Upon which we tread

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. As April comes to a close, this week we will follow up with the planning series which covers soil science. But before we get into that, there was a question posed via the Sustainable Neighbors Meetup group in regards to a video on YouTube that talks about the virtues of using hydrogen peroxide in the garden, I’ve got a link to the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kG2s5wDOrQ

My first qualm with the video is that as shown, the video’s creator Jag Singh, doesn’t seem to bother to measure the amount of hydrogen peroxide he is using in his diluted formulas (roughly at 0:21 to 0:37). This lack of even basic precision means that with every batch the dilution rate and strength of formula changes creating potentially dangerous interactions. This should serve as your indicator that Mr. Singh may not really know what he’s doing.  Now I will say that I have used 3% hydrogen peroxide at a rate of one-part hp to three-parts water to kill fungus gnat larvae in house plants during the winter. However, a house plant with potting soil is a very different situation than using the stuff in the garden. The main issue with the video is that Mr. Singh does not seem to be aware that Hydrogen peroxide is a non-selective compound that kills anything it has the strength to kill. This means it kills the good bacteria, fungi and insects just as readily as the bad ones. When you cause a die-off like this in the soil,  it disrupts the normal ecology of the soil which is by the way positively covered in organisms creating a void that is filled by whatever other organisms have the means to move in. You might have killed the fungi causing root rot, but now what moves in after it? Perhaps a fungus that was kept in check that causes vascular collapse or a leaf blight? It is never wise to use the ‘neutron option’ in your garden because the after effects may be worse than solving the problem in the first place. So, at 1:47 Mr. Singh makes the comment that demonstrates to me that he does not know what soil is when he says “..it not only kills the fungi and bacteria in the soil, it also restores the oxygen balance as well.”  This statement is completely untrue as the soil can only contain so much oxygen and that oxygen is limited in quantity by the amount of water that is present. By taking a soil that was wet enough to have root rot, and adding a dilute hydrogen peroxide compound to it you’re just adding more water and all the fizzing action you see is actually oxygen escaping. You repair soils with a rot problem by adding soil amendments to lighten the soil so it can dry out between incidences of rain or when you water. Literally adding a water-heavy compound to the soil when water logging is the problem is a bit like trying to treat a viral infection with antibiotics, it literally does nothing to treat the real problem. The rest of the video is largely comprised of Mr. Singh engaging in some interesting levels of confirmation-bias and to cover that would take away from today’s topic.

So, on to the soil science. As stated below, when it comes to soil you must first remember the particles that make up what we call soil are teeming with life, most of which is too small to see without a microscope. It literally like a miniature city per every square foot, even in the worst soils there is a ecology present that carries on every minute of the day and night non-stop. So to make matters easy, we know that soil is made of four elementary materials; sand, silt, clay and organic matter.  Sand is the smallest from of ground up minerals that we can still perceive individual particles of with the naked eye. Sand can range from coarse, to fine and can be come from a wide variety of origins ranging from volcanic glass to bits of crushed coral and mollusk shells. Silt is what sand can become with time and has grains that are roughly between sand and clay in size you will often find it where bodies of water are or have been. Clay, is the finest of the soil particles and it is one of the hardest things to overcome when it is over abundant. Organic matter is essentially the fuel source for organisms living in the soil, in nature this could be rotting wood, fallen leaves, or manure left by a passing animal. Organic matter has many sources in nature and it is reasonably well-defined. It should be said that anything in excess is a bad thing, too much clay creates what is called Hardpan, too much clay and sand creates a soil type called Caliche (pretty much natural cement), too much organic matter combined with excessive amounts of water and you get a soil type aptly named Muck. Silt in excessive quantities when dry can go airborne and essentially create a dust bowl effect.

The soil under an area where winter weeds were allowed to grow to prevent erosion.

With the soil particle basics covered, in a garden setting, you ideally do not want to have clay content more than 40% by volume. The sand, silt and organic matter should be reasonable and proportionate and this will form the soil type known as Loam. Creating a loam soil isn’t a quick process and at the test gardens, ten years later we have a nice dark sandy-loam soil in the raised beds that is remarkable. But it took yearly infusions of composted turkey manure, Black Hen and BlackKow as well as regular additions of spent potting soil to slowly dilute out the original soil which was almost 70% sand by volume*.  My methods were not quick, they were done on a virtually non-existent budget and while it took most of a decade the land was terraformed in a cooperative way that did no harm to the ecology. In of that what I am about to say next will probably upset some of the agriculture industry as well as some gardeners, there are three common gardening practices that I have never done because the slow amendment method made them obsolete. Firstly, I have never tilled the soil. I don’t till because it disrupts the soil structure, kills larger soil organisms such as worms and generally gets me no real benefits over having raised beds. Second, I don’t need fertilizers. I don’t need or use fertilizers because the soil is rich, dark and I rotate crops so that the soil can recover. Also, I produce compost so that invalidates fertilizers. Third, I let the leaves and pine needles lay where they fall. Fallen leaves and pine needles are basic forms of mulch and they also work form me in terms of weed suppression and they are slowly killing off my lawn.  A layer of fallen leaves in a garden bed only encourages the presence of earthworms which is a critical benefit because they move the soil, the leave behind castings and a number of smaller organisms always follow in their wake.

The soil in the triangle bed, after a 1/2" layer of compost was applied and gently mixed in.

There is just one more major aspect that should be spoken of in regards to soils and that is compaction. Whether you realize it or not, you are heavy and the force of every footstep multiplies your body weight several times which can collapse soil structures and create spots where water pools or is repelled. Compaction is the absolute enemy of good soil, and you should refrain from working in the garden when the soil is wet or excessively dry as you may be doing more harm than good. I personally try my best not to step in my garden beds under any circumstances to keep the soil as porous and as close to its natural uncompacted state as is possible. When I do have to step somewhere in a garden bed, no only to I try not to linger but I follow up with a garden claw to fluff the spots where I have stepped to undo any compaction I may have caused. Now, I know what you are thinking, ‘is compaction that big of a deal?’ yes, it is because compaction over time can kill plants, drive out beneficial soil organisms and create drainage problems that are hard to undo. It is better to be mindful of where you step than to risk long-term damage.

The reinforced mound bed's soil, notice the small leaf bits, and such, this stuff helps maintain soil structure.

I guess the best way to summarize the nature of soil is to think of it as a living breathing organism, that when paired with a gardener is symbiotic, what you put into it is equivalent to what you get out of it. In of that, you should never take your soil for granted, nor think of it as the ‘mere firmament’ upon which you tread, take care of your soil first and your gardening problems will be few. With all that said, it is time to move on to this week’s photographs from the field.

 

Ajuga reptans - Bugleherb

 Half the time when I mention Bugle weed no one knows what I am talking about so the above is a picture of the plant in bloom in the spring. Several patches of the stuff are doing well in the test gardens.

Symphytum officinale - Comfrey

This is container-grown comfrey in bloom which was part of an experiment to see if it performed better when cared for as a container planting. This specimen demonstrated faster growth rates and as you can see  the foliage was far denser allowing for regular harvests.

Fragaria 'Ozark Beauty' - Everbearing Strawberry

With limited at best success in growing strawberries in normal garden beds I've switched to putting them in a very large pot and treating them in the same way as the Comfrey mentioned prior. So far it seems to be working.

Rosa rugosa - Beach Rose

Beach rose is still my personal favorite when it comes to roses, they are tough, self propagating, disease free and the flowers although single are as you can see fairly large as are the resulting rose hips. This is the first year in which my beach roses have bloomed.

Brassica oleracea gongylodes group - Purple Vienna Kohlrabi

The time came to pull up the Kohlrabi and I found that where their big nearly-hollow stems touched the earth they rooted all over again. I swear this cabbage relative never fails to amaze.

Brassica oleracea, variety acephala "Alabama blue stem' - Alabama Blue Stemmed Collards

These collards were sown as seeds last year, and came up late in the year. They survived the winter, and our weird spring so far and will go on to be some pretty plants I hope.

Platycodon grandiflorus - Balloon Flower

Every so often I learn something new about plants I thought I knew because somehow a detail was left out by my garden books. It turns out that the fleshy roots of balloon flower are edible and part of Korean cuisine, up until today I had no idea these hardy perennials were anything but tough and pretty. In case you are wondering why I'm digging up these plants, they are being evacuated from an area that is scheduled to be clear cut along with several types of Coneflower (echinacea), a cluster of lemon balm and a surviving cluster of Fire Pinks (Silene virginica). The latter plant is one heck of a story of plant survival, that I'll tell in the next post.

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. Also, as of the start of 2019, my booth can now process credit or debit cards thanks to the acquisition of s a Square reader so your payment options have doubled. With that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic vegetables, herbs and fruiting shrubs come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

Plants & Stuff Available Now:

Herbs:

Basil, Sweet: 3” - $3.00

Basil, Thai: 3” - $3.00

Chervil: 3” - $3.00

Etruscan Santolina: 3” - $4.00

Eucalyptus, Dwarf: 3” - $4.00

Garlic, Jerimiah’s Heirloom  3” - $3.00

Lavender, ‘Elegance Purple’: 3” - $3.00

Lavender, ‘Elegance Pink’: 3” - $3.00

Self-Heal, Pink Lace: 3” - $3.00

Rue, Marbled: 3" - $4.00

Tansy, (Feverfew): 3" - $3.00

Fruits & Vegetables:

Peppers, Tabasco: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Thai Dragon: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Oxhorn: 3” - $3.00

Potato, Dark Red Norland: 3" - $2.00

Tomato, Black Cherry: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Carolina Gold: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Chocolate Cherry: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gardener’s Delight: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gold Nugget: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gold Millions: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Paul Robeson: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, San Marzano: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Sungold: 3” - $3.00

Garden Perennials:

Coneflower, PowWow Wildberry Mix: 3” - $3.00

Salvia, New Dimension Blue: 3” - $3.00

Milkweed, (Asclepias tuberosa: 4" - $4.00

Milkweed, Whorled: (Asclepias verticillata): 4" - $4.00

Coming Soon:

Basil, Cinnamon

Basil, Mirihani

Coneflower, Cayenne Red

Cotton, Mississippi Brown

Datura, Black Currant

Datura, White Ballerina

Okra, Red-Burgundy

Pomegranate, Dwarf: 6"

These days I am generally at Leclair’s General Store once a week, for the weekly Sustainable Neighbors meeting at 5:30pm through 7:00 pm. If you have questions then I will be there to answer your questions. Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to sign up for anything or join anything, you can come on in ask for us and join the meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market or pay attention to what Sustainable Neighbors is doing at the link below.

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

                        This brings to a close the eighth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 3rd of May. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

*On the 19^TH of may there will be a garden tour at the test gardens I’ll have the tour book ready for viewing so visitors can see what the soil looked like back in 2009 when I started the new test gardens.