THE MAKING OF AN ORGANIC GARDEN (Part 2)

New organic garden spots are likely to be found in two conditions: they are covered either with turf or with rubbish. You have to create your space. In large organic garden areas, the ground is ploughed and the sods turned under; but in small organic gardens remove the sod. Have some fun creating your plot. Mark off the organic garden spot. It doesn’t have to be a perfect square, or circle or triangle. Some people make their organic garden a part of the overall landscape design.

Okay, dig it up. What shall be done with the sod? Do not throw it away for it is full of richness, although not quite in available form. So pack the sod grass side down one square on another. Leave it to rot and to weather. When rotted it makes a fine fertilizer. Such a pile of rotting vegetable matter is called a compost pile. Put the compost pile away from the house. I didn’t and I attracted little critters. Yuk! All through the summer, add any old green vegetable matter to this. In the fall put the autumn leaves on. After a couple of months, you will have some awesome compost to add to your soil. Of course, you can always purchase one of the products that will speed up the processing of your compost.

Make sure you have no lumps left in the soil. It needs to be smooth. No, I’m not making grits. You know – no lumps in grits. Okay, okay.

Ground must be very fine indeed to plant in, because seeds can get very close indeed to fine particles of soil. But the large lumps leave large spaces, which no tiny root hair can penetrate. A seed is left stranded in a perfect waste when planted in chunks of soil. A baby surrounded with great pieces of beefsteak would starve. A seed among large lumps of soil is in a similar situation.

You know, just go ahead and rake the soil. It is a great lump breaker, but will not work for large lumps. If the soil still has large lumps in it, use a hoe. The chief work of this implement is to rid the soil of weeds and stir up the top surface. It is used in summer to form that mulch of dust so valuable in retaining moisture in the soil. After lumps are broken, use the rake to make the bed fine and smooth. Now the great piece of work is done. By this time, you need to take a break, reward yourself for your organic garden will soon be a reality.