Above and Below … Organic is More Than What You See on the Surface.

What is organic?

One of the most common approaches when defining organic is not using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. This is not really a holistic view, but only a portion of a larger picture, one that strives to work within, be conscious of and enhance the entire ecological process. Noticing how plants react to other plants growing nearby, what circumstances increases the vigor and health of plants, times of the year or the length of the days for flowering and fruiting — what we call folklore — increases our knowledge to grow plants successfully. 

The secret is in the soil!

Throughout history, we have seen natural approaches to building soil and fertility. Paying attention to what happens within the soil has taught us how to grow and feed fruit and vegetable plants, manage their diseases and increase the harvest. Good texture provides soil that is loose and friable (easily crumbled) and allows plant roots to penetrate through it easily. This is accomplished by the addition of organic matter, which also increases the soil’s ability to take in and store water. By learning about the composition of soil, we can feed it naturally and allow the life below the surface to flourish. It is through our understanding of the soil that we learn how to feed a plant. For sometime now, we have recognized that there is a whole world beneath the soil — small microscopic organisms that are necessary for the life and health of the plant. These organisms are responsible for creating an ecology that enables the plants to feed and take up water. We must protect that system by doing no harm to these organisms. We can use plants to draw nutrients from the soil and return those nutrients to the soil by turning those crops under and allowing them to decompose or by composting them and adding the compost to the soil. By avoiding toxic chemicals, synthetic fertilizers and practices like excessive tillage that is harmful to soil organisms and using natural amendments, like the rock phosphates and greensand, etc., we allow the plants to excel.

Pests too should be considered — whether they are insects or weeds — and are often indicators from which we can learn. We know that certain weeds tend to proliferate when soils are too acidic or too sweet, and that when the soil structure is poor, plants do not grow well at all. Whether a weak plant draws pests or not or whether a healthy plant repels pests or not, we do know that a healthy plant can withstand the onslaught longer and produce more harvest. 

Gardening in small spaces--

Gardening in small spaces uses an intensive or close spacing that is not the traditional spacing like you see on the back of your seed packets or use in the traditional ‘row’ garden. It is designed to fit a lot more plants into a smaller space than would normally be required. To be successful, this approach relies on optimum soil texture and nutrition so that plants do not find it necessary to compete with each other for the nutrients they need to grow and produce fruit. Using raised beds makes this easy as it keeps the amended soil contained.

Each type of plant has it own distinctive growth habit above ground, which we are more familiar with. We know that by tucking in the smaller plants, such as radishes, around some of the larger plants, like beans, we can make better use of space and light, but did you know there are also distinctive growth pattern of roots underground that are common to each type? Some plants have deep growing roots and some plants’ root grow very shallowly. Some plants’ roots spread wide and far, and some are narrow and compact. If you take these growth patterns, for example, pairing a medium-rooting bush bean plant, a shallow-rooted onion and a deep-rooted sweet potato, there is minimal competition for water and nutrients at the same soil level. Now combining the above and below ground habits, you can create quite a mosaic in each of your beds increasing your harvest in a small space and keeping the weeding, watering and general labor at a minimum, saving your back. I’m all for having more leisure time to enjoy the harvest!

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