OR.. What’s the secret sauce, Dude?

How do you get these results? What’s in that dirt? These among other questions come at me regularly. In short, after 50 years of organic agriculture, I should know a few things. Do I want to hand them to you? Maybe. Are you an earth person? Do you dance naked under the full moon in your garden? If so, you probably know some secrets. Have you drunk the kool aid? Made your own compost, grew worms for their castings, cover cropped, saved seed, and bred your own?  Have you left the standard agricultural NPK system in your rearview mirror? Can you recognize soil structure and make assumptions? Ok, do I have your attention and passion?

I like to take rough ground that nobody in their right mind would farm and crank out food and weed. This ground was a dairy farm and chicken house production area. The spots I farm were flat red clay compacted nightmares. Whatever. In my greenhouse and one outdoor area I use 45 gallon “Grassroots” grow bags. The original soil mix had coco coir, peatmoss, and pearlite as the majority of the carrying substrate. No life, good drainage. In the weed world, this material is discarded after every cycle. Not tenable, or sustainable. In a living soil model where this medium is filled with life, the soil gets better every year as your soil would in your organic food production model. I have always felt that year 3 in a new system is the apex. The soil horizons have formed, microbial communities established, worms have invaded and set up shop as the top tier bio composters. It’s the death and resurrection story 24/7.

We live in this world of quick response, and solid soil systems don’t come in a bottle or a bag. Patience and observation are the best tools in the shed. The plants require a system of translation to deliver the building blocks to the roots for delivery. The magic is complex, just believe that whatever biologicals you put in the system will work. Some will thrive, some will die. Mirror a cross-cultural thriving community in your soils. “Fertilizer” is toxic without the translators. A live soil doesn’t have to be looked at under magnification. The plant is your barometer to your soil life and health.

What is the life you put in? Turn the page.