Gardening for Keeps

Image Gallery It will take a few years to develop a garden as pleasant to work in as this one. ELAYNE SEARS

Developing an organic garden is a long-term proposition. Each infusion of compost or mulch that melds with soil nudges organic matter content higher, until eventually you have soil you can work with your bare hands. Do you see this process happening in your garden, along with other signs of maturity, such as fewer weeds and easier overall upkeep? As the season winds down, look around and consider your garden’s progress as a sustainable system. Then do what you must to enhance its efficiency in the seasons ahead.

One of the first signs of a garden’s maturity is the emergence of permanent beds (see Build Permanent Beds and Paths). They need not be raised beds because it’s the constancy, not the height, that matters. Why is permanence so important? Corridors and pathways become compacted each time you step on them, and after a while they can become so compressed that even weeds won’t grow there. Cultivated space, on the other hand, becomes downright fluffy if you avoid walking on it and add organic matter regularly. Soon the only cultivation will be a simple matter of forking the soil by hand between plantings.

In some of my terraced hillside beds that haven’t felt human footprints in years, when I lose my balance and fall in, I sink down 4 inches. Each such tumble squeezes out air (and squashes thousands of busy soil-dwelling microcritters). If you have a well-designed system of permanent beds, broad corridors and narrower pathways, you can concentrate water and fertilizer onto the areas where crops are growing. To improve upon the design you already have, make rough drawings with pencil and paper, and consider how various bed configurations might help your garden work better. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re gardening for keeps.

Managing Main Corridors

Depending on your garden’s size, you may need only one main, wide corridor that can accommodate big things such as wheelbarrows, tillers or mowers, with secondary pathways branching off from there. A large garden may need two or three wide lanes. In addition to providing all-weather access, the main corridors serve as the garden’s utility area, so it makes sense to have water, compost and a spot for stashing tools, pots, stakes and buckets somewhere in this space. One of the best improvements I made last year was to build a sturdy work table next to the main compost pile; both are along the edge of the garden’s main corridor. The table is a natural magnet for tools and supplies, and it’s the perfect spot to groom veggies before they come into the house.