Sustainable Outside Garden Soil Composition

The composition of your garden soil is critical to developing and maintaining abundance and healthy plants in your outside garden. We have discussed the elements and advantages of Back To Eden Gardening, also known as No-Till or Deep Mulch Gardening. Now we will compare two primary methods of current commercial gardening practices and no-till gardening practices.

In just the last couple years we have seen a resurgence of interest in gardening not just as a hobby but also for a return to natural sources of nutrition and perhaps even the primary means of survival, but much of the knowledge about gardening and food has been lost. 

We have two primary gardening methodologies competing. Salt based synthetic fertilizers which employs plowing and amending soil VERSUS manure and enzymatic natural fertilizers coupled with no-till deep mulch microbiome garden beds. Both systems require nutrition for the plants but the delivery method is quite different for each.

With current day gardening practices, we are encouraged to pick up plants at the local Home Improvement store or Nursery. We are directed to purchase the bagged soil that we must put them in, as well as the pots, planters and fertilizers needed to keep the plants happy. Many believe that boiling the soil to purify it and remove any living biological organisms is a ‘best practice’ for soil to avoid pests and diseases.

Yet if we look to the forest around us we do not see an annual flurry of oompa-loompas tending to every little plant and tree to keep it alive with unnatural synthetic fertilizer products and laboratory purification processes. This current paradigm of understanding feels more like a sterile science project and it seems that many decide to approach things this way because they have zero knowledge about the organic processes required to create natural abundance. This gives us pause to reflect about what we might be missing in our current understanding. How does the forest keep its natural prolific thriving beauty without any outside help?

There is a natural God-breathed order which replaces all the commercial ideas and instructions with a sensible long term growth plan. Previously, we discussed the role of microbiome, molds, fungi and bacteria and how they deliver nutrients to the roots of the plants. I recently heard it described as the “Soil Food Web”. 

When we put a cover over the ground (like in the forest) instead of tearing up the ground and “amending” the soil, we begin the practice of permaculture and observation of these natural processes. When we scrape and till the ground and disturb the natural order we end up with “weeds”. 

Those weeds (bio-accumulators) however are naturally adapted to grow in dirt that has been disturbed in order to bring back the cover over that disturbed soil. By growing up, flowering, spreading seed and dying, the “weeds” redeposit the nutrients which will be consumed by the microorganisms and worms under the soil cover. It’s almost like when a human gets a scratch and the body knows how to send the proper nutrients to form a scab over the exposed flesh. The earth heals itself by growing a cover over the bare ground which continues to propagate the multiple, beautiful and complex natural processes in the circle of life. 

So the choice is yours. If you want short term hobby gardening results (which is very possible but not long term focused) you can use all the store bought recommended products, including synthetic salt based fertilizers (which don’t help the soil long term), or you can begin the incredible journey of learning about the soil food web (SFW), the permaculture cycles of all your plants, the symbiotic role of composted manures, and the natural order of abundance as expressed in your local national forest and everywhere else on the planet (except a laboratory).

Every modality that you practice in the propagation of plants and growing of edible fruit is a solid move towards a renaissance of food culture. The health and nutrition one can reclaim by simply engaging in this learning process can not be understated for it’s benefits of life satisfaction. “Food is Medicine” they say, so let’s grow some awesome, tasty, perfect food. We welcome contact from locals (and others) who want to be part of this amazing movement. Happy Gardening. Foodscape is my future and it also can be yours if you desire to engage.