Benefits of Compost: the tale of two pumpkins

The roots of nourishment? Don't yawn--it's all about the soil! The secret to growing delicious, robust vegetables and grains filled with nutrients required for good health depends on the fertility of the soil. And one of the best ways to sustainably insure fertile soil is by making and using compost (every season!).

O.k. Consider the following photograph, which tells the tale of two pumpkins:

I grew both these pumpkins a few summers ago, planted from seeds from the same package ("Cinderella" pumpkins, or "Rouge Vif d'Etampes"), grown in the same climate, within a mile of each other, with similar watering regiments and sunlight. The only difference was one was grown in loose garden soil enriched with about a cubic foot of compost, and the other was grown in hard packed greyish clay soil. Yep, you guessed it, the one on the left grew in the compost. (The color difference between the two pumpkins reflects the relative age of each--the larger one is not as "ripe" as the one on the right; it turned redder as it matured, in this case off the vine).

Which pumpkin would you rather eat? Which would you rather carve for Halloween? If you had a limited amount of space and a large family, which pumpkin would bring more calories per square foot of growing space? Most of us could agree that the pumpkin on the left would be preferred in all these cases.

There are many ways to enrich or amend soil to make it more fertile. Compost is one of the best ways to do this. Of the many benefits of compost:

• It makes the soil better able to retain moisture, which means more water is available to the plants at depth, leading to stronger roots better able to take up nutrients
• It balances the pH of the soil
• It creates a home for beneficial microbes and worms, which create soil
• It contains a balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and trace elements which feeds plants, encouraging both leafy growth and robust fruiting.
• Finished compost won't burn plants, and can be used as a mulch or mixed in
• It interacts chemically with the rock particles in the soil to foster soil formation
• It is a free and easy to make, recycles garden and kitchen waste, and smells good if you do it right.
• It's renewable and potentially sustainable

You thought oil was black gold? Wrong. It's compost. The man who pulls aside the Dustin Hoffman character of today's "Graduate" would whisper not "plastic", but "Compost. The future is Compost." And, just like vegetables, the best compost is home grown.

Building your soil--what to do with cover crop

Nodules on a fava bean root

Plant life is just incredible. Some plants actually feed the soil while they grow. A cover crop, also called a "green manure", is a plant that fixes nitrogen in the soil. Actually, the plant doesn't fix the nitrogen, but bacteria which live in a symbiotic relationship with the roots do this. Nitrogen exists as a gas in the atmosphere, which is unavailable to plants. Some plants are able to absorb nitrogen from the air and store it in their roots on nodules. The nodules are white bulbous growths on the roots. The presence of nodules doesn't always mean fixation--cut them open, and if they're pink, they have fixed nitrogen.

Plants in the legume family, notably beans, peas, and clover, and also weeds like vetch will host nitrogen fixing bacteria. There may be other kinds of plants which do this too--some grasses like oats, may also help fix nitrogen. The bacteria usually are already present in the soil. But to be sure of their presence, you can first innoculate the seeds with the appropriate bacteria, available from a mail order farm supply store. The way cover crops work, you grow the plants from seed (innoculated or not), and when the plants have grown and are 50% in flower, you dig them into the soil. For less soil disturbance, you can simply cut them down, and mulch them in place. (Note: favas will resprout if the roots are not dug up)

For this reason, you probably don't want to grow super delicious snap peas to fix nitrogen--because you would destroy the plants before the peas form. My understanding is it's an "either/or" situation--either you eat the crop, or you dig it in to fix nitrogen. For this reason, most cover crops are things people don't tend to eat--some nurseries or seed companies sell a mix of bell beans, vetch, and some kind of oatstraw--all "weedy" things that grow well, but can be turned under without any regret. Fava beans are dual purpose, so you could grow some to eat, and turn under some also.


Farmers turn under the crop with a disk harrow (plough takes it too deep to do any good), but the small scale grower can just use a shovel. I cut the favas first , and then dig them in to the soil about 6 inches or less. (Children may enjoy doing this). There will still be some pieces above the ground, but the roots should be thoroughly disturbed, and most of the greenery buried. Then I cover the area with rice straw (I buy a bale from the local horse track, and let the chickens use it first), about 2 or 3 inches thick. It has to sit at least a month before you can plant into it. In a month, you won't see any greens, only dark rich soil.

Don't forget to water it in the meantime, as this enables the microbes to break it down!

Why I love Fava Beans

If I said potatoes were the easiest vegetables to grow, I misspoke--fava beans have got to be the easiest edible plant to grow. Or at least in the top ten. That's not the only reason why I love them. The other reasons are: they don't need to be staked, they like cold weather and aren't bothered by even a hard frost, they are beautiful plants with sweet smelling flowers which honeybees like, the leaves are edible raw in salads, the roots fix nitrogen in the soil--so growing them can improve your soil, and the beans are tasty. I also read that they can be used as a treatment for parkinson's disease--they have some chemical that is helpful, but check with your doctor before you try it.

The only downside to fava beans that I can see is that you have to peel the larger beans twice, which is a lot of work. But, you can eat the smaller beans pod and all, and I have made great stew with them--just add a little beef.

March is not the right time to plant fava beans in our zone (9b), because they don't like hot weather, it seems. But they would be a great thing to plant now in colder climates. Here, I plant them in the fall, and they grow all winter, where we get lows in the 30's. Now is the time of year when they are tall, flowering, beginning to produce beans.

I like to eat them, but I also grow them as a cover crop to improve the soil. If you grew them as a cover crop, now is the time to turn them under and mulch them. More about that another time.

Build a mini-greenhouse

pumpkins, beans, soy beans survive low 40's in a mini greenhouse

Why build a mini-greenhouse? Well, even if you have a sunny windowsill inside, chances are it only gets sun part of the day. If you're sprouting tomatoes or squash, which will be on the sill for a month or so until the nights are warm enough to be outside, they'll get "leggy". In other words, they won't have the amount of light they'd prefer, so they'll be stretching to reach the sun. Leggy starts don't look so good, although they'll do o.k. once in the ground. They will be weaker plants than those that get the light they need.

One solution is to buy a grow light station, with electric lights suspended over the seedlings. These can be expensive, but you can find inexpensive ones. It's a fine solution to the problem, although if you are like me perhaps you want to try to grow your food without the use of fossil fuels. (as much as possible--after all, I use plastic pots...)

A greenhouse gives the plant the light it needs, along with protection from the cold. Most people living in the city don't have the space for a greenhouse, and they can be costly. A mini-greenhouse is a plastic covered frame tall enough to accommodate young plants as they grow, and provide protection from the cold. It's easy to make one. Here's one I made out of old metal coat hangers and discarded plastic sheeting from the laminating machine at the school where I work.

You'll need: wire coat hangers, flexible wire to attach, wire cutters, pliers, plastic sheeting, heavy duty clear plastic tape, and some patience.

I used a planting tray to size the greenhouse. That way, once the pots are inside, the top will stay in place without any other secures. Shape the wire coat hangers with the pliers and attach them with the flexible wire. Cut the plastic sheeting to fit the frame, and tape it in place. (I did this one frame at a time). I put the top on a "hinge" made out of three pieces of flexible wire poked through the plastic sheeting, and attaching the cover to the body. An improvement to this design would be a way to fasten the cover to the body when closed--it stays closed if it isn't windy, but when the wind blows, the top comes open, which exposes the plants to the cold.

During the day, with temps in the high 50's or 60's, it's fine to have the top open--even desireable, since the inside can be 10 to 15 degrees warmer on a cloudy day. In the full sun, they might cook. At night, with the cover closed, the plants inside will stay in the 50's when outside temps are in the 40's. You do have to watch them to keep them moist, but they won't dry out as often as plants in the open do. Notice that the plants are not in airtight conditions, which would encourage mold.

The case for starting seeds

A happy pumpkin sprout

Starting vegetables from seed is not difficult, but does require some attention. I like to do it because I can grow what I want, it gives me a closer relationship to how the plant grows, and it's much cheaper than buying starts at the nursery. The main things to know about starting seeds is to use a good potting soil, plant the seeds the depth they want, and keep the soil consistently moist.

A good potting soil is one that is moist, has some drainage elements like vermiculite or sand, and is sterile. Unless you really know what you're doing, or you feel confident mixing your own potting soil, just get some at a nursery--I tend to buy the more expensive soil just because I know the seeds will do better in it. Cheap potting soil usually doesn't moisten evenly, has large chunky pieces, is difficult to work with, and generally isn't much of a deal in my opinion.

Planting the seeds the depth they want means don't plant them too deep! Too shallow can be a problem, too. Check the packet, if you bought the seeds in a packet. Otherwise, the general rule is that seeds are planted twice the depth of their diameter--so small seeds will be planted in a shallow hole, and large seeds will need a deeper hole. There are exceptions to this rule--some small seeds I don't even bury--lettuce, dill, poppies and anything with a seed barely visible I just pat into the soil surface. Brassicas like brocolli, collards, and kale, have tiny seeds, but like to be planted at a half inch depth.

Anything with a really large seed I usually plant directly into the soil--beans, peas, corn, pumpkins. Especially the first three will outgrow their little pot in a few weeks, so starting them in pots only buys you a short amount of time. Also, there are some plants that don't like to be transplanted--it can be done, but they lose some growing time, or may not make it. Carrots, sunflowers, cilantro, and beets are some that come to mind. They do best when directly planted in the garden.

March is a good time to start seeds--if you start seedlings of plants that prefer warm weather, you can get a jump on the season. Warm season crops are a good thing to start now from seed--put them inside on a sunny windowsill. Tomatoes, corn, peppers, summer squash, pumpkins and other winter squash. Especially this year, the tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash crops were damaged in Mexico, and the grocery had a letter explaining why the price of these three crops will be more expensive in the coming months. This is the year to grow those crops yourself, and save some money.

In our climate, zone 9b, many things can be started in pots and left out overnight this time of year. Lettuce, radishes, broccoli, and others in the brassica family (kale, kohl rabi, cabbage, etc.), bulbing fennel, amaranth, quinoa. (This is what I have sprouting right now). If you have a really hot summer, don't start brussels sprouts, or sugar snap peas, or any cold season crop that has a long growing season. In South Berkeley where I live, we have a lot of fog in the summer, and last summer I barely took off my sweater, so those rules may not apply for us.

Planting vegetables from seeds is a great activity to do with kids: they will have a great appreciation when eating, but even before then, watching the plants grow is great fun. The best part is watching the seeds sprout. This is the time when the plants need the most babying--they must not be allowed to dry out, so careful checking every day, and usually daily watering is necessary. It takes time, but pays off.

As you watch seeds sprout, you'll get the know the character of each type--the fuzziness of tomatoes, the bold nature of bean sprouts, the tall skinny onions bent double at first, the tiny lettuce sprouts that even in their first leaves show the color and pattern they will take on, the heart shaped radish sprouts, the cloverlike shape of brassicas. To sprout seeds is to witness the miracle of life itself. It reminds us we are a part of this thing we call "nature"--we influence it, we are present in it, we are connected to all those who have grown plants in the past, and all those who will grow them when we are gone. So, plant your seeds. It's not just salad you will grow.

Watermelon radishes

The first day of March, and the weather is cold, heading into another rainstorm. Meanwhile, inside there are a variety of little sprouts growing steadily, waiting for warmer weather ahead.

One of the easiest things to grow is radishes. They grow in any season here in the east bay, and in less than a month you can harvest your crop, which makes them perfect to grow with children.
This year I'm growing watermelon radishes, which are an Asian radish variety, green on the outside and pink on the inside, thus the name. They make a colorful addition to salads, and have a mild flavor.

It's easy to start the seeds inside. One benefit of starting your own seeds is you get to see how the sprouts look. All radishes, despite the variety, look similar as a sprout. Once you have grown them a few times, you'll recognize the sprouts anywhere you see them. When they get their second set of leaves, you can transplant them outside. If you don't have a space to grow them in the ground, you can grow them in a pot, as long as you have at least six inches of soil depth. The plants need to be at least an inch apart, but further than two inches apart is wasting space.

Radish leaves can be eaten if cooked--they would probably taste best stir fried, like a turnip green. I haven't tried them, but they are edible. Having grown radishes, I can recognize the adult leaves anywhere, and notice a number of types of wild radish--some are tiny and grow like weeds among lawns. Others are tall, with beautiful white or pink flowers that develop in the late Spring or early summer. These grow in fields and abandoned lots, and near the ocean. They grow at the Berkeley marina, where I've seen a man pick and eat the pods (seeds). When you grow radishes, you will begin to notice them everywhere, and they will become one of your friends.

Getting started: testing your soil

So you want to grow vegetables, and you want to grow them in your back yard soil. Maybe you live in an urban area, and you don't know if your soil might be contaminated with heavy metals. Maybe you just bought your house, and don't know much about the area or your soil. Maybe all three.

Any of these are good reasons to get your soil tested. If you're planning to grow any edibles, especially leafy greens or other annual plants, you'll want to know what you're starting with.

You'll want to test for soil pH, or potential Hydrogen--pH has a huge impact on your plant performance. You can do things to change your soil pH if it is not in a good range for vegetables (you want 6.0 to 7.0). You'll also want to know the extactable nutrients nitrogen (N), potassium (K), Phosphorus (P) at the minimum--these are the most important nutrients for vegetable growth, but not the only ones they need. Commercial fertilizers that have numbers, such as 7-5-4, relate to N, P, and K. Calicium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) are important as well, and there are a host of micronutrients which benefit the plants in ways we don't totally understand as yet.

The best test for the money is from U. Mass Amherst--their $9 test will cover soil pH, buffer pH, extractable nutrients (that is, those that are available to plants, based on the pH) Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus(P) , Potassium (K) , Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) , Iron (Fe) , Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu) , and Boron (B); the extractable heavy metals (that is, those the plants will take up) Lead, (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), Cromium (Cr), extractable Aluminum (Al); Cation Exchange Capacity, and % Base saturation.

Cation Exchange Capacity measures the potential for your soil to have extractable nutrients your plants need--usually CEC is held in the clay particles of soil. Remember I said clay soil is not so bad? You have to have more than clay to make the nutrients available to plants, but the CEC can show your soil's potential. This can be encouraging for those of us with clay predominant soil.

Base saturation has to do with soil permeability and percolation. You'll want to know how well drained your soil can be, or if it does not drain well.

To take the soil sample, figure out the area of the testing site--maybe you have a space in mind that is 10 feet x 10 feet. From this area, dig down 6 inches (the average root depth) and obtain soil at this depth from several spots evenly spaced within your target site. You'll want to dig 6 to 10 holes in the area, mix the soil you obtain, and from this soil, send 1 cup to U Mass Amherst (or some other extension of your choice). For more specific directions, visit http://umass.edu/soiltest. You can choose to have your results emailed to you (fastest) or snail mailed.

If you have a very large yard, you might consider taking samples from different sections, and sending more than one sample for testing. You'll need to dry your soil sample before sending it. Send it UPS or Fed Ex.

Your results should come back in a week or two. More about reading your results next time.

Don't weed -- Sheetmulch!

If you're serious about wanting no weeds, and you hate weeding like I do, sheet mulching is the technique to use. This technique will build soil fertility over time. It can be used in planting beds, especially with perennial plants. Sheet mulching is an excellent way to keep pathways or bed edges clear of weeds.

The key to sheetmulching is to place a barrier between the weeds and the mulch. There are commercial weed barriers you can buy--they look like black cloth. But they are a waste of money--in a few month's time, the weeds will come through anyway. Instead, get some cardboard boxes, or use a thick layer (quarter inch) of newspaper. The benefits of using these materials is they are relatively durable, and free. Of course, they do break down over time. But when they do break down, in six months to a year, they decompose the way other compost ingredients would, as if you had spread a very thin layer of compost on your soil. Then, in six months when the weeds do grow back (as a few stubborn ones will), they'll be easier to spot, and much easier to pull.

Here's a city tree in front of my house that I sheetmulched. The little square of soil it was planted in was covered in weeds. I covered them with cardboard and 3 - 5 inches of mulch. After it sat like this for a week, and had rained, I planted right into it, poking some holes through the mulch and cardboard, and inserting these irises that had been growing in the backyard.

Steps in sheetmulching:

1) If the weeds are very tall, cut them to 6 inches, or at least flatten them
2) Spread a thin layer of compost (Optional step)
3) Cover the area with cardboard or thick newspaper, overlapping the edges
4) Cover the cardboard with some kind of mulch. Wood chips works well for paths, or perennial beds.

Here is a before and after of an ambitious sheetmulching project. This yard remained weed free for 6 months, and the weeds were much smaller and easier to pull as they grew back.

What is Mulch?

Straw mulch on collards and onions

Mulch in a community garden--wood chips on the paths, straw in the vegetable beds

Wood chip mulch on perennial and native plants

What's mulch? Why mulch?

I mentioned in my last post that soil microorganisms like to stay moist, and since these organisms increase soil fertility, it is useful to keep them happy. Mulching is an easy and cheap way to achieve this result.

Mulch is any soil covering. It is most often an organic matter of some kind--wood chips, oat or rice straw, pine needles, partially decomposed compost--these are all common, free or cheap materials great for mulching. Other mulches that cost money are cocoa hulls, coconut fibers, commercial wood chip mulch, or black plastic sheeting (often used to cover strawberries commercially). Another free mulch material is dry leaves, although it's not as good as some other choices since the leaves can mat, and prevent air circulation to the soil and plants. Some tree leaves may be alleliopathic which means they create conditions that most plants won't tolerate.

In my opinion, no one should spend big money on mulch. Nature provides many excellent materials for free--wood chips can be attained free from a tree trimmer, pine needles can be gathered from under a pine tree, and oat or rice straw (very useful in vegetable gardens) can be purchased for a small fee at horse feed lots or the race track. Sometimes Halloween or Christmas Tree lots give away bales of hay or straw for free when they are done for the season.

The benefits of mulch are many--keeps the soil and thus the plants moist, increases nutrient fertility by benefiting soil microorganisms, lessens the amount of watering needed, keeps weeds down, insulates plants from both very cold and very hot conditions, and loosens soil which makes weed pulling and digging easier. Here in Northern California, where we have a xeric moisture regime (no rain for 5 months out of the year), mulching makes a lot of sense.

Heavy mulches like wood chips, cocoa hulls, and pine needles are good for perennial plants, trees, shrubs, and paths. Straw is best for mulching annual vegetables.

If you want a vegetable garden, and the spot in your yard you have in mind is covered with weeds, the best way to prepare it is to sheet mulch the spot. More about sheet mulching next time.

Easy to grow depends on what you can't see

Maybe the easiest food crop to grow is the potato. Fava beans are a close second. But, it depends.

Don't get me wrong--blueberries are easy too, once you give them what they want, you don't have to bother with them for a while. I gave the blueberries I planted (mentioned in my post yesterday) the acid soil they want, and mulched them with pine needles which are also acidic. I planted them just before a rainstorm, so I wouldn't have to water them. Since they're mulched they'll stay moist between rainstorms, and be insulated from cold weather or heat spells when they come. I probably won't do anything to them for several months, as long as the rain keeps up. I may need to fertilize them with acid fertilizer next Fall, and I'll need to water them periodically in the summer, but there are lazy ways to do that, too. The hardest work will be picking the berries for the next few years. Not bad for a lazy gardener like me.

Here are the four blueberries in their bed (O'Neal is barely visible on the left).

Is it easy to grow food? Sure. It's easy if you give the plants what they want. Is it easy to give them what they want? That depends. If you live in Hawaii, it's very hard to grow pumpkins organically (I've tried) because of fruit flies. And you can't grow blueberries there, because it's just not cold enough. However, I can't grow the large asian guavas that grow there like weeds here in California (at least not yet) without a greenhouse. So, first you have to know your hardiness zone, and then, as I mentioned, you need to know something about your soil. Potatoes and fava beans are easy to grow because they tolerate a variety of conditions, but even they won't grow well in soil with a pH higher than 7, or in rock hard clay conditions.

Even before you test your soil (which is a good idea, and I will get to that) it's important to realize that your soil is not just a collection of chemical compounds. Soil is alive. Maybe you can see worms in it. But worms are not the most important soil animals. The microscopic life forms that live in soil are the heart of what give it the ability to sustain plants. These life forms mulitiply under certain conditions, so if you provide those conditions to your soil, your soil will become more fertile. One of the most important conditions for soil fertility is to keep your soil covered. Uncovered soil dries out, turns rock hard or gets washed away. Even a yard full of weeds is better than a yard of bare soil in terms of fertility potential. The best way to keep your soil covered (other than letting the weeds grow) is to use mulch.

All about mulch, next time.

Blueberries and Wild Turkeys

Blueberry plants are perennial bushes which can grow 3 to 5 feet depending on the type, and have lovely lantern shaped blooms which hummingbirds love to visit. I planted blueberries in my yard this afternoon, as the sky clouded over. Blueberries grow wild in the East coast--I've spent some summers in Massachussets as a child, and still remember picking wild blueberries in the woods. Delicious. Some varieties of cultivated blueberries are forbidden in California, but in recent years varieties have become available that are allowed, and are better suited for our climate.

Sunshine on a cloudy day


Misty in the mist

I planted "Sunshine" which needs only 150 hours of chill time, and seems to tolerate more sun than most types, as well as "Misty" which has lovely bluish green leaves, does well with Sunshine, and has similar low chill time requirements. Both varieties are evergreen, which means they look good in all seasons. These two join an existing Sunshine bush, covered with blooms at the moment, and an O'Neal, which is deciduous, and looks like a dead twig. The tips of the twigs are brown and shriveled , and it doesn't look happy.

Blueberries need acid soil. When you do your soil test, one of the most important things you'll test for is the pH, or potential Hydrogen, of your soil. The pH has all kinds of chemical implications, but the important thing to know is that 7.0 is neutral. Below that is considered acid, and above that is considered alkaline. Most vegetables like a range of 6.0 to 7.0. Blueberries usually like soil with a pH lower than 5.5. However, another benefit of the Sunshine variety is it can tolerate a higher pH than most blueberries. There are many types of blueberry cultivars. If you want to grow them, check with a local nursery to see which types would best be suited to your area, or if blueberries can be grown where you live.

Since my soil pH is 6.8, I first dug out the bed where I would plant them, mixed two bags of acid potting mix into some of the existing soil, and then returned it to the bed. Any potting soil recommended for Azaelas or Rhodedendrons indicates an acid mix, and these plants love acid soil. I set the plants slightly high, and mounded the soil around them, since we have a high water table, and I didn't want the roots to be in the wet.

It could be that the O'Neal variety I planted last year didn't like the wet, or got too much direct sun where I had it before. Or, even with the amendment (I mixed coffee grounds into regular potting soil to increase the acidity) it didn't get enough acid. We'll see how it does with the new mix in this location. Some gardeners I know in the Bay Area only grow blueberries in pots, since they can better control the soil mix. But I think it can work in the ground if you heavily amend to begin with, and continue to add acid fertilizer. The school garden in Oakland has 5 blueberry plants in the ground doing well, with blooms and green berries already formed on a few of the plants. An acid mulch, like pine needles, would help too.

Remember, the secret to success with plants is to give them what they want. First, you have to know what they want, and then you have to know what you have to offer. If your conditions are different from what the plant wants, but you can modify your conditions, you can be successful. It takes more skill (and patience) to grow something that is not suited to the natural conditions you have. Every garden is an experiment, and not every experiment is a success. For example, the O'Neal blueberry may have needs I can't meet, or I may not be able to figure out how to give it what it needs in time to save it. We'll see.

There are many vegetables that are easy to grow in many conditions, and need very little care. If you want quick success, or want to grow food with your young children, maybe blueberries would not be the first thing to try. Or, maybe so--it depends on your personality and sense of adventure--or your soil pH!

I got the blueberries in the ground this evening just before dark. We're expecting a cold snap starting tomorrow morning--temperatures in the 30's and 40's, rain, and possible snow in the hills, which is unusual for us. As I was digging the bed, I heard a noise and looked up to see three full grown wild turkeys alight on my neighbor's roof! This is not a typical sight for South Berkeley. Wish I had a photo to show you, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Get to know your soil

Today was a nice day in the garden--sunny and a bit warm for February. The kids in the Oakland school garden transplanted pansies and fertilized the fruit trees and blueberries. I'm planning to transplant some blueberries to my yard tomorrow, and all of this gets me thinking about soil.

You want to know the secret to sustaining life on the planet? It's in the soil. Soil is a whole world unto itself, and can make all the difference in the quality of the food you grow--it will even determine what you can grow, or at least what you will start with. If you want to grow food, or really anything, it all starts with the soil.

In permaculture, the basis of all gardening is prolonged and thoughtful observation. First thing to do is go out and look at your soil. If it's covered with weeds, clear a little patch (a foot square to start) and look at the color. If it's dark, that may mean it has the potential to be nutrient rich. If it's red, it may contain lots of iron. If it's pale, it may lack nutrients. The next thing to do is dig up a handful and wet it a little. If you pick out (or sift out) all the little gravel and roots, it's easier to feel the texture. Rub it in your hands. See if you can make it into a ribbon that holds together. Soil has three components when it comes to the rock particle matter--from largest to smallest pieces, there's sand, silt, and clay. Most soil contains all three, but in different amounts. The "ideal" soil for vegetables is a mixture of all three particle types in equal amounts. That's called loam. If your soil feels gritty, that's the sand you feel. If your soil clings together very well, and you can make a pot out of it, that's the clay. Soil scientists classify soils into different textures and types, and for the home garden it isn't necessary to know all that. But a general sense of soil texture is useful to know because that can determine whether nutrients in the soil are available to plants. Your soil may be nutrient rich, but if the plants can't access them, it's as if they aren't there.

Here in zone 9b (I should say, in the East Bay area of zone 9b) we tend to have clay soil. Without even touching it you can tell if you have clay if it clumps together in big chunks when you dig it. If it's impossible to get a spade into it during the dry season, that's a good indication you have clay. Finally, if you walk through a wet muddy field or down a muddy path and if at the end the bottom of your shoes are covered with six inches of hard packed mud, and your feet weigh at least ten pounds more than usual, you'll know that you just walked through clay soil.

O.k., maybe you don't have clay soil where you live. Well, clay isn't all that bad, anyway. I'll tell you more about that another day. The best way to know what nutrients your soil has, before you start loading it with bone meal and other things, is to get your soil tested. I'll talk about how to do that in my next post.

Getting Started: Know your Zone

It's February in Northern California. The weather has been warm, but recently reminds us it's still winter. Today is overcast and in the mid 40's with a chance of rain. It doesn't seem like gardening weather, but in our zone, food can be grown year round. I've got asparagus spears coming up in the back yard, collards, mustard, kale, and chard ready to harvest or soon to be. In the school garden the kids have been harvesting lettuce, daikon, sugar snap peas, kohl rabi, dinosaur kale, and broccoli, as well as chard, baby bok choy, and onion tops. There may be snow on the ground where you live, but in most zones, some food can grow year round. Knowing your zone and what can grow where you live is a first step in planning your garden.

To find your hardiness zone, go to the usda website or do a web search for hardiness zones. The hardiness zones are defined by the average minimum temperature for an area. In Oakland, for example, we are in zone 9b, which means the average temperature does not go below 25 degrees. In San Francisco, the minimum temperature is higher, so they are in zone 10. In Hawaii it doesn't get below 40 degrees, so that's zone 11.

The zones aren't a perfect way to know what will grow where you live. Other factors, such as soil type, humidity, and rainfall will affect what can grow, as well as specific local conditions such as hills and valleys, which create microclimates that can support greater variety than what a zone would suggest. Additionally, when it comes to growing vegetables, one can use cold frames or greenhouses to extend a season. However, knowing your zone is a good start. If you buy bareroot fruit trees, berries, or other perrennial trees and shrubs, you'll need to know your zone to see if what you buy will grow where you live.

The next thing you'll want to do is find out as much as you can about your local soil conditions. That will be the subject of my next post.

It's in our Roots

I started this blog because many people ask me how to grow food, and they want a recommendation of a book or manual. I've been growing food since I was a ten year old child in Hilo, Hawaii, planting the seeds of anything my mom brought home from the store, and gathering advice from friends of family and neighbors. I learned from others, from experience, and later, from reading.

Some years later, I teach gardening and ecology at an elementary school in Oakland, CA, where we grow vegetables and lately maize and wheat in a year round garden onsite. I also manage a community garden in South Berkeley, and grow food in my backyard, along my fence, behind the garage, and basically in any available space.

These days, many people are worried about the economy and an uncertain future, are thinking about growing some of their own food. I want to say that growing food is something that everyone and anyone can learn to do--after all, it's in our roots. All of us, no matter our background, come from people who raised or tended plants for food. In fact, we couldn't grow the crops we do today if they hadn't raised that food, and saved the seeds to plant later.

The main things needed to grow food are the powers of observation, patience, and a healthy respect for the soil. If you don't already have these qualities, you will develop them as you garden. It's also incredibly fun and rewarding, and can even be a spiritual experience if you allow it. I look forward to sharing with you, and hearing of your gardening stories.