PREPARING THE SOIL

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At the Eco-Village, we spread one inch of fresh compost over the surface of every just dug bed and then work this material in with a fork so that it's dispersed through the upper four to six inches of the soil. That is our fundamental fertilization program. The compost will nurture the crop throughout the season and leave some residue for long-term soil improvement. (We do occasionally work in some bonemeal to provide extra phosphorus, and hardwood ashes for potash.)

When our compost production is high, we're able to add as much as two or three inches of the homemade amendment per bed to help build up the organic matter in the soil. Ideally, a garden will eventually have a standing ratio of at least 5% organic matter. (This can be difficult to achieve in sandy soils or in regions with very hot summers.)

There are, of course, other sources of organic matter for your soil. In many areas, you can gather leaf mold from municipal leaf dumps. This is an excellent, long-lasting source of organic "fiber." (Use only well-decomposed mold, not fresh leaves.) Well-aged manure is also effective. (If you can only get hold of fresh, "hot" manure, compost it a few months so it won't burn your plants.)

And you can raise your own organic matter by growing cover crops like rye, hairy vetch, or buckwheat and then composting or turning them under. (Remember to wait a month before planting after turning under green matter.)

Building up the life and organic matter in your soil is an ongoing, never-ending garden task. You'll want to work each year at "growing" good soil, just as you'll work at growing good crops. Eventually, you should be able to maintain your soil's health and fertility by doing little more than proper composting, crop rotation, and cover cropping.

However, because most soils have been mistreated in the past-through poor agricultural practices or by natural erosionthey need some initial "medicinal" help to reach a sustainable level of fertility.

Experienced farmers of old could look at the relative quantities of various weeds or the way crops were growing and diagnose their soils. (The late Peter Escher, a biodynamic agricultural consultant, once outlined a program for improving the soil at Eco-Village after simply tasting one of our carrots!) Such "living soil analyses" can be extremely accurate, since they reveal how the soil is actually functioning in relation to plant growth.

Of course, very few people today have such observational skills. Most of us must rely on chemical soil tests to gain some sense of our plots' strengths and weaknesses. You can buy a kit at a garden supply store or get a test done through your county extension service. (John Jeavons, author of How to Grow More Vegetables, thinks the La Motte kit Model STH4 is best. It's available for $104.38 plus shipping from La Motte Chemical Products, Box 329, Chestertown, MD 21620. La Motte sells a smaller kit for the home gardener for $25.30 plus shipping. Jeavons feels, though, that a large kit such as the STH4 is less likely to produce errors.) Don't rely completely on any test results—the accuracy of soil testing is a subject of much controversy—but do use them to identify glaring deficiencies you should address.

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