor
type rows. This to me is the single most essential and intelligent strategy
for home and market growers in these times. Beyond that there are infinite
variations for growing, depending on our local conditions of course. 

>From a commercial standpoint, I like to say you can go broke on a hundred
or a thousand acres, or make money on part of one acre. It's a matter of
planning intelligently and holding those costs down, not piling up debt
that eats up the profit. I keep it low tech. It's not as simple - or
expensive - as some books and TV shows make it out to be. There are some
hard and fast guidelines we shortcut at our own peril, but applying them in
our local conditions turns out to be an art. What Barb calls "gimmick
gardening" - square foot, cube foot, Spin, American Intensive, Bio whatever
etc. - are just specialized methods of applying good principles, and what
works for one won't work for the neighbor. It's like cooking. The
principles don't vary but using them to get what you want takes practice
and something else like instinct - or in gardening a "feel" for the soil,
the plants, the weather. Something not in a book. 

For example, healthy soil is always and everywhere a must, but there are
different ways of getting there. Germination temperatures are set by
nature, but we can control that by various methods. Moisture requirements
can't be ignored without loss, but moisture within certain limits can be
maintained various ways. And so on. Some of this is both art and science,
and all of it's a matter of paying attention and getting a feel for when
plants are happy with what you're doing. Speaking of which, some of our
Marconi peppers are itching to get in the ground and spread some roots out.


paul tradingpost@lobo.net