Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Again let  me share a couple books that have made a real difference in my own 
beds. One is Getting The Most From Your Garden ISBN 0-87857-291-0, the other 
is Hi-Yield Gardening ISBN 0-87857-599-5, both from Rodale Press (of course). 
The Devil in in the details as they say, and trust me, these two books have 
details. And they contain a great deal more about growing than just making 
beds. Both available dirt cheap used at http://www.bookfinder.com/ .

To me, traditional row gardening makes no sense at all. It usually means 
tilling up a whole garden, and if you make new rows and aisles every year 
then you're walking on the soil all season and compacting it and you need to 
till. I won't waste the money on a tiller. But with permanent beds and aisles 
you don't walk on the growing soil, just the aisles. You don't compact the 
beds. And with permanent mulch (remember Ruth Stout?) or cover crops you can 
probably do without any digging. As we know, compacted soil is harder to 
water deeply and doesn't drain well when it gets soaked. Plant roots need air 
in the soil. But more: amendments, mulch, and water are concentrated on the 
growing beds, not wasted on aisles. Saves 50% of all those, and they all take 
time and money. And since mulching cuts down on moisture loss and weeds, 
that's more time and water saved. But mulch an entire garden of single rows? 
Not me! Plus of course, you can grow more in less space. Bottom line: a 
permanent bed system can be lower cost and less work for those just starting 
to garden, as well as more rewarding because things grow better this way. 
Nothing kills enthusiasm like getting waterlogged or dying for lack of 
moisture, and failing.

Food production must become water conserving and space conserving, and it 
must be doable for the general population. More people than ever are trying 
to grow with water restrictions and limited space, partly to save on 
groceries, partly to keep from getting poisoned. These methods are general 
guides from the best growers and writers on the subject, but the endless 
variations are as individual as the gardener.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net