ON THE GARDEN PATH

by Carolyn Herriot

Microbial soil life plays a vital role in plant health. It is these microorganisms that break down organic matter to create humus compounds, which serve as sites for nutrient adhesion.
Plant roots “shop” for these nutrients by exchanging their positively charged hydrogen ions with the positively charged nutrient ions adhering to humus. Simply by balancing their inner chemistry, plants choose which nutrients they need. All quite amazing, but even more amazing is the fact that we are only now recognizing the importance of protecting the microbial life in the soil.
Although plants can’t distinguish between nutrients from natural or synthetic sources, it is the synthetic compounds, applied as fertilizer, that damage and destroy microbial soil life. In today’s world, soils continue to be depleted from higher and higher inputs of petrochemical-based fertilizers. Every time crops are removed without restoring organic matter, the nutrients in the soil are depleted, which results in reduced fertility, decreased plant health and soil erosion.
Slow-release, natural source fertilizers do not destroy soil life, and they break down gradually, providing plants with the correct proportion of nutrients, used as needed.
When soil is regenerated by inputs of organic matter, derived from the practice of crop rotations, green manures, mulch and compost, nutrients that have been removed by plants are restored. Beneficial soil microbes are also kept fed, so they can continue their job of slowly breaking down and releasing essential elements to plants. So it is understandable that the basis of healthy plant growth is really all about the microbes.
Homemade fertilizer
Blended organic fertilizers are useful when soil fertility is in question, and when either starting a new garden or trying to revitalize one. Natural source fertilizers are slow-release and continue to work as they slowly break down. Over time, once soil fertility has been re-established, the need for these supplements declines.
Steve Solomon’s formula: (NPK 1:1.5:1)
Measure by volume:
4 parts seed meal (canola, alfalfa or soy) or fish meal
1 part dolomite lime
1 part rock phosphate or 1/2 part bone meal
1 part kelp meal
Blend well and mix again before application. Work in lightly under young transplants, or sidedress along existing plants. Apply around drip line of plants, and work in gently so as not to damage the roots. Granular fertilizer takes three to four weeks to break down before roots can access it.
Seed meal = nitrogen source (N) for healthy leafy greens.
Rock phosphate = phosphorus (P) for fruits and flowers.
Kelp meal = potassium (potash) (K) for roots and overall good health.
Lime counteracts soil acidity and adds calcium & magnesium.
Crop rotation:
Many gardeners are confused about crop rotations, an important practice in food gardens that prevents the buildup up of soil pests and diseases. If brassicas, prone to club root, are grown in the same bed every year, this spore-borne fungal disease will eventually establish and infect all future brassicas grown there.
If tomato blight (Phytophthera infestans) has occurred, spores remain in the soil to infect any future crops of the Solanaceae family: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or potatoes.
Avoid carrot fly by not sowing carrots on ground that has recently been used for carrots or parsnips or any of their Umbelliferae relations, as maggots or pupae may still be present in the soil, waiting to feed on a new crop.
Rotating crops around the garden breaks the cycle of attracting and accumulating pests and diseases. There are eight main families of vegetables, so plant members of each family in a different place each year.