Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Planting dreams...

I have been planting all kinds of vegetables and pulling out some REALLY healthy weeds.   The farmer tells me you can learn a lot about your soil from the weeds that grown in it.  He grows just about anything you can think of.  The planting isn't quite as foreign to me.  I have had my own garden for a couple years now however, this is a much larger scale and it is all done by hand.  Joel stops by usually around the end of the morning after his morning farm chores to chat.  That is when the education really begins!


The farmer is a little behind this year.  This is due to some serious illness in the family so the planting is way behind schedule.  He has three large fields and from what he tells me has nurtured and transformed these lots from a rocky desolate wasteland to what looks to me to be like dark velvet.  I don't think I have ever had my hands in finer soil.

When I am done planting for the day I slide my hands together and the soil comes together and rolls off in the shape of a cigar.  It is dark and full of organic life unlike the dry, lifeless dirt in my garden.  Soil structure, I'm learning, is everything to a farmer like Joel.  A healthy well balanced soil- he tells me- grows nutritious food; food that doesn't need to be sprayed with pesticides because, it grows on healthy plants and healthy plants are not sought after by insects.  Insects cannot digest healthy plant material.  Is this true?  I don't know.  I will do more research and certainly get back to you.  I can tell you this:  Joel had some Japanese something or other that looked like lettuce growing in some seedling trays.  These plants were chewed all..to..hell but, Joel planted them anyways (because he is the farmer and he is the plant whisperer) I would of chucked them in the compost bin.  After two weeks they had completely recovered and the new growth had no insect damage at all and man these things were just screaming with healthy life!...that's why he's the farmer and I'm the idiot apprentice.  Seriously, though, you be the judge.  I'm starting to believe in good soil.


I would guess 90% of the farmers in my state- for one aren't diversified farmers and two know jack squat about soil structure.  You would think living in such a rural state this wouldn't be the case.  This is why I feel very fortunate to apprentice for Joel.

Joel lent me a book to read called The Biological Farmer written by Gary Zimmer.  Hopefully after reading this I will know why my garden soil sucks and why Joel's soil is incredible.

Not bad though a teacher who provides the books!  Anyone who has had to buy their books for classes or visited a university book store can appreciate that!