by Nadine Sellers

Created on: March 27, 2009

New gardeners are literally sprouting in all neighborhoods during times of economic stress. Freshness, safety and good nutrition are factors driving the public to greener solutions. For whatever reasons you wish to convert to growing your own vegetables or blooms, you must amend the existing soil to prepare it for fun, food or flowers.

Everyone has a grandmother or two, somewhere; I had one, a quiet 4 foot 9 industrious person.

She taught me much about gardening during the few years i spent with her. Not by word, but by action.

The family gardens were planted in remote corners behind the farm, away from prying eyes and preying beasts. When the chicken coops and rabbit hutches were cleaned, my duty was to spread the valuable material on the ground and work it in with a garden fork, a few weeks before the next planting to give it a chance to cool down, or it would burn new seedlings and kill perennials.

Watching the sprouts mature and become healthful soup was my first empiric connection to Earth. I never imagined myself the caretaker of the place, but rather the fortunate participant in the bounty. I have never lost the urgency to cultivate, to nurture. Whether vegetable or animal, in town or countryside, I must grow my own food. Nothing tastes better than the direct product of your labor, love and attention. It feels right, almost moral, to acquire without the third party of convoluted economics. It feels correct to produce without the polluting practices and transport of corporate agronomy.

There is no shame in using nature to it's intended purpose, nourishment. A sense of honor can be derived from avoiding harmful fertilizers and pesticides. Fresh minerals and vitamins reach your metabolism nearly intact, no middleman, no belching truck and long wait at the docks. There, behind the kitchen, an herb patch or a salad corner, a small miracle for so little work.

Compost accumulates very fast, this is the first step toward rich soil. Collect organic waste year-round, put it in a discreet corner of your property, a mechanical composter or simply a hole in the ground. every peel and shell, coffee ground or tea bags, newsprint, leaves, clippings and leftovers. If on top of ground add worms or composting inoculates. You may take a small amount of humus from a nearby forest and spread it on your pile then sprinkle with water to distribute the beneficial bacteria.

When adding manure or ashes, be conscious of the thickness of the layers, less than an inch at a time, while leaves

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