The same thing happens every year: we have one rogue 45 degree day, the sun comes out, the snow begins to melt, the air smells like mud, and I get the overwhelming urge to order 98 seed packets from every company that has ever sent me a catalog.
Not only do I already have a hoard of seeds, but I also won’t have garden beds this year – I don’t close on my new farm until June. I’ll be able to start laying the groundwork for garden beds this year, but I won’t have a full growing season until next year.
So instead of ordering seeds, I’ve been using this year’s rush of springtime motivation to plan my gardening strategy for the new property, and that means refining my gardening philosophy.
My dad had me in the garden before I could walk. In the 25+ years between then and now, I’ve gardened in all sorts of situations: a Connecticut backyard garden with 1,000 square feet of in-ground tilled beds, a Boston balcony with a single tomato plant, a Denver backyard filled with Tractor Supply raised beds, a Denver patio cluttered with containers, and then back to Connecticut for borrowed time in a 100 square foot garden with stone-wall beds.
I have seen and tried a lot of different strategies. A garden is a never ending experiment, of both the scientific and artistic varieties, so while I intend to try all sorts of things in the many years to come on my own homestead, my garden philosophy boils down to one key thing: prioritize the “microherd”.
The “microherd” refers to the mycelium (fungal) network and bacterial colonies that live inside the soil. Healthy soil is teeming with life, and these organisms will constantly work to break down dead organic material into usable compounds for your garden plants. When harnessed correctly, this mutualistic relationship will result in a better outcome for all involved.
There are lots of things that modern gardeners may do that could threaten the health of their microherd:
- Excessive tilling can disrupt the fungal networks
- Synthetic pesticides can kill microbial life
- Synthetic fertilizers can cause temporary overgrowth of microbial life, followed by die-off
- Lack of organic matter can lead to nutrient deficiency
- Planting the same thing in the same place can lead to nutrient deficiency
- Soil compaction can lead to limited air and water flow
Having experienced the negative effects of these mistakes, I plan to prioritize the microherd in a few specific ways:
1. Give the microherd a strong start with rich, composted manure
Luckily, I have access to an unlimited supply of composted horse manure. My adopted family’s farm has ‘manure mountain’, which is more like a mountain range of various dated piles spanning ten years.
To obtain my Master’s in Biology, I completed an original research study on the farm to determine which ages of manure were the most productive for pea plants. I found that the 5 year old manure was more productive than the 10 year old manure, and both were more productive than the 1 year old manure. The 6 month old manure was nearly useless, and the fresh manure was both useless and gross.
Using this aged manure will provide the microherd with a nutrient dense start. I will use it to fill raised beds and as top-dressing for any in-ground plots.
2. Protect the microherd by minimizing tilling
The truth is, when starting a new garden plot, tilling is a bit of a necessity – especially in my region, where rocks and clay are a gardener’s biggest nuisance. After using cardboard to kill the field grass for my new plots, I will need to use hand rakes to aerate the soil, find and remove rocks, and work in my top-dressed compost. I will limit disturbance by avoiding the use of heavy machinery.
I will also use the ‘chop and drop’ method at the end of the growing season to minimize soil disruption. Instead of pulling out the root network of old plants, I will just cut the plants at the base and leave the roots in the ground over the winter for the microherd to enjoy.
3. Maintain a healthy balance for the microherd with crop rotation
With few exceptions, closely related plants should not inhabit the same location within three years. As such, I will rotate annuals by family – if I plant nightshades (peppers, tomatoes) in bed 1 this year, I’ll plant cucurbits (squash, cucumber, zucchini) in bed 1 next year and brassicas (broccoli, kale) the year after that.
This is important because different plants have different requirements regarding key nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium – by planting them back to back, they may strip the soil of a certain nutrient.
Rotation also helps to minimize pests by disrupting their life cycles. These organisms often overwinter in the soil, so if their host plant is easily accessible when they emerge in the spring or summer, they’ll happily infest it. If a non-host plant is in its place, they may die from lack of nutrition.
The same principle is true of fungal diseases such as powdery mildew. Some plants are very susceptible to powdery mildew, while others are less so. Rotation helps reduce the risk of a widespread infection.
4. The MOST important step: the more organic matter, the better
In my opinion, organic matter – decaying plant material – is the key to a successful garden because it ensures a consistent food source for the microherd.
This is pretty standard gardening advice that can be accomplished by simply adding compost! But several years ago, I watched a YouTube video that completely changed my perspective and encouraged me to take organic matter to the next level.
Jim Kovaleski is a market gardener who used to snowbird the market garden circuit – Florida in the winter and Maine in the summer.
I could write several thousand words about Jim’s philosophies on gardening, machine dependence, and good food – I’ll spare you, for now. But get this: when in Maine, he spends the cool, dewy mornings cutting a hayfield with a scythe, and then he uses the cut grass as a thick layer of mulch for all of his garden plants. He calls it the “Grass Fed Market Garden”.
Typical shredded-wood mulch is useful for reducing water evaporation, insulating the soil and roots from direct sunlight, and limiting weed growth. Cut grass does all of that and more: it is naturally more moist than wood mulch and is more quickly broken down by the microherd, resulting in a constant infusion of both water and bioavailable nutrients for the plants.
At the time, I was gardening in the backyard of my suburban childhood home. I didn’t have a scythe for the authentic experience, but I was inspired to immediately throw the bagger on the John Deere riding mower and spread the clippings on my garden plants.
Jim credits the grass for his incredibly prolific harvest. He uses no other fertilizers, and rarely if ever has to water by hand. In my limited experimentation, I found this to be more or less the same for me; by the time a week had passed and it was time to mow again, the prior week’s clippings had compressed and browned as they released their water, and I was able to reduce my watering schedule to every other day, at most.
I also really appreciate the use of a hand tool instead of a gas-powered motor. I will need to use a traditional mower on my homestead, but the idea of having an option that doesn’t rely on machinery has always been very attractive to me.
In thinking about my upcoming farm and how this is my opportunity to make all of my gardening dreams a reality… I knew there was something I had to do.
After eight years of watching videos of Jim eloquently wield his scythe… I took his recommendation and ordered my custom-built scythe from Scythe Supply in Perry, Maine. These things aren’t cheap, but you can’t get them anywhere else, so I just had to have one.
The pros make scything seem easy and effortless – I’m sure it’s going to take me a significant amount of time to master the art. My scythe arrived shockingly fast, so I hope to assemble it and start practicing as soon as the spring grass comes up. I will definitely report back on how it goes and if it’s worth the effort… or if you should just use a normal lawn mower to feed your garden. 😂
What is your gardening philosophy? If you had to start your gardens from scratch, how would you go about it? I’m open to any and all advice!
Talk soon,
KC