July 30, 2008 - Now is the time to prepare for your fall garden
Every year it seems a bit odd to be getting ready for my fall garden at this time. After all, it’s 97 degrees with no relief in sight.
How can anyone think of fall gardens in this weather? Well, like it or not there is lots to be done at this time, so that come cooler days our gardens are ready and growing.
If you have a garden that is still producing, maybe okra and a few tomatoes, you can work around them.
But, for those that have nothing in the garden, except for maybe weeds, now is the time to clean it out. That is if you want to grow fall vegetables.
I mentioned a week or two ago about solarizing. That’s where you cut the weeds down and lay a large piece of plastic over the entire area. Let the garden area “cook” undisturbed for a few weeks. At that time you’d need to remove the plastic and clean out all the dead weeds, add organic fertilizer and compost, and till it all in.
Adding nutrients back to your soil doesn’t have to be done before planting, it’s just easier. Spreading compost and organic fertilizers on the soil and then working it all in is just one way.
Remember, organic gardening is nothing more than feeding the soil and adding back the life that all the synthetic fertilizers have killed off. We natural gardeners are just doing things as nature would, and that’s by always replenishing the nutrients back to the soil.
One very easy way that nature tries to keep our soils in the best of condition is with the help of the lowly earthworms. Because of all the chemicals that man has used for so many years, the earthworm population has struggled to stay alive. Earthworms are attracted to rich organic soils. They need a soil that’s free from pesticides and harsh synthetic fertilizers.
Having earthworms in any type of soil will help. Just one of these little guys can produce it’s weight in castings (that’s what we call their poop) every day. Now, that might not seem like much, but when you get enough of these little helpers in your gardens, it all adds up. An average earthworm population in just one acre of soil will produce close to 15 tons of castings in just one year.
Having a good population of earthworms in your soil will actually increase the soils microorganisms, which can then help to destroy the harmful fungi, bacteria and bad root nematodes as they digest them. The digestion systems of the earthworms will help to neutralize your soil. It doesn’t matter if your soil is too acidic or too alkaline, earthworms will bring the balance back.
Earthworms not only add nutrients back to the soil, but they also keep the soil well aerated.
Many of us in this part of the world have sticky gumbo-type soils. As the worms constantly move, they create a soil that’s able to drain, and can hold the right amount of water. What gardener could ask for a more useful bunch of helpers?
Until next time, let’s try to garden with nature, not against it, and maybe all our weeds will become wildflowers.
Laurie Garretson is a Victoria gardener and nursery owner. Send your gardening questions to laurie@vicad.com or in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77902.
[via: Victoria Advocate]
