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.