Building a Healthy Garden
When it comes to growing healthy plants that are resistant to disease and pests not many people understand that in order to achieve those, it starts with soil health. But it doesn't end there. That's just the beginning.
This blog post will share ways to help support a healthy garden micro-biome, from seed to soil, from bugs to bugs. Everything in balance, one thing interconnected to another. Because if we only focus on soil, we are missing so many wonderful opportunities to support other vital components of a complex system.
Have you ever heard the term epigenetics? I hadn't until recently. And this term is used to describe the benefits of collecting and saving your own garden seed. When you save seed from your garden it changes the genetic material of the plant. Over time these plants adapt to their growing environment and climate. In other words, they become more acclimated to your garden, therefore they grow better. Some people even suggest that by saving seed from your garden it alters the seeds microbiome.
If you're a flower farmer like me, you may have heard people in the trade comment that seed saving isn't worth the time and labor, let alone the uncertain germination rates But if you step back and think about the aforementioned, plus you might just be able to save seed from varieties they discontinue, saving seed might just be more incising than you've come to believe.
I'm learning more about seed saving myself, and I'm excited to share this journey and learning experience with you more. Of course these things take time. You have to plant the seeds, grow the plants, let them make seed, harvest those seeds and so on. So it take a year or more. But I will do my best to share as time goes on. At this time I'm saving seed, so it'll be around August/September next year that I'll be able to share what the actual flowers look like. More on that later.
Other ways to help support a healthy garden include creating a home for all the critters we want to keep around. Birds, toads, earthworms, and ground beetles these friends need a place to live.
Birds would enjoy a water source, perches, bird houses, seeds or bugs to eat.
Toads would enjoy moist areas. I've seen people make toad houses, and I'm seeing a fun little craft project to do with the kiddos. Yes, look them up on Pinterest and tag me if you make them.
Earthworms. They actually have different types but if you make furrows and put food waste directly into them they will come and enjoy all the goodies. It'll be like hosting a dinner party, feed them and they will come! Plus they'll leave behind all the black gold, if you catch my drift.
Ground beetles are great for the garden because they eat:
- Small flies
- Caterpillars
- Slugs
- Aphids
- Ants
- Maggots
- Small wasps
- Other insects and invertebrates
More ground beetles please! They enjoy living in mounds of dirt under grasses. I added lemon grass mounds in my garden and I'm hoping to dig it up overwinter and then come next spring I can divide them and have more plants without spending the extra $.
If you have varmints: mice, voles, moles those types of critters. While they feed other predator animals, if you have a ton that are wrecking havoc in your space, consider some outdoor kitties or creating an environment for black snakes and other non-venomous snakes... Can you guess which one's I'm choosing?
Soil health is equally important and we can use our county extension office to submit soil tests (often times free or for little cost). They also have these probes that dig deep into the ground so you can collect a good sample. Dig around different areas of your gardening space, let it dry and submit it.
This test will show what you need to add or if there's anything to add or not.
You can also track your progress to see if what you're doing is working or not. Typically fall is the best time to run these tests that way you can make whatever changes now and then they will have time to breakdown and be ready for use come spring.
Well my friend, that's it for today.
I hope you found some useful information in this blog.