Turning Sod Into Garden Soil

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I did not add any nutrients to my first garden. It turns out they weren't needed.

The sod I was turning was growing very tall, very green, very healthy looking grass. It had not been used as a garden for quite a while, if ever. It may even have been an animal pen at some time as there is the remnant of a small foundation in the area.

I had success once, so I figured it would work again. If our forefathers could get away without fertilizer for several years as they moved west across the plains, why couldn't I? When I went to the farm store to buy seed potatoes, Earl asked me if I wanted fertilizer. "No," I proudly proclaimed, "I'm not using any."

"Better eat those potatoes, then." He sold me a small bag of 5-10-10.

I wasn't really convinced, but he managed to shake my confidence a tad. This resulted in my first experiment. I used the 5-10-10 on half the row and left the other half alone. If there was any difference, it was too subtle for me to notice. That half row of 5-10-10 is the only chemical fertilizer I have ever used. Some people might call me a died-in-thewool organic agriculturist. Frankly, I think I'm just plain lazy, but the former term plays better at parties. I can't see trying to agonize over what each individual plant needs and when it needs it. If I wanted to be a mother hen, I'd raise chickens. Last summer in Maine (very much like this summer), we had record heat and record drought. People were watering gardens like mad, and farmers without irrigation were in trouble. I checked the garden several times to see if it needed water. It never did. The soil started showing moisture half an inch deep. Plants never withered. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn all filled out properly. Because of the heat I got the best crops ever.

Breaking soil: Mow an approximately 30 square-foot area for first-planting. Dig the area, separate the roots from the soil, and pulverize the soil with your hands to prepare a seed bed. Here I plant cucumber seeds in an isolated, mulched (with grass clippings) area. The developing plants will then spread over the new bed.

I do fertilize now, but just don't rely on chemicals to do it. I look on my technique as more of a replacement of what my garden is using each year than an artificial augmentation. Every year I put some bulky organic material on the garden. I get best results when I spread manure or seaweed just before turning the soil. Incorporating it with the soil as soon as you spread it minimizes the amount of nitrogen lost to the air. It also gets it out of the way of planting. Spreading that bulk material is one of the spring activities that can sometimes cause sore muscles. A pickup-truck load of manure per 2,000 square feet translates into 22 loads for an acre, and you want to be in shape if you are fertilizing an acre from the back of a pickup truck. I've done that, and while I may not have been in shape when I started, I sure felt great when I finished—toned muscles and callused hands.

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