The Taste of Home Grown

Welcome! I  have a secret to share with you. I have been an avid vegetable gardener for 30 + years. I have always thought from the beginning there was a better  more productive way to produce vegetable in my garden. I have experimented with many unusual  methods in the past. About 10 years ago, at age 45,  I knew God had a better idea about growing vegetation.

While in the wilderness on an annual hunting trip I was looking around the forest floor for deer tracks.   The trees were mostly bare with the exception to a few Evergreens glistening from a light frost and predawn light.  I couldn't locate many tracks as the ground  was covered with a thick blanket of fallen leaves.  With little to do waiting for sunrise my mind began to drift to my fall garden back home.  All of a sudden, as by divine intervention, it occurred to me that my answer to better gardening was all around me in the forest before my eyes.  I was momentarily distracted from the task of deer hunting and started investigating  my surroundings. I pulled back the heavy blanket of heavy leaves to discover the richest soil I have ever  seen  in all my years of toiling in the soil.  Barely below the soil I found the largest earth worms ever.  They were everywhere by the thousands. The soil was moist, rich and loose like the potting soil we use for flowerpots.  I could shove my hand at least a foot below the surface and pull out a handful of huge healthy earthworms.  Right then and there I knew how to get rich, loose soil in my garden back home.  Ever since then, gardening has never been the same for me. I was driven to duplicate the conditions I discovered that day. The key was the heavy cover of fallen leaves to feed the soil and attract the worms. With an abundance of earth worms tilling is not necessary. The worms do all the work and all they want is to be fed  with our fallen leaves and compost. It takes years of dedication to attract worm in this number. But it's worth the effort. I now keep a heavy coat of leaves on my beds year round.  When you can find 10 or more worm per square foot consider stopping  tilling altogether. Don't make the mistake of butchering them by tilling.  Use a 5 tine garden forks or broad fork for loosening the soil instead.

I no longer plant all my vegetable segregated in narrow single rows. I now plant in wide rows according to family groupings, and mix the family of plants all together . This seemed to confuse the the insects since the vegetables are no longer  all lined up together in a row like a Luby's buffet.  I figured if God decided to mix all his vegetation together, so would I. I discovered  while combining certain plants I can invite predators to my garden  who love my pests. The farther a pest has to travel to eat his meal of choice, the better chance he will become dinner himself. I have had great success using this method. For companion planting ideas see our lesson Companion Planting. In addition, I found that plants need more room for the roots to spread and collect the nutrients they need to thrive.  I make my beds a minimum of 36"  to 48" wide to allow the roots to spread where they want to go. Planting in wide rows can double or even triple your harvest from the same space.  I performed tests and found that roots of the average vegetable will extend far beyond the distance found in normal single row beds. The wider beds reduces the amount of soil we pack down while working in the rows. With my system my plants root can grow up to 4'. Most of my plants are set 2 or 3 abreast on these wide beds.  I form a 4" deep trench between the 2 row hilling it to form higher bed. The shallow trenches between the formed rows do not extend beyond the ends of the wide beds. I use this method for deep watering my beds.  When seedlings have become stable in there new soil, I cover the entire  wide bed including the trench between the rows with leaves or straw mulch. The mulch will retain moisture, attract worms, and reduce the growth of weeds in the beds. Any weeds that do germinate are easily removed by hand or light cultivation. When it is time to water my plants I simply apply a moderate amount of water into the trench between the rows formed earlier.  If we get a tropical storm with torrential rains from the Gulf, I open the ends to allow drainage.  I use 4 different bed designs depending on the crop. (See our Misc. page) for my wide bed design methods.)

I collect leaves and any type of compostable materials I can get my hands on all year to mulch my rows and make ton's of free fertile compost.  The sources of composting materials are endless: I collect horse manure, chicken manure, rice hulls, hay, peas shell, and peanut shells from the local farmers market, and refuse from my large garden. With over 5000 square feet of beds I need lots of mulch and compost. I place  at least 2" to 3" throughout the entire garden, including the narrow walk paths.  You must feed your soil  if you expect it to feed you for long.   At the end of a growing season most of it has decomposed and is turned under to replenish the soil. Then I rework the soil and cover with a heavy layer of mulch until the next planting season. I will deal with specific vegetable cultures individually on all the vegetables I grow, accessible from the vegetable selection menus.