Diversification is a good thing. As in investments, so in garden soil.
Organic gardening is more than eschewing chemicals and chanting hippie-dippie mantras at dusk to attract garden faeries (seriously, some people do this). Organic strives to feed the soil. Good soil is alive with billions of microorganisms active within the strata of a typical garden bed, all busily eating, excreting, getting on about their business of life and death, and in the process contributing to soil fertility.
The no-till method builds fertility from the ground down. Layer enough organic matter on top, and bacteria and fungi and microorganisms do the rest. Earthworms aerate the soil with air tunnels, eventually distribute biomass downwards, creating a nice humus-ey layer cake.
“Weeds” and other deep rooted plants build from the ground up. Dandelions, comfrey and lambs quarters will mine the lower soil horizons for minerals and nutrients, and make it bio-available to other plants as they’re “chopped and dropped” to decompose. After they’re chopped, their deep roots decompose in the soil and create pathways for air and biomass.
Tillage doesn’t exactly help this nicely constructed soil condo, with its layers of integral organic matter and air pathways. Churning tiller blades release carbon and as the soil is turned over, soil-dwelling organisms are exposed.
Raised bed under construction - Terra Farms, Spring 2012
“Observe and Interact” is one of the twelve guiding principles of permaculture, the system of ecological design developed by pioneers such as Masanobu Fukuoka, Bill Mollison, David Holmgren and propagated by other practitioners and teachers over the last few decades.
The basic idea of “Observe and Interact” is to take the necessary time to carefully observe the various interactions in a space or garden or environment, and then experiment with interventions that will have small, incremental and successful impacts.
The raised bed in the photo above was in the final stages of completion.
The soil had been mined and transported from a special spot in the pasture beneath oak trees. Old bales of hay had been composting for years, and created a nice two- or three-inch thick layer of humus.
After schlepping a dozen wheelbarrow-loads up and down the pasture, I was a little pooped. I took a much-deserved beer-and-cigar break sitting on the stump. Sat and watched and thought.
Interesting. Buzz, buzz… Sure is a lot of critters flying around.
Finished bed, mulched, soil not to to be disturbed again - Terra Farms, Spring 2012
There was a cloud of flies and other insects buzzing about over the newly turned soil. They were all over this bed, but not the older, more established beds on the west side of the garden.
Buzz, buzz…
And the duh-slap-your-head light bulb went off. Of course there were insects. They were preying on the minute organisms in the newly exposed soil. It was like a Golden Corral all-you-can eat buffet for insect predators. So long, soil dwelling fertility helpers.
Of course I had previously known about the deleterious effects of tillage on soil, in an abstract bookish kind of way. Churning and turning was hell on soil flora/fauna, it said so in lots of articles and magazines and books. But this was instant validation, proof in action, observe and verify.
All by having a beer and a smoke.
That’s it for this gardening interlude. What, you say, no gratuitous tie-in to personal finance or investing, no pithy observations on business life and careers? Go back and check the opening line. We’re in minimalist mode today.
OK, just one little analogy. The garden soil is a metaphor for an investment portfolio. Stratify your investments. Excessive tilling churning trading will disturb its ecological balance allocation, next thing you know flying predator insects financial advisors are feasting on soil dwelling organisms commissions and fees. Add mulch savings and watch it grow. Add in worm tea compost biomass dividend yields and see the harvest compounding explode.
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“What, you say, no gratuitous tie-in to personal finance or investing, no pithy observations on business life and careers” – Is that a Goldeneye Reference? For England, James?
I’ll totally steal some gardening ideas for next year. Of course, here in the Bay we’ve got postage stamp sized plots, and some of them are pretty inaccessible. I’d deciding which ones to write off and turn to gravel and mulch and which to develop.
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“No, for me…”
Reference not made with Goldeneye in mind, but it could have been.
With Bay Area weather, you can garden year round. Even in winter it’s only a little damp. Perfect for sweet peas and broccoli and other cool-weather stuff.
There are a lot of parallels between personal finance and other parts of life. For example, diet and budget or personal finance and games. No part of our lives are isolated, they are all affected.
krantcents recently posted..Year-end Tax Planning Tips
Any post that focuses on the virtues of beer and cigars is a friend of mine.
AverageJoe recently posted..Can’t Save? Write It Out, Bitches!
about the only gardening skill I ever mastered was the beer & cigar sitting break. But even then I never my breaks never lead to the break thru you describe.
loved your little analogy, but then I’m the type that needs it spelled out for me….
jlcollinsnh recently posted..So, what does a month in Ecuador cost anyway?
Hmm. Gardening has never taken our fancy I’m afraid – I love gardens because they are peaceful places to be but not the process of getting there because I haven’t got the patience. At least we don’t have a big garden but we have quite a few trees so it takes all my time in autumn to clear up the leaves. This has been massively helped by buying a leaf blower. Now we can clear the garden and play with a toy at the same time. No more effective than a brush but more fun……
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My wife dabbles in organic gardening. We have black walnut trees nearby that manage to wreak havoc on many plants. How do you suggest building a raised bed garden without moving soil? Am I missing something? Do you do any vermicomposting? We are interested in starting.
Hi Wayne,
You are most correct about black walnuts. Really pretty trees, but hell on *some* garden plants, due to its allelopathic secretions. As to your question on raised bed gardens, each space is different. Aside from the toxicity specific to walnuts, you’d need at least six hours of direct sunlight.
I’ve written a couple of posts on building raised beds (here and here), as well as one on vermicomposting ( here ). I should probably write an update. The post was written in 2010, and I’ve picked up a little more worm lore since then.
Observe and interact. I like to observe, no I love to observe. But an interaction part requires a lot of planning, patience and strategy. I am not sure I am good at patience and planning. And gardening definitely no my thing as it requires all of the above plus a physical labor.
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