VegHeadz: What Good Soils Will do for Your Garden

Friday, November 19, 2021

What Good Soils Will do for Your Garden

Tat Soi

The vegetables growing this fall in the VegHeadz garden are an example of what you can produce in good organic soils. No commercial fertilizers have ever been used in the raised beds—with the proviso that seedlings purchased at garden stores may have had fertilizer added to their potting mix unless purchased as organic seedlings. Nevertheless, any fertilizer in a seedling pot is not enough to sustain the plant through maturity.

The beds were built on native soil. Then leaves, twigs, compost and banana plant cuttings were added along with any other organic matter we had available. The beds were topped off with 6 to 8 inches of a good dark organic garden mix. Since then the beds have been topped up when necessary with compost or garden mix. Crops have been rotated and no till methods have been used consistently along with appropriate cover crops. Mulch has been added each season as previous mulches and dropped cover crops have decomposed.

A series of articles on what we have learned about healthy garden soils has been published on the Tallahassee.com community blogs and in the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper.

Soil, Compost, Mulch:

Microorganisms in the garden:

Biodiversity and Companion Plants:

This information and much more is also available in the new North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, obtainable free at the Leon County Extension Office or online at : http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/leon/docs/pdfs/North-Florida-Vegetable-Gardening-Guide---13mb.pdf

On Wednesday we made the best of the beautiful weather by hanging out in the garden and enjoying the pleasure of growing beautiful vegetables. This week’s Wednesday report from VegHeadz Coordinator, Carole Hayes follows:

The Wednesday workday this week was one of the most enjoyable I've known. The garden looks wonderfully and there is so much growing and lushly. We harvested lettuce, mustards, collards, peppers, pak choy, turnips, herbs and whatever else I've just forgotten. Cathy Alfano took several bags of beautiful produce to the Kearney Center. Thank you, Cathy!!

Janis planted garlic and shallots in the Edible Forest Garden and then came to guide us through the new, simplified rotation schedule. Janis, thank you so very much for an excellent scheme that has brought us to the most productive garden in 10 years!! The rotation scheme that includes cover crops and non-tilling practices has resulted in amazing soil that nurtures our crops because it nurtures the microbiome within.

Mary did heroic work removing the loofah vines from the arbor. She was aided by Louie; quite a team.

Jeanne's failed seed library bed (eaten by rabbits) is bursting forth with various things that she chose to plant so that it would not be empty for the Farm Tour. Great work, Jeanne! She also showed us pictures of an indescribable Thanksgiving dessert she concocted. We let her know that we would believe it when we experienced it ourselves. I feel sure she got the hint...

Holiday cheers!!!