It's alive!

What could be more dead than dirt? We all know the difference between soft, squishy mud between our toes and beach sand. It looks and feels different. Your nose will tell you the difference between a rich, fruity loam and a sterile, powdery clay. But beyond the structure of the soil, what makes plants grow better in one soil over another? I wish that I knew the complete answer, but for now I have some ideas. Here is one difference...

Nitrogen fixing root nodules

After taking a round of antibiotics, your doctor may recommend eating yogurt for the acidopholus bacteria to help replace the naturally occurring bacteria in your body to help you digest food. Did you know that dirt needs bacteria to process and store the nitrogen necessary for plants to grow? Even legumes which are known for the nitrogen producing nodules on their roots require the same bacteria for them to make their internal nitrogen available in the soil. This bacteria, with enough carbon (organic material) mixed into the soil, can process the nitrogen from rotting organic material and store it in the earthy loam to make it available for plants. Your nose will also tell you if things are out of balance. That nitrogen is instead released as ammonia gas, which contributes to greenhouse gases rather than benefiting those plants, you and your family.

A new growing season looming

There is still snow on the ground, but the weather was pleasant outside. My wife and I were able to take a walk and enjoy the sunshine after being cooped up for several weeks. With that kind of weather, it makes me think more about what is going on outside and how to prepare for the coming growing season. We still have quite a few seeds from last year (hopefully they're still good), but we would like to order a few new seeds to try out.

We live in a desert climate on a hilly, one acre lot with lots of sage brush and natural grasses. Last year we paid to have someone create a few garden terraces and top the rocky, alkaline, clay soil with a foot or two of screened topsoil. Unfortunately, amending the new topsoil with a little organic material wasn't enough and the large garden space we have didn't do very well. Certainly these terraced gardens will eventually prove themselves to be much better that what we started with, but for now it is clear that we need to do something different.

It feels like we are starting from scratch. I have already decided that I want to do things that work for the long haul even if I can only do it a little at a time. Like many of you, we don't have the money to just pay to do everything at once. We'll have to do it a bit at a time as we are able to do so. It is important to my wife and I to make this whole process sustainable and healthy for our family. I have been visiting the local library quite a bit and reading gardening blogs for months now and I think that I have some reasonable ideas to start with. There is just too much to share all at once, so I'll share bits and pieces as I go along. Thanks for coming along for the ride!