Methods - The Urban Farming (2015)

The Urban Farming (2015)

3

Methods

“Crabgrass can grow on bowling balls in airless rooms, and there is no known way to kill it that does not involve nuclear weapons.”

—Dave Barry

In permaculture, a suburban area is not usually considered the most ideal growing space. This means that you will have to grow things very intensively. But even those who don’t have a yard and are working with just a patio or windowsills can grow a surprising amount of food in containers.

Root crops like potatoes need to be grown in a deep metal drum, wood box, or stacked tires, in a bed of mulch and covered with more mulch. As they grow, put more mulch in around the stem so that it is forced to grow up out of the barrel. As you fill the barrel with mulch it will grow higher to reach toward the light, and this will force it to produce more potatoes.

Super-nutritious varieties that work particularly well for container gardening are pepper, parsley, tomato, chive, Swiss chard, and lettuce.

If you have very little space, stick with herbs. Another way to maximize your space is to build upwards. Hang baskets, build a greenhouse that sticks out of the window, and build shelving up the walls. Of course, it’s always a good idea to be growing sprouts in the kitchen and a sack of mushrooms in a dark place.

If you do have room for a fruit tree, it should be a dwarf variety. If you already have a fruit tree, keep it pruned back so that it doesn’t shade your garden. When you plant a new tree, you can plant it against a wall or fence and train it to grow more flat. It will have to be tied and pruned but it will save an amazing amount of space.

There are tremendous resources available in the city because of your close proximity to people. You will have to bring in organic material, but you should be able to find it where it would otherwise go to waste. City maintenance for the parks, construction projects, neighbors, and Internet communities like Freecycle can all offer sources of compost, wood brush, grass clippings, and other valuable “garbage” that you can use. Your neighbors are likely to be growing plants, too, and bartering can offer more variety to your diet.

One concern with city food production is lead. Lead can come from paint that was used on a house, or even dumped by some irresponsible person decades ago, and it can come from the exhaust of nearby cars on a busy road. If you suspect that there may be lead in the soil, get it tested. The solution is to add as much organic material to the soil as possible, which will make the lead less available and thus less likely to be absorbed by a plant. Be aware: If you gather organic materials from the city, avoid collecting leaves that are right next to a busy highway. Choose leaves that are on quiet side streets.

SOIL

“Yes, I am positive that one of the great curatives of our evils, our maladies, social, moral, and intellectual, would be a return to the soil, a rehabilitation of the work of the fields.”

—Charles Wagner

A Little Bit about Soil

What is the difference between soil and dirt? Generally, most people think dirt is a dead substance that is not capable of growing a living thing. The dust of the desert or land cleared for building a house is just dirt. They may also think that soil is the stuff you buy in bags decorated with smiling cartoon flowers, or that it comes in trucks from the local supply store. In other words, there is an idea floating around that humans make soil, and the earth makes dirt.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Except in the case of some very big deserts, most places in the world had very fertile soil at some point. Infinite communities of bacteria and microbes create a complex layer cake of matter, gases, and liquids that is perfectly suited to the root systems of plants, and this happens all on its own when left undisturbed. It is a complex cycle that does quite well without our interference. When humans arrive on the scene and set up farming and civilization, we create dirt. Dirt is soil that has been displaced, with orphan particles missing key pieces that make it alive. We do this because we are ignorant of the microscopic life living below the surface of the ground. We destroy the soil’s innate ability to regulate the flow of water, which then stops it from adequately filtering and cleaning the water, and in the process we rob it of the power to store and provide nutrients.

This soil contained a lot of bark and small rocks, but because of the mixture of compost and nitrogen it produced a healthy onion crop.

This, of course, creates all kinds of monumental problems. Erosion, crop loss, flooding, dust storms, dropping water tables, radon, salt buildup, and even allergies and asthma are directly related to humans’ destruction of soil. Dr. Walter Clay Lowdermilk was a noted soil conservationist who worked as the assistant chief of the USDA in the 1930s. He travelled extensively all over the world studying the soil, and at the end of his tour he gave a series of lectures that became a pamphlet in 1948 titled Conquest of the Land through Seven Thousand Years. He documented the causes of war, the decline of civilizations, and the destruction of society. In his opinion, it all came down to one thing: “For even you and I will sell our liberty and more for food, when driven to this tragic choice. There is no substitute for food.” Food will not grow without soil.

Soil Is Alive

What we call soil is really just a container for a microcosm of living creatures, most of which we can’t see. A single shovelful of soil contains more species than are found in the entire Amazon rain forest. These are some of the organisms present in soil:

Bacteria: These convert organic matter into something plants can use and sometimes grow to have beneficial relationships with the plants directly.

Fungi: We usually know fungi as mushrooms, but the important part of a fungus is its system of rootlike threads running through the soil. These threads decompose matter just as bacteria does, but they also build soil nutrients in partnership with plants. Some might kill plants, but many others actually prevent diseases.

Protozoa: These organisms eat bacteria and keep the helpful bacteria releasing the nitrogen that plants need.

Nematodes: Nematodes do some of the same things that protozoa do, and they also travel around spreading live bacteria and fungi through the soil. Some of them prevent diseases and provide food for helpful predators.

Arthropods: These are insects that you can sometimes see, but often can’t. Ants, beetles, sow bugs, spiders, mites, centipedes, and more all live together in the soil, chopping up materials and eating other bugs and fungus. They simultaneously mix the soil and make organic material more accessible to plants.

Worms: Worms are the powerhouses. They eat the organic matter in the soil and their castings (droppings) are perfect plant food. Worms create thousands and thousands of pounds of casts per acre.

Organic Matter

All those living creatures feed off each other, but they need one thing to get started. Organic matter is at the bottom of their food chain, the fuel that keeps everything going. Organic in this sense means organisms: living and dead creatures and plants. When any kind of organic matter is added to the soil, all of those living creatures get to work breaking it down, which adds nutrients to the soil that plants need. Once the matter breaks down completely, it becomes humus. Humus is organic matter that has decomposed so fully that whatever is left will not break down any further. Besides being the catalyst for all the biological processes that occur in the soil, organic matter is the stuff that holds water and prevents runoff. Runoff is exactly what it sounds like—rain or snow falls on the earth but can’t be absorbed, so it just runs off the surface. Without humus, the soil erodes and loses nutrients, leaving plants to die of thirst and starvation. Soil organisms are able to decompose organic matter at such a fast rate that continuing perpetually requires massive amounts of organic matter to maintain the same nutrient content and life cycle. In nature, the plants provide the input by dying and falling right back into the soil, but in farming this material is taken away and consumed by people. For example, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an acre of wheat must have at least two to three tons of organic matter or more added to it every year to maintain the same quality. That same wheat field has thirty thousand miles (24,140 km) of roots just sucking up all those nutrients.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Life on Earth hangs in a careful balance. All organisms require nitrogen to live, and it is even part of our DNA. Most of the nitrogen available to us is found in the atmosphere, but it first has to be converted to a different chemical form for any organism to be able to use it. One of the single most important bacteria we know of today is rhizobium, which lives in a symbiotic relationship with only some plants. It exists in nodules in the roots of legumes like beans and peas, and fixes the nitrogen found in the soil so the plants in the vicinity can use it. Fixing it really means converting it into ammonium. Some other things can do this, too, such as blue-green algae, lightning, forest fires, and molten lava. Once the plants absorb the ammonium, they eventually die and decomposers move in. Most of the now-unusable nitrogen contained in the plant is converted back into ammonium again and released into the soil where other plants can use it, which is the optimum scenario. However, some of this ammonium doesn’t make it to plants because other soil bacteria convert it into nitrates. Unlike ammonium, which binds to the soil, nitrates are loose and just wash out with water. This leads to a loss of soil fertility and creates a nitrate buildup in streams and groundwater. Some of this nitrate also turns into gas, which goes into the atmosphere to become smog and greenhouse gas. Once it does that, it will never be part of the nitrogen cycle again, and is essentially lost.

Humans have more than doubled what would have been a relatively steady global nitrogen-fixing rate without our interference. By burning fossil fuels, growing mass quantities of legumes like soybeans, and through the use of synthetic fertilizer, we have pushed the nitrogen cycle beyond a sustainable level. Synthetic fertilizer was invented in the early 1900s and involves high temperatures and pressure to fix nitrogen, in much the same way that a cataclysmic natural event would. Chemical fertilizer makes up the vast majority of the fixed nitrogen we create, and while it can be used to grow more crops, it has disastrous consequences. While organic ammonium does leech nitrates into our drinking water, it is at a very low level that we barely notice. When chemical fertilizer leeches out, however, it creates extremely high and dangerous levels of nitrates in our drinking water. Nitrates lead to cancer and breathing problems for babies; they kill fish and change the biological balance of fragile coastal ecosystems. When emitted into the atmosphere, they become acid rain. The careful balance of the nitrogen cycle, which we depend on so completely for our survival, is in extreme danger. This may be the biggest argument against chemical-based farming.

Measuring Soil Health

Besides merely looking at the structure of the soil to see how much humus is there, we can measure the relative health of the soil by testing its level of acidity and alkalinity. If you remember high school chemistry, soil testing uses the pH scale of 0 to 14, with low numbers being more acid and high numbers being more alkaline. A pH of 7 is neutral, and most plants like 6 or 6.5. A soil testing kit can be bought from any garden supply store, and you will find that your soil will usually range from 5 (very acid) to 8 (medium alkalinity).

Soils that are very acidic (with a lower pH) can’t hold onto nitrogen well. The lower the pH, the more chemical nitrogen fertilizer will leech away. This affects natural nitrogen processes as well—rhizobium just doesn’t survive in highly acidic soil.

Plants need other minerals as well, and a good soil testing kit will include tests for them. The solutions to these soil problems are not complex and don’t require any kind of chemicals. If the soil is too acidic, you can add agricultural lime (a mineral) or wood ash, which is sprinkled on the soil at a rate of twenty pounds per one thousand square feet, a little more if the soil has a more claylike consistency. Doing this also increases the potassium (K) levels, which we will talk about later. Other minerals like sulfur and trace elements like manganese tend to decrease as the soil becomes more acidic, and the most effective way to increase them is with compost, which also decreases soil acidity. Compost and peat moss will raise the alkalinity and help with a host of other soil issues. As soil today becomes overused and overfertilized, it loses its ability to hold onto the nutrients that plants need. Compost is the solution to most of these issues.

Over time, any soil can be changed and improved. This means that you could theoretically put your garden anywhere you want, although scoping out where the best soil is makes more sense. Armed with a little knowledge about the soil, you can grow anything.

Next you’ll need to find out the drainage capacity of the soil. To do this, dig a hole one foot deep (30 cm). It doesn’t need to be a wide hole. Fill the hole with water, and after five minutes fill it again. See how long it takes for it to drain completely. For some people, this might be never. For others the water might disappear immediately. If it takes more than four hours to sink in, you have a problem.

Look at the plants that are already growing. Bare soil is damaged by the sun, wind, and water, which is why permaculture insists on leaving soil undisturbed. Usually a plant that has become overgrown in an area, as is often the case with blackberries, indicates that the soil has been damaged. These plants act as pioneers and prepare the soil for the next stage.

What are the parts of the soil?

Humus: Organic matter in the final stage of decomposition, unrecognizable as plant material

Loam: The ideal soil made of sand, silt, and clay

Subsoil: The deeper layer of soil, usually lighter in color, which stores water

Topsoil: The top layer of soil, darker and more crumbly, where most nutrients exist

Good soil maintains a balance of water, air, organic materials, and nutrients through the natural cycle of growing plants. The roots take up minerals and water out of the soil, and uses those nutrients to produce fruit and leaves that then drop onto the ground to decay and return back into the soil.

Weed Indicators of Soil Type

Alkali soil

Coast—saltgrass (Distichlis spicata)

Desert—chickweed (Stellaria media)

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastor)

Blueweed (Echium vulgare)

Gromwell/Puccoon (Lithospermum)

Field peppergrass (Lepidium campestre)

True chamomile (Chamomilla matricaria)

Bellflower (Campanula)

Salad burnet (Poterium sanguisorba)

Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)

Bladder campion (Silene latifolia)

Poor drainage

Dwarf St. John’s Wort (Hypericum)

Horsetail (Equisetum)

Silverwood (Potentila anserina)

Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

Mosses

Sumac (Rhus integrifolia)

Curly dock (Rumex crispus)

Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)

Hedge nettle (Stachys palustris)

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

Thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia)

American hellebore (Veratrum viride)

White avens (Geum album)

Acid soil

Spurrey (Spergula arvensis)

Corn marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum)

Sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis)

Scentless mayweed (Matricaria inodora)

Plantain (Plantago)

Lady’s thumb (Polygonum persicaria)

Goose tansy, rough cinquefoil (Potentilla monspeliensis)

Wild strawberry (Fragaria)

Rabbit-foot clover (Trifolium arvense)

Horsetail (Equisetum)

Dock (Rumex)

Slightly acid soil

English daisy (Bellis perennis)

Sorrel (Rumex)

Prostrate knotweed (Polygonum aviculare)

Very acid soil

Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

Hawkweed (Hieracium)

Silvery cinquefoil (Potentill argentea)

Horsetail (Equisetum), if swampy type

Heavy soil

Coltsfoot (Tussilage farfara)

Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Plantain (Plantago)

English daisy (Bellis perennis)

Broadleaf dock (Rumex obtusifolius)

Light/sandy soil

Spurry (Spergula arvensis)

Corn marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum)

Sheep’s sorrel (Rumex)

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), especially when flowers are pink

Small nettle (Urtica urens)

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

White campion (Lychnis alba)

Maltese thistle (Centaurea melitensis)

St. Barnaby’s thistle (Centaurea solstitialis)

Hard/crusted soil

All chamomiles

Mustards

Morning glory

Quack grass (Agropyron repens)

Goosefoot (Chenopodiums), no matter how bad the soil is

Salty soil

Russian thistle (Salsola kali)

Sea aster (Aster tripolium)

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

Beet (Beta)

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

Mustards

Subsoil Indicators

If you dig down two to three feet deep and look at the subsoil, it will indicate the health of the topsoil. You can determine a lot by observing the color of the subsoil.

Red/yellow: Lots of iron oxides, good drainage, acidic soil, common in warm climates

Blue/blue gray: Lack of oxygen and poor drainage, common in thick layers of clay

White to ash gray: Nutrients and humus have leeched away, acidic and/or sandy, common under pine trees

Medium brown throughout: Good drainage

Pale or very similar to topsoil: Poorly developed soil, topsoil may have been removed

Dark brown: Abundant decomposed organic matter, usually where wetlands have been

Patches or streaks of colors: Pockets of poor drainage, different soils—plants may grow poorly from being waterlogged or lack of nutrients

The Best Possible Soil

Matter and organisms: 5 percent of soil—add soybean meal, garbage, cottonseed meal, plant residue, sludge, manure and compost

Minerals: 45 percent of soil—add lime, green sand, granite, dust, nitrates in organic matter

Water: 25 percent of soil—sprinkle or irrigate, but use the water table when possible

Air: 25 percent of soil—make the soil loose with organic material and cultivation

Roots end at same depth: Layer of compacted soil, cemented layer, and poor drainage.

Heavy Metals

One major worry with growing food in the city is toxins in the soil. If you are doing container planting with purchased soil this is usually not a problem, but in backyards and vacant lots it can be. When testing your soil, it’s a good idea to test for heavy metals. Lead is a very common culprit, while mercury, arsenic, and cadmium are close seconds. You can get soil tests at your local university for a low price.

Before you go for the test, you should divide your growing area up into at least five sections (or more, depending on your budget), record these sections on a map, and give each one a number. Dig a few holes, each around a foot deep, within each section. Collect dirt from the side of each hole all the way to the bottom of the hole so that you get some from the entire depth using a plastic or stainless steel shovel (other metals will skew the results) and put that dirt into a bucket. Mix it all together, and then divide it into two samples of at least a cup of dirt each, and put each sample into a plastic bag, labeled with the number of the area. Make sure you clean your mixing bucket in-between each area. Send one bag from each area to the lab for testing and keep the other for backup.

The solutions to high heavy metal levels in your soil are pretty much the same as for repairing any other soil problem. Adding lots of compost will dilute lead levels, and including lime will make sure your pH balance is around 6.5, which will reduce the availability of lead to your plants. The danger of breathing in heavy metals when exposed to dirt particles in the air can be deadly, so using mulch is important. Make sure you wear gloves and wash your hands after gardening. Wash vegetables very well.

Cultivation versus No-Till

Cultivating (also called tilling) is the process of turning over soil with a plow or disc, or using hand methods such as a shovel to turn over the earth. There are many alternatives to cultivation, and these methods are outlined below. The goal in cultivation is to loosen up the dirt and remove any rocks so that plants will have the optimum environment. When cultivating with hand tools, people most often make a raised bed. A raised bed has the same amount of dirt, but it has been stirred and loosened so that it is fluffier, making it higher than the surrounding soil. Many raised beds are “double dug,” a process of digging that makes it simpler to raise the bed. More on how to prepare this is mentioned later in this section.

When cultivating, you would normally plant in rows based on the equipment you use. A tractor cultivator would allow you to plant single rows for a single row of plants, and a rototiller creates a standardized row that is usually around sixteen or thirty inches wide for city plots. More than one row of plants can be planted in it.

Urban farmers generally use raised beds at home in their permanent yard and rototillers on their leased or borrowed land. The reason is there’s very little time and money needed in putting in a rototilled bed versus a double-dug bed. Generally, you just decide how much space, equipment, and time you have. With a lot of time and no space, do a raised bed because no-till is ideal. If you have little time and a big space, use rows and a rototiller.

Another option, besides double digging, is a boxed bed. This is a box made of wood, metal, stone, or other available material that is filled with soil. Landlords like these if you have a rented house because they look nice. They also cost a lot more. If you are trying to decrease your initial startup cost, the wood frame does very little for your farm except to add aesthetic value. Even if you are putting in hoops to hold up plastic, they can be driven directly into the ground.

These no-till beds are built of rock and located in a suburban neighborhood.

That being said, boxed beds are just a large, stationary form of container gardens, and they are awesome. Containers of any kind are better than boxed beds because they are completely mobile, which means you can take them with you when you leave. You can also move the plants around to better locations if you need to. Any kind of container with drainage can be used, which makes it possible to find something free or cheap. Old or new plastic planters, ceramic planters, old bathtubs, even large plastic and burlap sacks can work well.

Double Digging

Cover the plot six inches deep with your fertilizer or compost. Dig a trench as deep as you need, then dig another trench next to it. Put the second trench’s dirt into the first trench, dig a third trench and put that dirt into the second trench, and so on throughout the plot. If there is a lot of grass in the dirt, shake apart the clumps before throwing them in the trench. Let the plot sit a few days, and then break up the clods with a hoe. Water the area and see if it is higher than the ground around it. If you did it right, it should be at least a few inches taller than the rest of the area. You would never want to walk or smash down the soil in the bed.

Corn, watermelon, pumpkin, and other similar types of plants can be planted in hills rather than beds. In the desert, your “hill” will actually be a hole that can catch water. In wet areas, make a hill six inches tall and plant your seeds in the top of it. This method uses a lot of space, but works especially well in clay-type soil.

A Brief Introduction to Natural Farming

Natural farming is a technique of growing plants without plowing, cultivation, or sometimes even fertilizer. After the initial transition from cultivation to natural (which can take a few years), the promoters of this method say that the plants are healthier and have fewer pests and less disease than cultivated plants.

The method is as follows:

  1. In the fall season, put clover, vetch, or alfalfa seeds in a tray, pour fine powdered clay over them, and spray with a thin mist of water. Roll them around until they are well coated with clay. This makes pellets one inch in diameter.
  2. Spread the pellets (also called seed balls) over the field. Cover the field with straw by throwing it down in all directions. This is your ground cover.
  3. Let ten ducks per quarter acre forage loose in the field.
  4. Plant your grain crop (with clay-covered seeds) when the preceding crop is ripening. After harvest, sow white clover with the grain as a ground cover. Cover with straw.

In an orchard, the soil would be treated the same as for fields, except you would cut weeds and tree sprouts with a scythe. For vegetables, the techniques differ according to climate. Wait for rain that will fall for several days in early spring. Try to plant so sprouts will grow before the weeds. Cut some of the weeds, throw down clay-covered seeds (seed balls), and lay the weeds on top as your ground cover instead of straw. You may need to cut the weeds back two or three times. Let chickens scratch through the garden—they won’t eat the seed balls because they look and taste like dirt, but they’ll eat most of the insect pests. Plant clover in late summer or fall to keep back weeds.

An alternative to total natural farming is the sandwich method. Before planting, layer barn litter, compost, grass clippings, chopped leaves, and wood ashes between layers of peat moss. Water it well, until it is damp and spongy. Then plant your seeds in it. You could also combine methods to use a cross between totally natural and a little bit of cultivation. Double dig a well-developed and fertilized bed to make a raised bed. After this, it must never be dug or walked on again. Put earthworms in the bed to do natural tilling, and then use the seed balls to plant and regular ground cover to control weeds.

The Art of Mulch

Mulch is any cover put over the soil to prevent weeds from growing and/or to insulate the ground (not all soil needs this). Put mulch on after the ground has thawed, unless you are growing strawberries. Strawberries grow best in cold, wet ground, so for them you can put it on before the ground has thawed. Use organic material, newspaper, or cardboard to cover all around your plants. Mulch keeps water in the soil, smothers weeds, and if you use organic material, fertilizes the ground. Some people swear by it because you may never have to weed.

There are many ways to mulch. The method described here is called sheet mulching, because you layer different sheets of materials together, something like a layer cake. Sheet mulching stops every kind of weed, saving you even more work.

  1. Plant your largest trees and shrubs. If you get this out of the way, you won’t have to go back and dig through your mulch later.
  2. Cover the area with a sprinkling of dolomite, and if the soil is clay, add gypsum as well. Add any nitrogen that you can get, such as composted manure fertilizer or kitchen compost.
  3. If you have some spare hay that is unfit for any other use, use it to make a layer one or two inches (2.5-5 cm) high. If the area was covered with tall weeds, you can simply cut those down and leave them lying on the ground instead. One warning about hay: do notuse hay that has gone to seed. You will essentially be planting grass in your garden, and grass hay is tough to eradicate.
  4. Cover the whole thing with a layer of cardboard, newspaper, old drywall, nonsynthetic carpet, felt underlay, or any material that is very hefty but will break down eventually. Don’t allow even the smallest hole. If you do have to work around a tree, make sure the layer hugs the plant very tightly. This layer should be a half inch to one inch (1.5-2.5 cm) tall, with any noncompostable materials like staples or plastic tape removed.
  5. Water it very well until it is completely soaked.
  6. Add eight to twelve inches (20-30 cm) of old straw from a horse stable, old chicken coop sawdust, raked or old mashed-up leaves, seaweed, or seagrass. These all contain vital nutrients and can be moist. According to the composting principles (see the previous chapter) these should be brown materials rather than green, which would turn into mush and smell bad.
  7. Water everything again until it is well soaked.
  8. Now you can add another one to two inches (2.5-5 cm) of compost and manure, and another two inches (5 cm) of dry material like straw or leaves. Sometimes sourcing all of this organic matter can be a challenge, but there’s really no wrong way to do this, so don’t sweat it. The only rule of thumb is the thicker the better. If you don’t have enough material, you will have to make your bed smaller rather than try to spread it thin over a wide area.
  9. Plant your largest seeds, potatoes, seedlings, and small potted plants. To do this, make a hole through the mulch to the sheet material. Use an old axe or knife to cut an X in the carpet or cardboard, or whatever you used as your sheet layer, and use your hands to put dirt in the hole. Stick the seeds, potatoes, or seedlings in the soil. If you want to plant tiny seeds, sprout them first and make a line rather than an X. You don’t have to push the seeds down deep. Cover them with mulch, or for seedlings cover the base of the plant.
  10. The roots won’t do very well in the first year, but if you plant roots that grow down deep they will begin to break up the soil under the mulch. The next year you can grow more of them.
  11. At the end of the first summer your soil will be immensely improved. You’ll need to add a small amount of fresh mulch as the season continues, and in fact annuals(plants that are replanted every year) can tolerate food scraps direct from the kitchen layered under the mulch where worms will dispose of them immediately.
  12. Keep the mulch area well watered. It will take frequent watering to keep the area moist but, as time goes on, it will get better at maintaining moisture.
  13. As the seasons pass, the mulch will settle and shrink. Just keep adding layers and plant new things as the old ones are eaten, adding mulch layers each time.
  14. If the weeds break through, just smash them under and add wet newspaper and a layer of sawdust. Grass will give up eventually. If a strong root takes hold, dig it up, fill the hole with fresh kitchen scraps and cover the hole with mulch. Make sure not to bury any fresh wood products. They need to be broken down in the air first. Mulch should be loose and light, with many different materials mixed together to help achieve that air texture.

Tilling

Rototilling is the only mechanical method of soil turning mentioned here because it is pretty much the only way to do this in an urban environment—unless you own a pair of oxen, which is unlikely. Rototilling should be done sparingly. It can be used to turn new ground (usually covered in grass), and to add inputs to the soil. Through trial and error most urban farmers using borrowed land end up using this as their income-producing system.

Repairing Very Bad Soil

If the soil is very compacted, you can loosen it with a tool, but don’t turn it. Turning the soil means flipping it over, which you often see when someone plows up a grassy field. In a big area you can plow with an implement that just loosens up the soil, such as a chisel plow. A chisel plow cuts a slice into the ground without turning the soil over, allowing air and water to be absorbed. The first time you do this, plow four inches (10 cm) deep. The second time go down to seven inches (18 cm). On a slope, make sure to plow the channels diagonally instead of straight downhill, which will prevent water from flowing away too easily. In smaller gardens use a garden fork rather than a plow.

This is a larger rototiller, which is more appropriate for urban farming than the small backyard gardener version.

Super soil strategies:

  • Stop topsoil from flying away or eroding.
  • Rehabilitate the soil with pioneer plants before doing anything else.
  • Test soil and drainage and choose the right species.
  • Use permanent crops and no-till methods.
  • Avoid clearing the soil. Use mulch.
  • Don’t drain a wetland, which is packed with nutrients.
  • Choose edible plant species for their nutritional value.

If you planned out your land in the order outlined in this book, you have already controlled the flow of water by building swales. The pH test that you did on your soil indicates which kinds of plants to grow in that area, or what to add to change the pH.

Any soil, not just bad soil, should be improved by planting cover and green manure crops, or adding composted animal manure. You can also add compost (kitchen and yard waste that has decomposed) to the small gardens near the house. Soil that has been cleared most likely needs extra help because minerals have been leeching out.

Encourage worms and other beneficial creatures to live and grow in the soil. These are the best cultivators; they do their own composting and mulching.

Land that has experienced extreme erosion needs gentle treatment. Avoid grazing any animals on it for a long while, and it may be a good idea to plant a crop that has deep roots, such as daikon radish, chicory, and leguminous trees. Deep-rooted trees pull nutrients from the deepest layers of the soil, and their leaves can be used as mulch to return those nutrients back to the soil. The goal is to cover all exposed soil with quick-growing local species of trees and shrubs to prevent erosion.

Problem

Solution

Notes

Bare soil, no calcium

Calcium/silica

Cement dust, bamboo mulch, grain husks

Bare soil, no nitrogen

Nitrogen/potash

Leguminous tree mulch, manure

Desert soil, can’t retain water

Bentonite

Volcanic clay absorbs water

Desert soil, too much clay

Gypsum

Allows water to penetrate

Salty soil

Raised beds

Salt leeches down

Potash deficiency

Comfrey, wood ash

Potash is potassium found in organic matter

No trace elements

Mulch/compost

High alkalinity prevents plants using minerals

Too alkaline (low pH)

Sulfur

Increase to 6.0-7.5 pH

Too acid (high pH)

Lime (calcium carbonate)

Decrease to 6.0-7.5 pH

Concrete, Gravel, and Other Beds

The only land available to you might be an empty parking lot covered in concrete, asphalt, or gravel. You may be tempted to rip up hard, man-made materials like this, but before you do, consider the benefits. The land will not grow weeds, it will be very warm as the concrete absorbs heat during the day, and it will be easy to move your wheelbarrow around. It’s a lot better to build raised beds on top, but you will need access to soil and a truck. Some farms have done this by building beds on top of old pallets. They can move the pallets with a forklift if necessary, and they just put up wood sides with a waterproof sheet at the bottom and fill them with dirt. Alternatively, you could build berm beds directly on top of the ground. To do this, put down a layer of mulch at least a foot deep. This mulch can be wood chips, straw, cardboard, or other organic waste. Then add a layer of compost and manure about two to three feet high. Water everything down, then add more in the low spots. As you continue planting throughout the season, you may find that your beds will shrink and fall apart without a retaining wall. Between each planting you will need to use your tools to push the beds back into shape and probably add more soil/compost.

COMPOST

“You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.”

—Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Compost is the ideal and optimum material for plants. It has all the microbes, bacteria, and nutrients that are needed to produce life, and it is absolutely necessary for success in growing vegetables. Compost is the future currency of the local food movement.

The Composting Process

Composting can be an art form, with the most skilled composter able to produce soil in just a few months. However, it also can be a simple process. If you put plant material in your compost pile, it will begin to decay, and in about six to eight months you will have usable compost no matter what you do. You just can’t go wrong because bacteria, mold, and organisms are doing all the work.

There are three major compost methods:

Large Bin: Usually chosen by people who produce a lot of plant and vegetable waste from their big backyard garden. Three bins are built in a row, each one around four to five square feet, and the new material is added only to the first bin. An average person makes two pounds of garbage a week, so this should hold enough for a four-person family. Put a brick or stone floor on the bottom. This pile is turned into the second bin after thirty days, if the pile is at least three feet tall and three feet wide. After another thirty days, the material in the second bin is transferred to the third bin. By the time the pile has spent thirty days in the third bin, it should be done. This method takes two to three months to make usable compost.

Black Bin: Also known as the backyard composter, this is a black plastic bin that has two features: a lid on the top and a removable door on the bottom for removing compost. There are many different styles of composters, but as long as they are made of black plastic and have some ventilation holes and doors, they all work the same way. These bins are appropriate for kitchen scraps and smaller quantities of garden waste. The bin should sit on bare soil so that organisms from the ground can move into it; it should be near enough to the back door that you can easily add scraps from the kitchen; and it should be in direct sunlight, as the heat from the sun helps to break down the plant material. It should not be up against the house or fence, because spillage from frequent dumping of waste can damage nearby structures. Once full, the bin should be turned every couple of weeks for aeration. This method takes six to twelve months to make usable compost.

It’s a good idea to add material to the bottom of any kind of compost pile or bin that can make an air space and help with aeration. Hedge trimmings, sticks, twigs, and other woody materials can work well for large bins and black bins.

The Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio

Everything has a carbon/nitrogen ratio, or C:N ratio. The ideal compost pile has a 25-30:1 C:N ratio, and each material has its own ratio. Table scraps are normally 15:1 and manure is 20:1. It can be a bit complex to keep the pile at this perfect ratio. The easiest way to keep track of this is to categorize everything into Greens and Browns. Greens are the nitrogen group and include fresh, green plants; fruit and vegetable scraps; seaweed; and fresh manure. Carbon is the Browns, including dry, dead material like paper, sawdust, and leaves. Simply add equal amounts of each to keep the right balance and allow the mixture to heat up. If you have the time, chopping everything up into tiny pieces speeds up the decomposition process.

For most people, food scraps and kitchen waste make up about 30 percent of their garbage. Keep two buckets under the kitchen sink, and add all of your food scraps except meat and dairy. Orange peels, banana peels, and eggshells should be crushed and cut up so that they will break down faster. You can also add small paper scraps. Once a bucket is full, dump it out in the compost heap. Once you’ve collected all of this material together, it will begin to heat up, usually within twenty-four hours. Organisms will gather to feast on the materials you brought for them, which will make the temperature rise. During this time, it is best to leave the pile alone and just keep adding more on the top. It should rise to over 120°F (49°C). When these microorganisms are done, the temperature will drop and you can stir it to get some oxygen mixed in.

You will know your compost is ready to harvest when it looks like soil. It should be dark and crumbly and have very few signs of food scraps. The material will have shrunk down quite a bit and won’t smell bad anymore. You can add this material straight to your garden by stirring it into the first inch of soil or just sprinkling it on top.

Sometimes compost piles don’t heat up, which is fine. It just takes longer. This is usually because the pile hasn’t gotten bigger than three feet square, or it might be too wet or too dry. It should be about as moist as a damp sponge. Another problem that often arises is an imbalance of materials. This is not an exact science and you don’t have to measure it, but experience will begin to tell you whether you need more Brown or Green materials. Often, if the pile is too wet it needs more Brown materials, and if it is too dry it needs more Green materials. It helps to chop up all the materials before adding them, so they’ll break down faster.

Compost Troubleshooting

All garbage will compost, but troubleshooting your initial observations can make it happen quicker.

Pile is cool and dry: Add water until the center is evenly moist. In dry places, water and cover the compost.

Pile is cool and wet: Make sure pile is at least three square feet and four feet tall.

Large pile is cool and wet: Add alfalfa meal, manure, or fresh grass clippings, and stir.

Pile cools before composting: Turn and stir.

Pile smells bad and is wet: Add shredded newspaper or straw and stir. Cover to hide from rain.

Pile does not compost completely: Add newspaper or straw and stir.

Teas for the Soil

A liquefied tea is an efficient method of adding nutrients to the soil quickly. If you are adding mulch and composts to your soil anyway, this type of tea may not be necessary, but if plants fall victim to bad weather or attacks, this can help save a crop. It is particularly useful for tomatoes and peppers.

  1. Mix one part manure to three parts water.
  2. Leave it to ferment for at least two weeks in a container with a loosely fitting lid.
  3. Add ten to fifteen parts more water. It should look like weak tea but smell disgusting.
  4. As you use it, keep adding more manure and water so you can have a continuous supply.
  5. Extras can be added to the tea, including comfrey (which adds potassium), seaweed, or kitchen compost.

Green Manure

Green manure is an easy way to fertilize and is more practical for a big field, but it can be done on a small plot also. The process is basic: you plant something, cover it with dirt, and wait for it to decay. Plant rye grass, buckwheat, barley, pearl millet, oats, or alfalfa in your field, then wait until it is mature to cut it down. Plow it under and wait until it is composted before planting seeds. It will look like your other soil when it has composted. The following are the most common types of green manure:

Legumes: Sow in the fall so flowers will attract beneficial insects.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa): Sow in spring or summer.

Bell or fava bean (Vicia faba): Sow in fall or very early spring—they can tolerate 15°F.

Clovers: Berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinium) is a summer or winter annual. Crimson clover (T. incarnaturn) is winter hardy and easily tilled. Dutch white clover (T. repens) is easily cultivated. Red clover (T. pratense) is a quick-growing biennial that can be planted from spring through fall. Subterranean clover (T. subterraneum) is a cool-season reseeding annual, best for sowing under taller crops. New Zealand white clover (T. repens) is a hardy, long-lived perennial and is heat resistant.

Peas: Field peas (Pisum sativum) and Austrian field peas (Lathyrus hirsutus) sow in fall or very early spring. Cowpeas or Southern peas (Vigna sinensis) grow as a summer annual.

Vetch: Common vetch (Vicia sativa) grows in most soils. Hairy vetch (V. villosa) is tolerant of very cold weather. Purple vetch (V. atropurpurea) is less cold-tolerant, making good winter-kill mulch.

Composting Manure

Pile manure up outside in a pile at least six feet deep and no more than six feet wide, and as long as you want. Cover it with dirt, and let it sit all winter. If you use it before then, it may kill your plants. If you keep your animals inside, gather that bedding to harvest their urine. The best animal beddings are chopped straw, corncobs, wood shavings, or sawdust because they will decompose well. Don’t let the pile get too dry.

Bat guano; human, dog, and cat manure; sewage; fresh manure; or horse manure that hasn’t been thoroughly composted (it contains weed seeds) can not be used. It can spread disease and destroy your soil.

Fertilizing

Green manure, manure, and compost in various mixtures make fertilizer. Mix together your compost and manure, then spread it on top of your green manure. Plow or turn the soil over to mix them into the dirt. If you are using no-till methods, you can safely rake the compost into the first few inches of soil. Always put the manure into the soil immediately after you uncover it from the dirt to save the gases. Even the gases released by the fertilizers are good for your soil.

WORMS OR VERMICOMPOSTING

“It was the day of the worms. That first almost-warm, after-the-rainy-night day in April, when you bolt from your house to find yourself in a world of worms. They were as numerous here in the East End as they had been in the West. The sidewalks, the streets. The very places where they didn’t belong. Forlorn, marooned on concrete and asphalt, no place to burrow, April’s orphans.”

—Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee

Red worms at work.

Worms that have three lips, five hearts, a brain, and red wigglers are bisexual, although it takes two worms to make babies. They are useful for fishing, bird food, composting, and gardens. They tunnel and loosen the soil, reduce soil acidity, free plant nutrients into the soil, and make your topsoil deeper.

Getting Worms

You will need two pounds of worms per one pound of food waste you produce. There are many types of worms and they can all be used for different purposes.

Garden worm: The kind you find in your backyard or garden, they turn white in water. Don’t use these for your vermicomposting bin.

African nightcrawler: About five inches long but can grow much bigger, they like warm weather and die in cold air or water. They reproduce every two years.

Native nightcrawler: Found in your yard and garden, they require lots of soil. These worms like temperatures under 50°F, and don’t like to be disturbed. They are best for the garden but not the compost bin.

Red worms: They consume lots of garbage, reproduce every seven days, and have alternating red stripes. At one and a half to three inches long, they are used for fishing and are the best for the compost bin.

Sewer worms: Mainly found in manure piles.

Raising worms is no more difficult than composting. It is especially valuable to urban dwellers and can even be done in an apartment. The worms need a covered bin with holes in the sides and bottom. It’s a good idea to line it with a mesh fabric to keep the little ones from crawling out. Set the bin on a drainage tray because you’ll be watering it like a houseplant. You will also need bedding material. You can use nice black soil, shredded newspapers, or a mixture of both.

  1. This bin will be able to hold about two thousand worms. For two pounds of worms, use a twenty-gallon bin to hold the worms and a slightly larger one that it can fit inside.
  2. Drill holes in the sides of the twenty-gallon bin. Drill twenty or more ⅛-inch holes in the long sides. Drill maybe ten holes in the lid as well. You only need one lid. You only need a few holes in the bottom, which are slightly larger: ¼ inch.
  3. On the bigger bin, tape or glue in aluminum cans that will act as a pedestal. You have to keep the smaller bin off the floor for drainage and air circulation. Put one of the small bins in the big bin on top of your pedestal.
  4. This is actually the most difficult part. You now have to tear up lots and lots of little pieces of cardboard and newspaper, unless you have a big bag of leaves handy. Even then you may want to add cardboard and newspaper just to have a mixture. It takes a long time to fill up a bin this size. Make sure there’s no tape or staples in there. You then have to moisten the whole thing so it’s as wet as a damp sponge. This bin took at least a gallon of water.
  5. You only need two more things before the worms arrive: some food waste and a scoop of dirt. Worms need some grit in their system and adding a little dirt will provide that. Food waste can be a few days old, sort of broken down already. Just push aside a hole in the bedding, dump it in, and cover it up. The rules for worms are a little bit different than your regular compost. It’s better to chop things up a bit for the worms, and you can’t add very much bread or citrus. Bread heats up the bin to an uncomfortable level for the worms, and they just can’t handle much citrus and peels. Other rules are the same as your compost: no meat, no dairy, no oily stuff. You’ll need to add at least a half pound of waste per day, per pound of worms, and more if you want them to reproduce. One more thing … don’t throw out the water dripping into the big bin. It is super-scrumptious compost tea that needs to be put in the garden!
  6. Now go out and get your worms. You need the kind that are sold for fishing, not the kind that are probably in your garden already. These are red wigglers, redworms, or branding worms. You will need about a half a pound (0.23 kg) of worms, or five hundred regular-sized worms per cubic foot (0.03 cu m).
  7. The worms will eat their weight in kitchen scraps per day. Bury your leftovers in the bedding after each meal and follow the same rules as for your compost pile: no meat or dairy products. Garlic and potato peelings are also a bad idea. They do need a steady diet of crushed eggshells sprinkled on top.
  8. They don’t like cold temperatures. You can keep them outside in the summer, but if it gets chilly at night bring them in.
  9. Whenever you take the lid off the bin, the worms will dive down to the bottom because they hate the light. Every couple of months open it up and put them in some bright light. After ten minutes, scrape off the top layer of materials—the valuable worm castings that are super great for the soil. When you see worms, wait another ten minutes and do it again. Repeat until you’ve gotten it all, and fill it up with fresh bedding again.

PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

“We live in a world we did not create and cannot control.”

—Timothy C. Weiskel

Marigolds planted with tomatoes deter nematodes and other pests.

Desert Gardens

The desert provides unique challenges and opportunities because of the heat and shortage of water. There are three strategies that will contribute to your success:

  1. Create successions that are self-shaded.
  2. As your staples, use edible tree species that thrive in dry climates.
  3. Use boxes and trellises as close to the house as possible or attached to it.

Your staple foods are olives, palms, citrus, avocado, apricot, banana, and maybe papaya. Staples are foods that provide you with half of your diet when they are in season because they are nutritious and produce lots of food. A gray-water marsh and other rainwater runoffs feed into swales directly to the trees, which also simultaneously shelter the house and create a cooler climate. Well-mulched raised beds made of mud, with the shade of wood trellises, vines, or trees, are planted with peas and fava beans in succession with celery, onion, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and melons. Climbing vines like grapes can be grown year-round in succession as well.

Succession and Interplanting

Many people plant a garden, but once the seed or seedling is in the soil, they don’t know what to do other than give it water and hope for the best. However, there’s still more work to do. The next step for vegetables is to get the plant to flower, because without flowers there aren’t any vegetables (unless it’s a root crop). The next step for herbs and lettuces is to prevent flowering, because if they do, they will stop producing leaves.

As the season progresses, you will also need to replant. Eventually, no matter what you do, the lettuce will bolt and stop making more lettuce leaves for you. With careful planning, you can extend your growing season far beyond what it otherwise would have been.

In the following sample schedule, plants are grown in quick succession to maximize food production:

Before First Frost: Around two weeks before the first frost of the season, you can start sprouting some quick-growing, cold-hardy brassicas inside. These include cabbage and broccoli.

Last Frost Date: Once you know that the last frost has passed, plant cold-hardy plants outside. These include lettuce, kale, dill, radish, parsnip, mustard, arugula, and carrots. Plant these close together, especially the lettuce.

One Month After Last Frost: The radishes should be ready to eat, and the brassica seedlings can be transplanted into the space where the radish was. The other herbs and leaf vegetables should begin to be ready as well.

Early Summer: When the soil has warmed up, remove a few whole heads of lettuce and plant bush beans in the spaces where they were. The cabbages will begin ripening and the remaining greens will try to bolt, so make sure you harvest those leaves quickly to prevent this.

Fall: You can finally harvest parsnips, and as the plants begin to end you can put in fava beans or push garlic cloves into the ground.

You will notice that there is a great deal of crowding going on. Rather than waiting for lettuce to get big, you are removing the whole lettuce as it begins to crowd everything around it. Don’t remove all the lettuce heads, but just enough to give other plants room. Then continue to harvest the leaves from the other plants.

Using Plant Communities

There is an alternative to simple succession and interplanting. Some farmers believe that plant communities are much more productive than the standard method because they seem to be more resilient and require less work. To do this, plants are arranged into communities, sometimes called guilds. These communities are a way of organizing plants around a central element based on companion planting (plants that grow best together) and their growing tendencies. This reduces competition with the roots of other plants, provides shelter from the elements, adds nutrients to the surrounding soil, and deters pests.

Companion planting has been used for thousands of years, with the most well-known being the Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—which were commonly planted by the native people of the Americas. The corn provides a support for the beans, and the squash shades the ground, preventing weeds from growing. Together they produce much more food per square foot than they could when spread out on their own. Another example is the apple tree community. Several rings of plants are grown under the apple tree’s canopy. At the base of the tree is a legume like fava beans, followed by a ground cover of clover with dandelions and chicory mixed in, surrounded by a ring of comfrey, artichoke, yarrow, nasturtiums, and dill, enclosed by daffodils that stop the grass from encroaching. This community is more complex than the Three Sisters, but each plant serves a purpose: attracting bees, providing mulch, fixing nitrogen, and preventing grass cover.

At times, some of these companion plants will need to be grown in succession to take full benefit of each other. For example, the corn must be planted before the beans and squash or the beans will grow too quickly and knock the corn over. Pay attention to the growing times and use your common sense when planning your garden. Observation is key in this process; keep track of what plants grow well together, and even what plants have sprung up on their own in close proximity to others. Even more apparent may be the plants that don’t do well together. The success of a plant community often has less to do with some unseen force, and is likely to come from a directly observational characteristic (like the ones you wrote down in the beginning when arranging your elements). This includes attracting or repelling deer or birds, attracting or repelling different insect species, or the function of the leaves and whether they shade the sun or mulch the ground. The one invisible trait that you should also research is the roots. The plant may fix nitrogen, loosen the soil, or provide a buffer that protects other plants from natural herbicidal plants.

Plants can be placed strategically to:

  • Attract predators—these plants provide food or shelter to friendly insects that eat pests;
  • Sacrifice themselves—these plants attract pests so the other plants can be left alone;
  • Trap pests—these plants attract and kill pests, or trap them so you can do it. Care must be taken to avoid providing a hotel for pests. Some plants provide a nice home for pests to live all winter, giving them even more opportunity to destroy your crops in the summer.
  • Provide nutrients—these plants can be grown to fix nitrogen or create other nutrients and friendly bacteria. They can also be cut down and left as a mulch below trees or between crops;
  • Create shelter—these plants prevent frost, stop the wind, make mulch, and create microclimates.

Animals can also work together to provide strategic benefits:

  • Foraging—when fruit falls on the ground, flies and other pests gather. Pigs and birds can clean these up, simultaneously fertilizing as they go;
  • Insect control—birds that eat larvae and eggs from the bark of trees can be attracted with flowers and herbs. The flowers and herbs attract insects, which in turn attract birds;
  • Slug and snail control—ducks can be allowed into the garden from fall to spring, where they will totally control the slug and snail population. They stay in the marsh in the summer;
  • Predator control—foxes, deer, and rabbits can all be controlled with a couple of dogs. If the dogs are raised with chickens, they will leave the poultry alone and protect them from predators.

It can be difficult to plan communities of plants and animals when you are working with so much diversity. How do you make sure everything in a group works together without losing your mind? This is done through a coaction study. Coaction means “acting together,” and so when you do a coaction study, you are finding out which plants act together for the most benefit. It’s actually quite difficult to go wrong in this process, since many living things will grow together without any effect on each other at all. Your goal is to try to find the ones that help each other. This is important when you are working with many communities that all interact with each other in one mega-community.

  1. When Species A and Species B are put together, they can affect each other in one of three ways: positively, negatively, or not at all.
  2. Obviously, if both species were negatively affected, you wouldn’t want to put them together in the future. Things are not so clear if one is positively affected and the other is negatively affected, or not at all. If Species A is benefited but Species B is negatively affected, Species A is a parasite.
  3. Begin observing each species in a community to see how it is doing in relation to the species around it. For example, the age-old knowledge of companion planting tells us that these plants will affect cucumbers:

= negative

+= positive

0 = none

  1. We could also observe our local community to find out what plants do well together in our area. If we wanted to see if the companion planting rules hold true, we could observe gardens to find out how the cucumbers are doing and tally the results. The number of cucumber plants that do well can be written rather than a + or −. Here are some examples:
  2. When the results are compared, they can be slightly different than expected. Cucumbers aren’t supposed to do well with tomatoes and yet the results are fifty-fifty positive and negative. Lettuce is supposed to be neutral, and yet cucumbers seem to be growing well with them.
  3. Once we have studied and researched these species and how they do within a group, we can begin to put them together so that each one has a +. Every plant should be benefited by something and be removed from any species that affects it negatively.

Companion Planting Table

Type of Plant

Does Well with

Does Poorly with

Amaranth

Sweet corn

Anise

Coriander (improves growth and flavor)

Cabbage family

Apple

Chives

Clover

Asparagus

Parsley and basil (deters asparagus beetle)

Tomato

Nasturtium

Onion

Garlic

Gladiolus

Basil

Tomato

Everything (improves flavor and growth)

Asparagus

Nasturtium

Pepper

Rue

Bean

Carrot

Cabbage family

Beets

Cucumber

Corn

Grain

Pea (improves growth)

Spinach

Eggplant

Mustard

Potato

Rosemary

Pole bean

Wormwood

Marigold

Beet

Bush bean

Cabbage

Lettuce

Onion

Kohlrabi

Lima bean

Radish

Celery

Borage

Tomato

Squash

Strawberry

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Sage

Bush bean

Beet

Carrot

Cucumber

Marigold

Potato

Cabbage

Celery

Corn

Eggplant

Lettuce

Pea

Radish

Strawberry

Fennel

Garlic

Onion

Cabbage family

Sage (deters pests and improves growth)

Celery

Beets

Onion family

Chamomile

Spinach

Chard

Pea (improves growth)

Tansy (deters cutworm and cabbage worm)

Anise

Bean

Dill

Pole beans

Strawberry

Tomato

Bush bean

Cucumber

Hyssop

Mint

Cabbage

Rosemary

Thyme

Carrot

Leaf lettuce

Parsley

Tomato

Sage (deters rust or carrot flies and improves growth)

Chervil (deters Japanese beetle)

Pea (improves growth)

Radish (deters cucumber beetle, rust flies, and disease)

Bean

Bush bean

Chive

Flax

Onion

Pea

Rosemary

Dill

Celery

Cabbage

Bush bean

Onion

Spinach

Tomato

Chard

Cabbage

Chervil

Radish

Lettuce

Carrot

Grape

Rose

Tomato

Chive

Carrot

Tomato

Apple

Grapes

Roses

Clover

Apple

Collard

Tansy

Coriander

Anise

Corn

Snap or soybean (improves corn growth)

Cucumber

Pea (improves growth)

Potato

Pumpkin

Squash

Amaranth

Radish

Sunflower

Bush bean

Pole bean

Onion

Cucumber

Bean

Cabbage family

Corn

Pea (improves growth)

Radish (deters cucumber beetle, rust flies, and disease)

Bush bean

Dill

Lettuce

Sage

Potato

Dill

Lettuce

Onion

Cucumber

Carrot

Tomato

Cabbage

Eggplant

Bean

Four-o’clock

Bush bean

Pole bean

Spinach

Potato

Peppers

Flax

Carrots

Potato

Garlic

Roses

Everything (deters aphids and beetles)

Asparagus

Bush bean

Pea

Pole bean

Grape

Chervil (deters Japanese beetles)

Chive

Hyssop

Nasturtium

Radish

Tansy

Hyssop

Cabbage

Grapes

Radish

Kohlrabi

Beet

Lettuce

Carrot

Cucumber

Onion

Radish

Beet

Chervil

Dill

Pea

Bush bean

Pole bean

Strawberry

Chrysanthemum

Mint

Cabbage

Strawberry

Mustard

Beans

Onion

Beet

Cabbage family

Lettuce

Tomato

Carrot (together deters rust flies and nematodes)

Dill

Celery

Cucumber

Pepper

Squash

Strawberry

Asparagus

Bush bean

Pea

Pole bean

Parsley

Tomato

Asparagus

Rose

Carrot

Pea

Bean

Carrot

Corn

Cucumber

Potato

Radish

Turnip

Lettuce

Spinach

Cabbage

Bush bean

Pole bean

Pea

Squash

Garlic

Onion

Wormwood

Potato

Pepper

Four-o’clock

Onion

Potato

Eggplant

Tomato

Pole bean

Marigold

Radish

Carrot

Corn

Cucumber

Eggplant

Lettuce

Peas

Radish

Garlic

Onion

Wormwood

Bean

Cabbage

Beet

Potato

Bean

Cabbage

Corn

Marigold

Pea (improves growth)

Horseradish or tansy (deters Colorado potato beetle)

Bush bean

Flax

Sunflower

Peppers

Cucumber

Eggplant

Pumpkin

Tomato

Pumpkin

Corn

Potato

Radish

Beet

Carrot

Spinach

Squash

Corn

Pea (improves growth)

Chervil

Cucumber

Lettuce

Pole bean

Grape

Bush bean

Hyssop

Rose

Chervil (deters Japanese beetles)

Chive

Garlic

Parsley

Rosemary

Cabbage

Bean

Carrots

Sage

Rutabaga Turnip

Pea (improves growth)

Sage

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Rosemary

Cabbage

Carrot

Strawberry

Tomato

Beet

Cucumber

Rue

Savory

Beans

Onions

Cabbage

Spinach

Pea (improves growth)

Bean or tomato (improves growth with shade)

Cabbage

Radish

Celery

Eggplant

Strawberry

Squash

Nasturtium

Radish (deters cucumber beetle, rust flies, and disease)

Tansy

Borage

Corn

Onion

Strawberry

Borage or sage (enhances flavor, deter rust flies and disease)

Mint (deters aphids and ants)

Bush bean

Lettuce

Onion

Spinach

Cabbage

Sunflower

Corn

Potato

Tansy

Cabbage

Potato

Squash

Grape

Collards

Thyme

Cabbage family

Tomato (with cabbage deters flea beetles, cabbage maggot, cabbage butterflies, Colorado potato beetle, and cabbage worms)

Borage

Tomato

Asparagus

Basil

Garlic

Marigold

Parsley

Chervil (deters Japanese beetles)

Spinach

Carrot

Chive

Sage

Thyme

Celery

Onion

Cabbage family

Fennel

Potato

Pepper

Dill

Corn

Weeding

Some people don’t weed at all, and others weed fanatically. Most people weed sometimes and do a medium job. The fewer weeds the better because your plants won’t have to compete with them for water, sunlight, and nourishment. After a garden has been in the same spot a while you will have fewer weeds to pull, and this is where natural farming starts to really work. But no matter what, in the first few years you will have to weed at least a little bit.

Weeding is hard work and it’s not fun, although some people find it therapeutic. Weed when the soil is damp, such as in the morning after the dew, or after rain. During hot, dry days the weeds hold on very tight to the soil. It is uncomfortable to weed bending over, so the most comfortable way is on all fours, squatting, or by sitting on something such as newspaper or kneeling pads available from the garden supply store.

INDOOR GROWING

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.”

—Rudyard Kipling

If you live in a place where there is no natural light and you don’t have a backyard or greenhouse, you might need to grow plants inside. Some people do this hydroponically, where they use factory-made fertilizer in water and grow under lights. In a situation where you couldn’t get that special fertilizer, your plants would die quickly, so the best method is really to use soil and electric light.

Basically, you need to find soil and make your own compost using your food scraps and, perhaps, a composting toilet. Your plants need to be put in containers: the cheapest way to get them is from thrift stores or to use materials you have. Square containers save space and hold more soil. You will also need water trays for under the plants, tables for the containers, and electric lights. Plants need certain colors of light in order to optimize their growth. Red and blue are the most important, and these must be balanced, or plants will get too short or too long and skinny.

Types of Lightbulbs

Incandescent bulbs: The normal lightbulb that you use in your house. These work well but do not have enough blue light. They can also be somewhat hot, so if you put the plant too close it can scorch.

Fluorescent bulbs: Produce three to four times as much light as incandescent with the same amount of energy and are relatively inexpensive. They are sold in cool white (with more blue and yellow-green colors) or warm white (with more orange and red colors), so the best way is to put the two together in a fixture so the plants get all the necessary colors. Full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs contain all the colors and are the best kind for a small farmer. They last twice as long.

High intensity discharge lamps (HID): Used by professionals, they use a lot of energy and are more expensive, and some produce so much light that protection must be worn around them.

Garden plants and vegetables require fourteen to eighteen hours of light each day. Then the lights must be shut off so that the plants can rest. If you notice the plants seem to be reaching for the light or have huge leaves, they may need more light.

Rotate the plants each week to get an even distribution of light, and use white trays or foil reflectors. Clean fluorescent bulbs once a month to clear them of dust. Feel your plants—if they are warm, the light is too close. And just like any other garden, you must water the plants and fertilize the soil with your compost.

Strategies

There is no magic formula to indoor growing. Some crops, like microgreens, need a lot of ventilation because of the high levels of moisture needed to grow them. A couple of well-placed fans may be all that is necessary. Mushrooms are another easy indoor crop with climate requirements. They need damp, dark, cool spaces such as a basement or closet. Each mushroom requires a different growing medium, which is specified when you purchase the spawn.

These are common profitable indoor crops:

  • Microgreens
  • Shitake, oyster, and button mushrooms
  • Lavender
  • Hardneck garlic
  • Herbs
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • Veggie starts

My own microgreen system used Costco shelving and fluorescent fixtures on a timer.

Some indoor farms are aquaponic operations inside huge warehouses. They use fish tanks to raise fish that produce a rich fertilizer that is cycled directly through plant roots, eliminating the need for soil. Leafy greens do particularly well in this kind of large-scale indoor scenario under lights or in a greenhouse. For an apartment dweller with limited space, mushrooms and herbs are your best bet, as they are low energy and don’t require the light that the other crops do.

PLANTING

“It always amazes me to look at the little, wrinkled brown seeds and think of the rainbows in ’em,” said Captain Jim. “When I ponder on them seeds I don’t find it nowise hard to believe that we’ve got souls that’ll live in other worlds. You couldn’t hardly believe there was life in them tiny things, some no bigger than grains of dust, let alone colour and scent, if you hadn’t seen the miracle, could you?”

—L. M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

Where to Buy Seeds

The last place you will want to buy seeds is from the local grocery store. If you are dedicated to growing organically, even if you can’t certify, you are obligated to purchase organic seeds. Finding a reputable source of bulk organic seeds can be a major task. Seeds are often your most expensive input and must be prepurchased before the growing season. If you are succession planting, you have to plan ahead and buy enough for multiple plantings. Ordering midseason doesn’t work because seed suppliers often run out of the variety you might be looking for, so order early and well.

For a two-acre plot of land using succession planting, my own seeds cost somewhere around $1,700 for more than seven hundred thousand organic seeds for one season, which included a large quantity of microgreen seeds. On page 101 is an example of a seed record that would allow you to keep track of your current seed inventory. You won’t run out of seeds if you keep track like this and make orders routinely.

Reading the Seed Packet

Seed packets are like real estate listings—brief, and with vague terminology that is intended to help you make the right choice. The following phrases are found on seed packets and indicate climate needs:

Frost-tender: Can’t survive even a light frost. Don’t plant early, and make sure the soil temperature is warm enough.

Semihardy: Can live through a light frost. Won’t survive a heavy frost, but you can plant right around the last frost date for your area.

Hardy: Will survive early spring and late fall frosts, and can be planted a couple weeks before the last frost date.

Latin Names

Plants are identified with both a popular name and a Latin name; for example: cabbage is also called Brassica oleracea. Latin names are the scientific way of identifying each species, and are much more accurate than popular names. When buying seeds, always make sure that the Latin name is specified so you know exactly what you are getting.

All living things are classified into five kingdoms. Plants are part of Kingdom Plantae, fungus is in Kingdom Fungi, and animals are part of Kingdom Animalia. There are also Kingdom Monera, made up of microscopic single-celled creatures such as blue-green algae, and Kingdom Protista, which are similar to Monera but have complex cells, such as seaweed.

To further categorize things, each kingdom has several phyla. The mushroom group is phylum Basidiomycota, the yeast group is called phylum Ascomycota. In the Plantae species there are two groups. One is for conifer, moss, and fern-type plants called gymnosperms. The other is the group of plants that animals (including us) eat, called angiosperms.

Angiosperms come in two classes: Monocotyledoneae and Dicotyledoneae, or monocots and dicots. Monocots have seeds with one leaf, the plant has narrow leaves, and the flower has parts in multiples of three. Dicots have seeds with two leaves, the plant has broad leaves, and the flower has parts in multiples of four or five with large colorful petals. Within each monocot and dicot family there are genera. The genus of a plant identifies exactly which species it is.

The Latin name of the common foxglove is Digitalis purpurea. In Latin, the genus is most often capitalized, and the species name is not. Books and seed catalogs use abbreviations, so it could also be listed as D. purpurea. It is important to get the right variety, since this wild variety is used to make a drug that treats heart disease. Other foxgloves (D. mertonensis, D. grandiflora, etc.) do not have the same properties. Here is an example of all the classifications of foxglove:

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Angiospermophyta

Class: Dicotyledoneae

Family: Scrophulariaceae (popular name: figwort, related to foxgloves)

Genus: Digitalis

Species: purpurea

Monocot families you should know

Arecaceae: palm family—coconuts and palms (equivalent of wheat in a tropical area)

Graminae: grass family—wheat, bamboo, corn, rice

Liliaceae: lily family—onion, lily, tulips

Musaceae: banana family

Dicot families you should know

Apiaceae: carrot family—carrot, parsley

Asteraceae: sunflower family—dandelion, sunflower

Brassicaceae: cabbage family—cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnip

Cucurbitaceae: melon family—cucumber, melons, squash, pumpkin

Fabaceae: pea family—peas, peanuts

Lamiaceae: mint family—lavender, mint

Leguminoseae: legume family—alfalfa, bean, peanut, pea, soybean

Poaceae: grass family—wheat, barley

Rosaceae: rose family—rose, apple

Solanaceae: nightshade family—pepper, potato, tomato

Planting Seeds Outside

Seeds germinate when the soil is within a certain temperature range. Usually this is 50-70°F (15-20°C). So, when we are waiting for spring planting, what we are really waiting for is the soil to warm up to 50°F. We can warm the soil with plastic to speed up the process. Some seeds, like apples, wild rice, and some berries, require cold temperatures to sprout. They should be stored in the refrigerator all winter, with the wild rice also kept in water. When they begin to sprout they can be planted outside.

Some seeds also need light to germinate. Carrots, lettuce, spinach, parsley, parsnips, and beets can be thrown directly on the ground rather than pushed into the soil, but they are likely to be eaten by birds. Instead, you can soak them overnight and let them sit in the light before putting them into the ground. Larger seeds are able to germinate in the dark, and some (like parsley) need the dark.

Depth is another factor that gardeners fuss over. It is usually recommended that you bury the seed four times the largest diameter of the seed. The deeper you push the seed down, the darker and wetter it will be. A shallow seed depth is likely to have more light but also dry out. The seed packets will have a recommended planting depth that should be followed, and sprouting seeds indoors will be more successful than sowing directly in the ground.

Propagation

Propagation is the process by which plants reproduce. Some plants, like potatoes, bananas, and many kinds of herbs, don’t use seeds. They may grow just from their own roots, or even by planting a piece of the fruit.

Plants with many stems, or a root clump (a large mass of smaller roots), can be propagated this way. Take a plant that is at least two years old, dig it up, and soak the roots overnight in water. This will soften them so you can gently pull the plant apart without tearing it. Plant pieces separately.

Lemon balm, comfrey, mint, horseradish, and others can be propagated by taking a plant at least two years old, and cutting off a piece of root at least two inches long. These plants have a single, fat, almost woody root, and you need to find a big, healthy-looking one. Plant it in the ground like you would a seed.

Layering is another way of propagating. For some shrubs, just bend a branch over and cover the middle of it with dirt (leaving the end out). The middle will grow roots into the ground and you can cut the plant away from the old one.

Tubers have their own special way. Get a nice potato, hopefully one that represents your ideal potato, and cut it into pieces. Each piece should have an eye. On a potato the eyes are darker brown spots, which indent into the tuber making it lumpy; on other tubers they are somewhat similar. When you cut be careful not to damage the eye. Plant each piece and a potato plant will grow from it.

All the other plants you will be dealing with must be started from seeds. However, to intensify your planting schedule, it’s a good idea to start some in trays inside, ideally in a greenhouse. A “flat” is a plastic planting tray with a standard size of ten by twenty inches. They are also called 1020 trays, and come in a variety of styles. You usually need two kinds, a plain tray that catches water, and a “plug” tray. The plug trays vary in size so that your 1020 flat can hold different numbers of plants. You can just plant in the open flat, but it’s a lot easier to remove the fragile seedlings from a proper plug tray.

When dealing with trays, and this is true for microgreens as well, you should sterilize the trays between each use. This is done by soaking in a bleach solution of one-half teaspoon of chlorine bleach per five gallons of water. Some people have recommended spraying the solution onto the trays, or using a hydrogen peroxide solution, but in my experience those methods do not adequately prevent mold from growing.

Each plant in the plant guide has its own propagation directions, but here are some rules of thumb:

  1. A heavy feeder such as tomatoes needs more space, so larger plugs are a good idea. The most common is called a six-pack, which has six plugs and fits six to a flat, giving you thirty-six plants.
  2. Most seeds need constant moisture for optimum germination. Beans, cilantro, corn, cucumber, melons, okra, peas, and squash can be soaked overnight and planted the next day.
  3. The easiest way to plant the seeds is to place them on top of damp soil, then push them down with your finger. If you water after the seeds are planted in dry soil, they often rise to the surface and can be lost.
  4. Big seeds can be planted one to a plug, but small seeds need a few in each spot and then can be thinned later.
  5. Make sure you label your seedlings! This can be done with cheap plastic stakes or Popsicle sticks that you can write on with a marker.
  6. Water your seedlings when the soil just begins to dry out. This means that your plants should be spongy damp, not soaking wet and not bone dry. The best strategy is to soak the soil once, then make another pass to make sure you got it enough.

Your seedlings are ready to plant out when they have one set of “true leaves,” strong roots, and the soil is the right temperature. When a seed grows, it has a set of baby leaves that die off when the first set of true leaves form. The roots will also branch out toward the bottom of the pot. When this happens, it’s time to “harden off” the seedlings by putting them outside longer and longer each day so they get used to temperature and weather changes. Bring them outside to a sheltered place like a porch during the day for longer and longer periods of time, a couple of hours the first day, a few the next, and by the end of the week they can be out all day and night. Remove them from the seedling trays without disturbing the roots and pop them into the ground so that the soil comes up almost to the first leaves. This helps them establish their root base faster.

Replanting Annuals the Easy Way

These techniques only really work well in a mild climate, but you could use cold frames or the greenhouse to try to do this as well. Certain plants can be made perennial:

Leek: Allow some leeks to go to seed. At the end of the season you can dig them up; you will find small secondary bulbs growing off the base of the stem. These can be planted just like onions. Alternatively, at harvest, you can cut off the leeks at the ground instead of pulling them out, and they will grow a second time.

Garlic: Garlic can be a perennial. If you leave it in the ground for a couple of years, it will begin giving you an everlasting crop of garlic.

Broad bean: Large pods often grow near the base of a broad bean plant, where they can be left on the ground to dry. In late summer, mulch over the top of them with straw and they will sprout in the fall.

Potato: In the fall, leave seed potatoes in the ground and mulch them well. They will sprout in the spring.

Lettuce: Allow lettuce to go to seed (don’t harvest it, just let it flower) and it will scatter seed and replant itself.

Fruit and melon: Tomatoes, pumpkins, and other melons can be left in the garden and covered with mulch at harvest time, where they will rot and spill their seeds. These will grow and effectively replant themselves.

Carrot: When you eat carrots, keep the tops and store them in a dark cool place. They will begin to sprout and you can set them out to grow.

Cabbage: Cut the stalk high on the plant, leaving a few leaves. Little cabbage heads will spring up out of the stalk, which can be eaten or replanted.

TOOLS

“Your first job is to prepare the soil. The best tool for this is your neighbor’s motorized garden tiller. If your neighbor does not own a garden tiller, suggest that he buy one.”

—Dave Barry

Growing plants requires a number of specialized tools other than the ones I’ve already discussed, such as, a rototiller, fridge and freezer, and canning supplies. A few tools that are absolutely necessary to have on hand are:

  • Shovels, both flat and pointed
  • Hoes
  • Bow rakes
  • Pruning shears
  • Trowels
  • Scissors
  • Large plastic bins or tubs
  • Spray nozzles
  • Tape measure

These tools should be high quality because they will see a lot of use. Shovels, rakes, and hoes often break where they are attached to the handle. The bow rake is used for shaping raised beds. The tines are for moving the soil and the flat side is for smoothing the top of the bed. You will need the scissors and pruning shears for harvesting because scissors work great for herbs and baby greens. The tubs are for harvesting and washing produce. Spray nozzles for hoses also tend to wear out very quickly when irrigating twice a day. Get a high-quality one with several spray settings.

These are some nice things to have:

  • Dibber or dibbler:This is a device for making holes for seeds. It can be as simple as using a chopstick that is marked at different depths to a large board fitted with pegs evenly spaced from each other. The board is set into the bed and the pegs “dibble” the holes.
  • Harvest knives:A sharp, curved blade knife with a small handle is most recommended. It is used to cut squash stems or go quickly through a lettuce bed for full-grown lettuce.
  • Flats:A “flat” is a black plastic tray that is used to grow small plants and seedlings. These are often cheap and not very durable, but can be used for microgreens, sprouts, seedlings, and even harvesting delicate plants.
  • Machete:When you have a lot of garden waste, it needs to be chopped down for compost. For example, snow pea vines can be pulled at the end of the season, chopped up, and thrown in the compost to be broken down much more quickly.
  • Wheelbarrow:This is pretty much a necessity, but they are expensive unless you can find one used. A small four-cubic-foot wheelbarrow is perfect for weaving in and out of tight spaces, and you need it to dump dirt, fertilizer, or compost into a bed.
  • Boots and waterproof clothing:A pair of insulated waterproof boots is a great investment. If you take care of your feet, you will help prevent fatigue and injury, and be a little less tired at the end of the day. High-quality weatherproof clothing goes a long way.
  • Restaurant salad spinner:A large salad spinner is a necessity if you are selling prewashed baby greens by the bag. You can do this with small, cheap salad spinners, but believe me, the time wasted is immense. Some people have converted an old washing machine into one, which is always an option.
  • Flame weeder:A fuel-powered flame thrower (essentially) for killing weeds very quickly. This may seem like overkill (no pun intended), but when your time is precious, this is a great no-till weeding method.
  • Seeder:This is a device that was invented a long time ago and has been brought back into production for the small farmer. It has disks that allow seeds to fall through at specific intervals. You can walk upright down the rows holding onto the handles to steer while it rolls along, dropping the seeds at just the right distance.

The city is not always the best place to find used garden supplies, but you might be surprised. Sometimes it can be worth it to visit rural agricultural auctions, farm-supply stores, and farm garage sales to see what you can find. Your garden center in the city will be more expensive, but if you are going to invest in new tools, it is totally worth it to buy a more expensive, high-quality item. Japanese and English tools are usually the best.

Hardware stores are another good option. Some of the best deals on tools and plastic that I have purchased were from locally owned hardware stores. Sometimes they’d give me a deal once they found out what I was doing with the tools. I have been offered plastic and other tools at wholesale price as long as I purchased the lumber (also a good deal) for my beds from them.

It’s important when you are purchasing supplies to always shop around, and the Internet makes it possible to get the best price. While my plastic sheets might come from a local person, my deer netting and drip hose could be purchased on a spindle from a wholesale supplier on the Internet. Packaging supplies, organic pest control, worms, ladybugs, giant salad spinners, and other tools are all available online.

INCREASING PRODUCTION

“Despite eating more than ever before, our culture may be the only one in human history to value food so little.”

—Alisa Smith, Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

Becoming Totally Self-Sufficient

Although this book focuses on commercial production, many urban farmers are concerned with their own diet. Planning is extremely important when you plan to live completely off your garden. You will need to be familiar with the food pyramid, and be able to grow a variety of things in order to maintain your family’s health. With a small amount of space, goats and chickens are a more feasible way of producing large amounts of protein, but most of your area will be devoted to the garden. Make sure to follow these rules of thumb:

  1. Use space-saving techniques.
  2. Use excellent record-keeping.
  3. Have a scarecrow, a deer fence, a dog, a cat, and any other garden protection you need.

The first thing you need to do is plan out how much grain you will need, and how much space it will take to grow it, and work around that. You need to know how much food your family eats, and the number of plants or the area needed to produce it. You will need to plan for winter, and grow extra in case of shortages. You will also have to spend an amazing amount of time storing and preserving your food—canning, freezing, and drying take as much or more effort than growing does. A good way to estimate how much your family will eat is by looking at food storage calculations. When you know how much your whole family will eat, you will need to know how much seed is needed to grow that amount. Add the following together:

This kale was started in the greenhouse and was ready in early spring before the last frost date. It was planted very closely together to increase yield and harvested as baby greens.

  1. The amount your family eats and how much seed it will take to grow that amount.
  2. The amount of seed that will be needed to grow plants next year. You need to grow extra plants that are allowed to go to seed, rather than be harvested, so you can grow more plants for the year after (if you are not buying them).
  3. Overcompensate for shortages: pests, drought, storms, and disease all shrink your crop, so add one-third more to the seeds (an organic crop loses about one-third).
  4. If you are feeding animals, make sure to add in seeds to grow enough food for them as well.

Increasing Yield

  1. Harvest your plants every day. Broccoli, cucumber, summer squash, beans, and chard will grow more if you regularly pick them.
  2. Plant your vegetables close together using companion planting and careful planning.
  3. Use transplants to start plants in March so you can start harvesting in June.
  4. Build a greenhouse so you can still grow food during the winter.
  5. Make cold frames or plastic covers to put on top of plants in early spring.
  6. Use succession planting, double-cropping (planting a new crop as soon as one is harvested), or plant every week or two.

Interplanting

Every plant has an ideal number of inches that it should be from other plants. You can grow two kinds of plants together in the same space if you carefully plan. A tall plant should be placed next to a relatively small plant that doesn’t need much sun. To determine the spacing, add the spacing inches together then divide by two. For instance, to grow cabbage and turnips, add 15 plus 4 = 19. Divide 19 by 2 = 9.5. Therefore, you can plant cabbage around nine inches from turnips. Also, remember the companion planting rules for each species.

Space-Saving Ideas

  1. Use plant stacking. Plants that are of different heights are planted close together utilizing the direction of the sun. For instance, the tallest plant will be placed at the end, with graduating sizes down to the front: corn, then pole beans, then kohlrabi, then onions, and then carrots.
  2. Use containers on areas that have no soil (pack those plants in wherever you can), and especially use square containers because they use space better.
  3. For climbing plants, use mesh for tendrils (grapes, etc.), poles for twining plants (pole beans, etc.), and lattices for other kinds of climbers.

This bed is dibbled with six-inch triangles.

If you have very little space, avoid summer and winter squash, cucumber, watermelon, muskmelon, cantaloupe, and corn, as they all take up lots of room, although you could try using the “bush” variety of some of these plants. If you must have squash and corn, plant the corn and the squash together in the same place. Also, you can plant pole beans in the corn and it will climb it, so you won’t need poles.

More Plant Spacing

Instead of rows of crops, bed growers have the option to create equidistant planting patterns. This is much more efficient for small plants than for larger plants, but for crops like radish, carrots, and lettuce it can increase production by 20 percent. This method is called hexagonal or triangle spacing because both of those shapes are used as a template.

To plan ahead for this type of spacing, you will need more seeds and seed packets. We talk a lot about standard bed sizes, and you can create your formula for your beds when you know your own standard bed size. Then, rather than using the seed packet’s spacing recommendations for straight rows, you would calculate spacing based on a triangle shape. When you look at the ground, it will still look like rows, but it is offset so the next row’s plant is near the center of the empty space between the plants in the row next to it. The photo shows an example of this, and the next section tells you how to calculate your seeds.

Calculating Number of Seeds per Square Foot According to Plant Spacing

Number of Seeds for Triangle Spacing per Square Foot

The seed packet will give you a spacing requirement for each plant, such as “Plant 2 inches apart.” If you are using triangle spacing, this is how many seeds you will need per square foot.

The quickest, cheapest way to make a measuring stick for triangular spacing is to create a cardboard triangle with equal sides that are the same length as your spacing. For example, if you need to space your plants three inches apart, your triangle will have three-inch sides. You would place that on the soil and plant seeds at each corner. This can be created out of wood or plastic as well.

If you want a device that can make holes for you, you can create a seeding jig. This is a piece of plywood with bolts and washers through it at intervals that match your spacing. The bolts jut out of the plywood, and as you place it down flat on the soil the bolts push in, creating perfect seeding holes.

Seasonal Succession

Just like the succession growing we talked about earlier, in which plants are grown back to back to maximize space, seasonal succession is a plan to maximize your growing season. The simplest way to plan succession growing is to divide your garden space into four parts. The parts will be used for early spring, spring, summer, and fall gardens. In each of the four parts you can delay some of the planting by two weeks, so you can continuously harvest. This is often the easiest way to start out as a beginner. From there you can move on to a more complex system:

  1. Divide your season into two parts—cool season and warm season. The cool season is when the night temperature is between 25°F and 60°F. The warm season is when the night temperature is 15°F cooler than the day. Normally, seed packets will recommend a planting date on or around the last frost in the spring, but some plants are hardier than that.
  2. Plant cool season plants when you know that the night temperature is not below 25°F: arugula, broad beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, collards, endive, fennel, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, parsley, parsnip, peas, radish, spinach, and turnips can all handle cool temperatures. You may need to use the greenhouse or cold frames.
  3. Plant another garden of warm season plants at the spring planting dates: artichokes, asparagus, bush beans, carrots, celery, sweet corn, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, leek, melon, onion, peanuts, sweet peppers, pole beans, potato, pumpkin, rhubarb, squash, sweet potato, Swiss chard, tomato, and watermelon.

Cold Climates

It’s a challenge to grow enough food all year to feed an entire family in a cold climate. It’s not impossible, just realistically very difficult. You will be able to supplement your supply with the greenhouse, but you’ll have to strategize the rest. We do this in two ways: extending the growing season, and preserving food. To extend the growing season, we create a rotating planting season. We plant cold-hardy salad vegetables in early spring, then our summer vegetables, followed by more cold-hardy salad plants, then root crops and vegetables that can stay in the ground during the winter. In some places we can also grow a green manure crop before spring. When there is a threat of frost, some of these plants must be protected by various devices, such as a cloche, hoop house, cold frame, or greenhouse.

Beds covered in winter.

Carrots, turnips, leeks, other root crops, and some greens like kale are hardy to frost, so you can leave them in the ground. Cover the soil with a thick layer of hay to keep it from freezing. At the end of fall you may have a bunch of unripe green tomatoes still on the vine. To ripen those last tomatoes and save them from the frost, pull the whole plant up and hang it upside down in your basement or cellar.

Cold Climate Garden Schedule

ORCHARD

“Anyone who has a garden, park, or orchard tree has an opportunity to ensure that it offers protection, brings beauty and bears fruit for future generations. In short, every one of us should aspire to be a forester.”

—Gabriel Hemery, The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century

In the City

You are not very likely to be able to cultivate an orchard in the city, but it is included here because of the community aspect of urban farming. Orchards and food forests are an increasingly popular form of urban farming that is being embraced by cities and community centers. This is because they are not very labor-intensive and produce food for decades. If you are interested in getting city-owned land, proposing an orchard is sometimes a more appealing option.

The Perimeter

The orchard is planted at the edge of your garden, but first you have to prepare the soil and develop nitrogen-fixing leguminous plants, such as clover or some species of shrubs. Then you can plant your orchard trees in amongst the shrubs and small plants. These really shouldn’t be in rows if they are for your own use, but if you are using the orchard to generate income then you should plant in rows, always making sure to form them along contours.

Urban citrus trees in a village in Spain.

Choosing the Right Trees

When choosing the right trees for your orchard, take these things into consideration:

  • When the tree is mature, will it be shaped like an umbrella or be more open? Open trees let in light for intercropping.
  • If you want to grow smaller trees under your larger trees, pick ones that are tolerant to shade.
  • A tall tree grows very wide and will shade out undergrowth unless you want to spend the time pruning it back.
  • Keep trees that don’t need water away from trees that do. This will simplify the watering process.
  • Some trees may stop other trees from growing well. Also, make sure to plant male and female species together for pollination.

You will also want to choose species that do well in your region. In a cold climate, apple, pear, quince, cherry, peach, plum, apricot, filbert, chestnut, walnut, hickory, olive, loquat, and pineapple guava may be grown. The species must be disease-resistant, which is more likely with a heritage variety.

Intercropping

Intercropping has been discussed previously in this book, but is just as important in the orchard. It is here in the orchard that the forest garden model has a chance to really play out. The species that you choose should be resistant to disease, won’t compete with other plants for water and nutrients, and can function as a windbreak. Under the trees you can grow green manure, nitrogen-fixers, and forage crops for chickens, sheep, or pigs; repel insects; or grow grass, flowers, herbs, or vegetables until the trees get too big.

To stop grass from growing under the trees, a variety of small plants can be grown. These are only really needed in the first few years, when young trees are competing with the grass.

  • Bulbs like daffodils and onion species come up in the spring and die off by summer.
  • Dandelions and comfrey have deep spike roots and leaves that cover the ground.
  • Fennel, dill, tansy, carrot, Queen Anne’s lace, catnip, and daisy all attract wasps, bees, and friendly birds.
  • Clover and leguminous plants cover the ground and create nitrogen in the soil.

Desert Orchards

When planning an orchard in a dry region, the first consideration is species. Choose trees that don’t need much water, or that can withstand drought. The trees will have to be spaced farther apart than they would be in a temperate zone so that they won’t compete for water, and it is a good idea to plant them during the rainy season. Trees should also be mulched. In deserts, rocks can be used to protect the roots from heat and damage, and act as a thermal mass that keeps the roots warm at night. Palm leaves or brush can be propped over the tree to protect saplings from the sun, and fencing or dogs should keep nibbling animals away. Interplant leguminous species in between.

The most efficient way to water trees in dry climates is by either using drip irrigation, which is a pipe system underground, or by building roof water and storm drains that lead into swales. The trees can be planted on the edge of the swales to take advantage of the water. If the soil is very sandy, each tree can also be planted in a hole that has been lined with mud clay so that the sand won’t collapse and water will be retained.

On a slope, trees should be planted in zigzags with logs or water-runoff ditches between them. The hardiest trees should be planted at the top of the hill, with progressively less-tolerant species toward the bottom where the deepest soil and most water will be.

In a desert, you can be more flexible with your zones. If valleys and streams flow through the property, meandering through all the zones, you may need to plant trees along the pathway of the water or right next to the house to take advantage of gray water. It is much easier to grow a tree where there is water already than it is to bring water uphill to a dry place.

Pruning

Each plant is different and requires different pruning techniques and schedules, so research your tree first. Careful, balanced pruning makes your plants grow better and fruit grow bigger, while excessive pruning can kill. If cutting a diseased plant, clean your pruning shears with rubbing alcohol afterwards. Never prune the first year, and never during a drought—in fact, prune as little as possible. It is better to prune too little than too much. This is the typical pruning process:

  1. Each plant is different, but in general, you can prune in early spring and late fall when all the leaves are off the tree.
  2. Prune off the dead wood and the branches that are rubbing against other branches (you should only need to do the worst ones).
  3. Pinch off some of the suckersand water sprouts, but not all of them—leave a few to flower. A sucker is a small sprout that grows out of the roots of the tree and comes up out of the ground (it looks like a completely different baby tree), or right out of the trunk of the tree. A water sprout looks a lot like a sucker but is a very green shoot that comes out of branches after too much pruning or an injury. If you take them all, they will all come back, but take a few and only a few will come back.
  4. You can now attempt to train the branches of the tree to be more conducive to an optimum tree shape. Fruit trees need to have more horizontal branches for easy picking. Mature fruit and nut trees need more light within the tree so they might be thinned, and they can be pruned smaller than another tree so that the branches will grow short and fat for strength and easy picking.

Pyramid: This type of pruning keeps the tree quite a bit smaller than other methods. It is a good idea to do this type of pruning after April, rather than in the winter, to prevent silver leaf disease. It is a fairly straightforward strategy. On an established tree you would carefully cut the tree into a pyramid shape.

  1. A sapling in the first year should be cut back to two feet (60 cm) high.
  2. In the second year, cut off eighteen inches (45 cm) from the top of the main stem, and trim off the ends of the remaining branches to just above the previous year’s healthy bud.
  3. The third year, cut eighteen inches (45 cm) off the top of the main stem and trim back the ends of the top few branches to just above the last healthy bud, or about ten inches (25 cm).

Silver leaf disease: Found all over the world, Chondrostereum purpureum is a fungal disease that attacks just about any deciduous tree. Any home orchard is susceptible to it, and it can spread between species through wounds in the bark. It is recognizable by the silvery sheen it makes on the leaves when it damages the leaf cells. Apples tend to be fairly hardy and can usually recover, but other species can die from it. In the meantime, it reduces the amount and quality of the fruit you do get. To prevent silver leaf, it is important to follow smart pruning strategies.

  • Use sharp, high-quality pruning shears so that the cuts you make are clean and smooth, and so the wood won’t split. If the branch is big, use a saw to make a clean cut.
  • Prune in the spring on a warm sunny day, not in the winter. Silver leaf prefers cool, wet conditions.
  • If you are going to use wound dressing after the cut dries, do it on the same day. The dressing should be applied thickly with several coats. You should also know that pruning paint may be expensive, but making your own is ineffective. If you can’t buy some, don’t use any. The tree’s natural defenses will help it heal and homemade stuff will actually prevent it from healing.

Bush: Also called open-centered, the bush shape has a stem of two and a half feet (0.8 m). The aim is to create a shape that has (obviously) an open center. This is done in early spring.

  1. On a tree that is grown, pinch off any buds on the bottom of the trunk and pull off any suckers.
  2. This type of pruning is not very extensive. You should only have to remove any stems and branches that are crossing or vertical, and any weak or diseased ones.
  3. If you need to thin the branches more later, you can do so in July.

Fan: Fan training is used when a tree is grown up against a wall or fence at least six feet high, and hopefully facing the south or southwest for most varieties. Dwarf varieties work the best for this.

  1. The tree should be planted between six and nine inches (15-22 cm) away from the wall, angled slightly toward it.
  2. It is best to do the cutting in the spring, when branches can heal quickly. In the first year, when a sapling has no branches, cut back the main stem to fifteen inches (38 cm), making sure that there are at least three strong buds.
  3. In the summer, put two stakes into the ground at forty-five degrees on either side of the tree and tie the two side branches to them to start creating the fan shape.
  4. Repeat the next year for two more inside branches at a lesser angle.
  5. When a tree is already a couple of years old and hasn’t been trained, you will have to cut back the main stem to about fifteen inches (38 cm), put in the stakes, and cut each arm of the fan by two-thirds to just above an upward-facing bud.
  6. At this point, the tree will have two arms extending from each side. In the summer, tie four shoots from each arm thirty degrees from the main arm so that they will create a fan shape.
  7. Pinch off any shoots that are growing out toward the wall. Cut back any other shoots so that there is only one leaf left.
  8. The next spring, cut back the four branches on each side by one-third, just above an upward-facing bud if you can.

Planting Trees

  1. A tree has a root ball: a ball of soil that is surrounding the mass of roots. Don’t let this ball dry out before you plant it. If the ball is wrapped in something, take that wrapping off before you plant.
  2. Dig a hole deep enough that the root ball will be covered by the soil. A tree has a part at the base where it begins to flare out and turn into roots. This flare is where you will want your hole to come to.
  3. Put the tree in the hole and fill it with dirt. Leave a circular compression or trench all around the tree a little thinner than the root ball so that water can settle in it.
  4. Spread fully composted organic material on top of the soil all around the tree (don’t mix it with the soil because it can actually cause harm), and water very thoroughly to soak the roots. Don’t step on the dirt around the tree.
  5. You shouldn’t have to stake a tree unless the dirt around it is loose—trees need to learn to hold themselves up. Pruning also does not help the tree grow unless you are only removing broken branches.
  6. When watering, soak down to the roots, but then wait a while until the soil dries out to water again. Only swamp trees like their roots wet all the time.

Grafting

Grafting is when a branch from one fruit tree is grafted onto another of a different type. The purpose of this is varied, but the most common reason is that putting a difficult-to-grow fruit species on an easy-to-grow tree will hopefully make it grow faster and easier. Grafting makes it possible to grow several kinds of apples on the same tree, saving you space. However, you can only really graft a cherry tree onto a cherry tree, an apple tree to an apple tree, etc.

  1. In late winter (February), cut the scions (fruit-tree shoots with buds) that you want to graft at both ends so they are about two inches long and as thick as a pencil. Do this by pressing them against the knife with your thumb and rolling them back and forth.
  2. Start grafting in late March or April, when the buds on the trees you are grafting start to swell. Bring grafting wax with you in a dish of warm water.
  3. On the tree you are grafting to, saw the top off a branch and split the branch down the middle with a chisel or knife. The split can be small. Wedge the split open a little bit with a small piece of wood.
  4. Shape the end of two scions so that they will wedge into the branch better.
  5. Carefully put two scions into the cleft, one on each side, so that the end of the branch appears to be forked. Take out the wedge.
  6. Take a ball of grafting wax, lay it on the end of the stalk between the two scions, and press it down so that it seals up all the openings in the wood and is firmly in place. Grafting wax is any sealant to be used for plugging plant wounds. Some people use simple Elmer’s glue, but beeswax or other sealants will also work. Bind it with tape or cloth.

Making grafting wax:

Either mix together 10 ounces rosin, 2 ounces beeswax, 1 ounce of charcoal powder, and 1 tablespoon of linseed oil, or mix equal parts of tallow, rosin, and beeswax.

ORGANIC CONTROL METHODS

“Growing up, my mom made dinner every night. Usually this would be a large salad with kale, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, all organic, of course, and sometimes she’d sprinkle nuts on top for texture. Kale has a metallic taste, like chewing on the hood of a Mercedes. No, something safer, like a Volvo.”

—Jarod Kintz, Gosh, I probably shouldn’t publish this.

The Definition of Organic

Early in 1940, English botanist Sir Albert Howard wrote An Agricultural Testament, describing alternative organic methods for building soil fertility and health. This was in direct conflict with the respected German chemist Justus von Liebig, who had set the modern scientific standard in plant nutrition a hundred years earlier and is considered the father of the modern fertilizer industry. He promoted the idea that plants need only three major components: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (symbolized by their chemical letters NPK), give or take some trace minerals. Among his many accomplishments were the invention of nitrogen-based fertilizer and Oxo beef bullion.

Von Liebig declared that humus was not important, and what plants really needed was intense applications of NPK. Sir Howard, on the other hand, created the Law of Return, which was almost the complete opposite: whatever comes from the soil must be returned to it. It was an ideology that flew in the face of the Industrial Revolution because it seemed to turn against science and progress. Because of this, Howard saw little credit for his ideas, and he remained obscure for the rest of his life. A young man named Jerome (J. I.) Rodale read Howard’s book The Soil and Health, and it inspired him so much that it became his life’s work. He became a dedicated activist, promoting organic growing in his magazine and eventually meeting Howard and inviting him to write some articles. Jerome Rodale became the ambassador for change in the 1930s.

Organic growing is labor-intensive in that it requires a lot of work by hand.

These two men defined organic as we know it today. Conventional methods of fertilizing soil today are exactly the same as those invented during the 1840s: adding caustic and potent NPK in its pure forms, thereby killing the soil in the process. The living matter that makes up healthy loam quickly dies under repeated applications. Organic growing depends only on the natural waste that comes from the earth to feed plants: the roots and stems left over from harvest, manure from animals, vegetable matter that begins to rot—all the components of a compost pile. Rather than growing bigger plants faster, organic is content with building a higher yield over time through better soil.

For the first few years of his magazine, Rodale targeted farmers, trying to educate them on organic farming. Many hours and wasted dollars later, he realized that most farmers at that time truly didn’t care, and he abandoned the effort. Instead, he turned to the home gardener and the consumer, who began to really drive the movement forward. It wasn’t until the early 1950s, however, when a congressman became sick after exposure to DDT that the term organic began to take off as a household word. Congressman James Delaney launched the first government investigation into chemicals used to produce food, and the few organic farmers who did exist at the time wholeheartedly supported his sudden interest. Delaney invited J. I. Rodale to speak to Congress, but he came across as a romantic. In turn, Rodale felt that the government and the USDA were ignorant and was disgusted with their lack of interest in researching the matter. He was attacked by public relations campaigns on all sides, including Monsanto, who published a propaganda pamphlet with pictures showing organically grown fields of corn yielding far less than those grown with chemicals.

Organic: Building soil health by returning to the soil what the soil produces.

In North America, the organic movement very quickly became political. Mistakenly, it was defined by the idea that people must rebel against the Industrial Revolution in order to be on par with growing organically. It was seen as a step backwards.

Not much has changed in North America. Today, organic can mean any number of things as defined by the USDA organic standards, which were eventually created by the government. However, in its pure form, true organic means caring for the soil, not the plants. Organic growers feed the soil what came from the soil, and conventional growers feed plants lab-created minerals.

We know the basic principles behind organic growing are the soil, composting, and seeds. But, there are a few more strategies to help you be successful: placement, protection, and prevention.

Placement

The placement of crops in organic growing is one of the most important things to consider. It involves knowing the lay of the land and what else is growing nearby. Each plant has its own specific needs for soil type, water, sun, and temperature, and the environment you provide can mean the difference between a healthy plant and no plant at all. So, the first thing to do is map out your garden space. What are your lowest and highest temperatures every year? What kinds of soils do you have? Where do you get the most sun?

Raised bed or container gardening will be vastly more successful for you than tilling and row-cropping. Raised beds prevent all kinds of pests from getting access to your plants, help with drainage, and are perfect for no-till soil care. Container gardening can be even better because it deters all kinds of burrowing beetles and creatures, and you can move the containers around year to year to confuse other pests.

Once you’ve placed your beds in the warmest, sunniest spot and filled them with perfect soil, you now have to decide on the placement of each plant species. This is where crop rotation comes in. Crop rotation is not succession planting, which has the goal of increasing production by growing more plants in one place. Instead, crop rotation is a strategy of moving plants around to make sure the soil does not get tired out or depleted, and to confuse pests who tend to return to the same spot every year. This plan always includes a legume that returns nitrogen to the soil, and big farms will often rotate alfalfa or clover, but you can use peas or beans as well. So, every year, at least once, it’s a good idea to grow a legume in every square inch of soil. By returning nitrogen to the soil, the legume is doing a job that would require lots of fertilizer instead, but it does this without energy or cost, and you might get some food out of it as well.

The next part of crop rotation requires an understanding of some of the basic vegetable families. The “Everything else” category includes plants that don’t belong in a whole family, but have their own rotation.

Alliums: onion and garlic family

Brassicas: cabbage family, including Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, pak choi, arugula, turnips, and rutabagas

Chenopodiacaea: beet family, including Swiss chard and spinach

Cucurbits: cucumber, melon, and squash family

Legumes: peas and beans

Solanaceae: tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplants

Umbeliferae: carrot family, including cilantro, dill, parsley, parsnip, and fennel

Everything else: mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, basil, berry fruit, lettuce, endive, cress, Jerusalem artichoke, corn, and asparagus

Imagine you have a little garden bed. In that bed you decide to grow spinach, which takes only a couple of months to grow. Once it’s done, what do you grow next? Spinach does not feed heavily from the soil and is not prone to many problems, so you can follow it up with most other plants. You can’t grow beets or Swiss chard because they are from the same family, so you need to choose from another family. You predict that you can grow at least one more crop in the heat of summer before cold weather hits. It’s a good idea to grow brassicas right after growing peas because they need a lot of nitrogen, so brassicas aren’t a good choice after spinach. Carrots prefer cooler weather and it will still be too warm for them, so some good options to follow the spinach crop might be bunching onions, squash, or even tomatoes seedlings depending on the length of the growing season. Then you can sow peas at the end of the year. It’s important to also add an inch of rich compost between each planting. For tomatoes, you can add a little more.

Most of us grow more than one type of vegetable at a time, so this is where companion planting comes in, which we discussed in previous sections. Some people really take this to extremes by trying to follow companion planting tables religiously and making very complicated growing patterns, but just understanding plant families and knowing a few rules is enough. It’s safe to say that a plant can grow next to one from its own family, but it’s also a good strategy to space them out, if possible, because they are susceptible to the same pests. If you move them away from each other one is more likely to survive.

These companion plants can be intercropped. For example, in the crop rotation we talked about earlier, the spinach can be planted with radishes in between, and the bunching onions that follow could eventually have carrots among them as well. What was originally one crop of spinach becomes radishes, carrots, onions, peas, and spinach. Putting all of these together in the same bed in the same year not only increases our chances of getting a good crop, but increases our yields overall.

Protection

Most professional organic growers use man-made materials to protect their crops, whether that is a massive commercial greenhouse or a plastic sheet thrown on the ground. I hate plastic as much as the next person, but it is a tremendously useful and necessary tool in organic growing. There are now biodegradable plastic sheet mulches available. Most people in North America live in a temperate region, with cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers. This climate also provides the perfect home for a variety of molds and pests that don’t exist in the desert. We may think people in the South are the only ones who can grow all year-round, but that’s not true. Welcome to the miracle of plastic.

There are other ways we can protect our crops, but they all use similar materials. Glass is an obvious choice, but unless you have a bunch of old windows, it is much more expensive. You are more likely to be able to get plastic, and there are two kinds. The first is clear and lightweight and should be three micrometers thick (called 3-mil poly at the store). These sheets are for use as “floating row covers,” which is just a fancy phrase for the plastic thrown on top of plants at night to prevent frost damage. You can use this cheap stuff to lengthen your growing season by about a month in northern regions, and several months in southern regions. The second type is clear and heavyweight and should be a minimum of 6-mil poly (six micrometers). This plastic sheeting is used with hoops made out of electrical conduit or PVC, which can be built as a low tunnel on each raised bed, or as a big high tunnel or greenhouse out of wood or metal. Depending on the weather, the 6-mil sheeting can be reused a second year, but the 3-mil can’t. The heavier plastic can allow you to grow all your crops much earlier in the year. Plastic floating row covers can only help you grow cool-weather crops earlier. They won’t protect your plants from snow. For example, you can use the 3-mil floating cover to grow kale into the winter, but with a 6-mil tunnel you can grow carrots, broccoli, and other cool-weather crops in the dead of winter.

Peppers and tomatoes grown in a greenhouse equipped with extra lighting and ventilation.

The other kind of plastic cover is nonwoven polypropylene. It looks like fabric and provides the same frost and pest protection and temperature control as plastic, but it allows moisture and light in, and it breathes better. This sheeting is used extensively by northern growers and tends to be more expensive than plastic but is supposed to last longer. It’s a good idea to try both in your area and see which you like better. This fabric cover can be used earlier as a low hoop tunnel or as a floating row cover.

The final material is mulch. Organic certification stipulates that you cannot use plastic mulch permanently, because these big plastic sheets begin to degrade over time and add little bits of plastic to the soil. Plastic mulch keeps the weeds down exponentially, reducing labor dramatically, but you have to pull it up every year at least once and do a proper crop rotation. If you do that, plastic mulch can be extremely valuable. The black color warms up the soil earlier, keeps moisture in—which reduces your watering time—and deters burrowing pests. Alternatively, you could use leaves, and bark works very well for pathways. Leaf mulch has the added value of not having to be removed and provides more needed nutrients to the soil, but it isn’t effective at deterring pests and doesn’t stop weeds as well.

It is likely that as you start out, you may have to prioritize what is protected based on the size of your budget. Your warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers need heat in the beginning of the year, and a greenhouse can give it to them. Greens are another crop that is a priority, especially from the brassica family. They are extremely susceptible to pests that hold over from year to year, but if you tuck them in tightly with a fiber floating row cover, you can keep the pests at bay.

Strategies for plant disease prevention:

  1. Rotate crops—don’t plant the same thing in the same spot two years in a row.
  2. Don’t work in the garden when it’s wet.
  3. If the plant is diseased, don’t save seed.
  4. Clean up old debris.
  5. Maintain even soil moisture.
  6. Fertilize properly—don’t overdo it.
  7. Don’t put diseased plants in the compost pile.
  8. Try not to get the tops of the plants wet when watering.
  9. Wash your hands after touching a diseased plant.
  10. Grow resistant varieties.
  11. Prune and weed to improve air circulation.
  12. Avoid injuring plants and trees.
  13. Sterilize pruning shears after pruning diseased plants.

Prevention

This is just a reiteration of everything we have talked about regarding organic growing. It starts with composting religiously and repeatedly, adding it to the soil every time you grow something. Simply paying attention to what is going on in the dirt throughout the process will really help you.

Placement and protection are both part of prevention. Prevention is much easier than repair. Once attacked by a pest, a plant has a very difficult time recovering. Some of the energy that would have gone to producing an edible fruit or vegetable will now have to go to repair. If you are fraught with fungus and disease, you will have to destroy every plant that is even slightly infected in order to save the rest. And you can’t throw them in your compost pile. It means making hard choices, and even when things look like the end of the world, being resolved to never use chemicals. Without step-by-step prevention, organic growing doesn’t work.

Weeds are a big problem in the spring. Your tiny vegetable seedlings begin to grow only to be choked out by weeds that grow much faster. Most plants can be transplanted, which not only starts them off earlier, but also gives them a jump on the weeds. Beans, corn, cucurbits, mustard, peas, and turnips are the few plants that are not worth transplanting, but everything else can be planted in flats or trays according to the directions on the packet.

If you have prepared the soil properly, it will be full of compost and should sit at a nice, even 6.0 or 6.5 on the pH scale, with not too much of anything. However, some plants like broccoli and tomatoes use so many nutrients during the season that they need a kick. Kelp tea is the easiest way to do this. You can buy liquid kelp, or make your own tea by buying kelp meal or gathering fresh kelp from the ocean. Soak the kelp in water for a couple of weeks and pour it directly on the plants. Neem and alfalfa powder can be mixed in for an even more potent tea. This will boost your plants’ vitality and help keep their immune systems strong.

Plastic mulch keeps lettuce free of weeds, which can create a lot of work for the farmer in growing and especially harvesting.

Even if you decide that you can’t grow very much food, knowing how food is grown organically will help you to know your farmer’s practices better and make better choices. Your best defense is knowledge.

Plants to Grow to Attract Good Bugs or Repel Bad Ones

Attract Good Insects

Bees

bee balm, borage, summer savory

Hoverflies

buckwheat, German chamomile, dill, morning glory, parsley

Ladybugs

yarrow

Predatory ground beetles

amaranth, lovage

Predatory wasps

anise, borage, German chamomile, dill, yarrow

Deter Bad Insects

Aphids

anise, catnip, chervil, coriander, dill, garlic, mint, yellow nasturtiums, peppermint, petunias, sunflowers

Ants

catnip, mint, tansy, pennyroyal

Asparagus beetle

parsley, petunias, pot marigold

Bean beetle

rosemary, tomato, summer savory

Black flea beetle

sage, catnip, wormwood

Blister beetle

horseradish

Cabbage moth

hyssop, peppermint, rosemary, sage, summer savory

Cabbage worm

borage, thyme

Carrot rust flies

rosemary, salsify, wormwood, sage

Codling moths

garlic, mint

Colorado potato bug

flax, horseradish, eggplant

Corn borer

radish

Cucumber beetle

nasturtiums, radish

Flea beetle

catnip, hyssop, mint, peppermint

Fleas

lavender, pennyroyal

Flies

basil, rue

Gophers

elderberry

Japanese beetle

catnip, chives, white flowering chrysanthemum, garlic, rue, tansy, white geraniums, larkspur

Leafhopper

petunias

Mexican flea beetle

petunias

Mosquitoes

basil

Moth

costmary, lavender

Potato beetle

coriander, horseradish

Root maggot

garlic

Root nematodes

chrysanthemum

Slugs

comfrey, wormwood

Snails

garlic

Spider mites

coriander, dill

Striped cucumber beetle

tansy

Striped pumpkin beetles

nasturtium

Squash vine borer

radish

Squash bug

catnip, dill, nasturtiums, tansy

Thrips

basil

Tomato hornworm

borage, petunias, pot marigold

Weevil

catnip

White cabbage butterfly

peppermint, wormwood

White fly

nasturtiums, marigolds (calendula)

Wooly aphid

clover

Plant pest-control strategies:

  1. Turn over your soil in the fall so the birds can eat the bugs.
  2. Rotate where you plant your crops every year, so bugs can’t get a residence.
  3. Fertilize and help your soil.
  4. If you can’t weed, mulch.
  5. Keep your garden clear of weeds and debris.
  6. Cultivate the plants in the fall.
  7. Destroy infected plants.
  8. Keep the ground clear of everything around trees.

Organic Pest Control Methods

Note: Insects usually go through several life stages: egg, pupae, larva, and adult. A pupae is like a cocoon, while a larva looks more like a grub.

Pest

Control method

Alfalfa weevil

Encourage parasitic wasps.

Aphids

Spray with watered-down clay or soapy water, and bring in ladybugs.

Asparagus beetle

Shake beetles into can of soapy water, or spray tea on plants.

Black flea beetle

Dust with soot and ashes, plant near shade, and spray with garlic or hot pepper.

Blister beetle

Also toxic to horses or grazing animals. Cut hay with a sickle bar or rotary mower, and don’t crimp or crush hay.

Cabbage looper

Sprinkle worms with flour or salt.

Cabbage maggot

Apply wood ashes to the soil.

Cabbage worm

Put sour milk in the center of the cabbage head, and dust with 1 cup flour. Or use mint cuttings as mulch.

Carrot rust fly

Sprinkle wood ashes at plant base.

Codling moth

Spray with soapy water.

Colorado potato beetle

When plants are wet, spray with wheat bran, remove beetles and eggs by hand, and spray with mix of basil leaves and water. Cover ground with 1 inch of clean hay or straw mulch.

Corn earworm

Put a little mineral oil in the silk on the tip of each ear.

Cutworm

Sprinkle wood ashes around plant and press a tin can—with the bottom cut out—around the stem 3 inches deep.

Harlequin bug

Handpick bugs off.

Hessian fly

Encourage parasitic wasps.

Hornworm

Handpick off and sprinkle dried hot peppers on plant.

Leafhopper

Shelter plants.

Mexican bean beetle

Spray with garlic, destroy eggs, handpick beetles, and plant earlier.

Mosquito

Empty out all standing water.

Moth

Sprinkle around dried sprigs of lavender.

Onion maggot

Plant onions all over instead of in one place.

Slug

Handpick off, make borders of ashes or sand, and mulch with wood shavings or oak leaves.

Spider mite

Spray cold water, or spray mix of wheat flour, buttermilk, and water on leaves. Or spray soapy water or spray coriander, and introduce predators.

Squash bug

Handpick, grow on trellises, and dust with wood ashes.

Squash vine borer

Pile up soil as high as the blossoms.

Striped cucumber beetle

Handpick, mulch heavily, dust with wood ashes, and grow with trellises.

Tarnished plant bug

Remove plant after harvest.

Thrips

Spray with oil and water mix or spray with soapy water.

Weevil

Hill up soil around sweet potato vines.

Wireworm

Plant green manure like clover.

Natural Pest Control Concoctions

The following is a list of homemade mixtures that can prevent and deter pests.

Bay leaf

Sprinkle dried leaves on plants.

Catnip

Spread sprigs around and it will repel a variety of pests.

Chrysanthemum (pyrethrum)

Mix with water and spray as a general insecticide.

Garlic

Concentrated garlic spray deters fungus and insects.

Horseradish

The root can be made into a spray, either raw or as a tea.

Hot peppers

Make a spray from the tea. It repels most insects.

Kelp

Use as powder or tea as spray to kill bugs. It also fertilizes.

Lemon balm

Use as powder and sprinkle throughout garden.

Marigold

Plant the scented varieties throughout the garden.

Petunia

The leaves can make a tea for a potent bug spray.

Pest-Eating Creatures Helpful to Farms

The following are beneficial creatures that should be encouraged to take up residence in your farm.

Spiders

Do not kill the spiders you find in your garden. They eat all kinds of pests!

Minute pirate bug

Eats spider mites.

Mite destroyer beetle

Eats spider mites, introduce into garden.

Parasitic wasp

Eats Hessian flies and others.

Six-spotted thrips

Eats spider mites, introduce into the garden.

Toad

Lay a flower pot upsidedown in your garden.

Purple martin birds

Make a birdhouse with many apartments or a group of birdhouses clustered together, painted white, and put on a high pole away from trees and buildings. Remove other bird’s nests except the purple martins, and take down the house in the winter.

Poisonous Plants as Natural Pesticides

Note: These plants are poisonous to humans.

Plant

Kills or Prevents

Notes

Four-o’clocks

Kills Japanese beetles

Poisonous especially to children.

Larkspur

Repels aphids

Poisonous to both humans and animals.

Marigold (Calendula)

Repels insects, kills nematodes

Unlike pot marigold, French and Mexican marigolds are poisonous.

Mole plants

Repels rodents

Isn’t good for humans, also gets out of control.

Stinging nettles

Repels mites and aphids

Hairs on the leaves have formic acid which stings you. However, these can be ingested when properly prepared.

Tansy

Repels nettles, beetles, squash bugs, cutworms

Toxic to many animals. Don’t let it go to seed or it will grow everywhere.

Wormwood

Repels moths and most other insects

This medicinal herb is used to create a botanical poison that should not be used directly on food crops.

Crop Rotation

It is a little overwhelming to look through all of these tables of companion plants, succession tables, and plant families and wonder what you should be planting next. The table below is a simple guide to rotating crops in order to prevent insects and disease and maintain your soil quality.

Current Plant

To Plant Next

Beans

Cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, corn; not onions or garlic

Beets

Spinach

Carrots

Lettuce, tomatoes; not dill

Cucumbers

Peas, radishes; not potatoes

Kale

Beans, peas

Lettuce

Carrots, cucumbers, radishes

Onions

Radish, lettuce; not beans

Peas

Carrots, beans, corn

Potatoes

Beans, cabbage, corn, turnips; not tomatoes, squash, or pumpkins

Radishes

Beans

Tomatoes

Carrots, onions

Identifying diseases:

A disease often looks like a weird brown or rust spot on some part of the plant. Tan spot wheat disease makes small brown dots on the leaves, while alfalfa phytophthora root rot makes a big brown spot on the root. Another kind of disease is a caused by a nematode, or a worm that creates cysts on the plants. The cysts make the plant stunted and/or yellow. There is no cure for this disease except for prevention and removal. Every location has different diseases, and the best possible identification method is taking the plant to your local extension office.

Infected plants:

  1. Destroy infected plants/trees or pruned-off parts.
  2. Scrape off loose bark from trees.
  3. Cut out diseased wood, then patch with tree-patching compound.

PROCESSING

“For now, the corn house fill’d, the harvest home, The invited neighbours to the husking come; a frolic scene, where work, and mirth, and play, Unite their charms to cheer the hours away.”

—Joel Barlow, The Hasty Pudding

The Plants section (Chapter 4) contains information on best practices for harvesting each individual type of crop. This section tells you what you can do after you have harvested your crops.

The Harvest Station

Harvesting and processing is your biggest task as a farmer, so a well-designed processing station is invaluable. It should be located under cover as close as possible to your growing space. You will need the following:

  • two sturdy tables, one for dirty produce and one for clean produce

This is an ideal setup for processing: under cover, with a steel sink basin and drying area. Note: the farmer does not have to bend over.

  • a hose hooked to a sprayer for washing produce
  • ideally, a large double-basin sink. This can be an old restaurant sink, two bathtubs, or even large plastic bins
  • a way to catch the runoff from your washing station and divert it back to the garden

You will also need a variety of tools depending on what you are harvesting. If you are packaging herbs or salads, you will also need plastic bags, berry baskets, or other food-safe packaging. You will definitely need a durable salad spinner if you are packaging mixed greens or mesclun mix. If you are lucky, you can get an industrial-sized one from a restaurant sale. Or, perhaps even better, you can use an old washing machine set on the spin cycle. The key to protecting the leaves from damage is not overloading the machine.

Food Safety

Produce that is straight from the ground is incredibly dirty. Organic growers run the risk, as frequent users of manure, that their produce will harbor dangerous E. coli and other nasty bacteria. This is not only a health risk, it’s a liability risk for you. This means using good hygiene as a rule throughout every part of your farm operation. Make sure the manure you use is fully composted and don’t let any animals poop in your beds.

After harvesting the produce, keep it separate from the clean produce and the processing area. This is why having two tables is such a good idea. You can bring your bins or harvest trays to the table, cut off tops or pick out the bad stuff, which can be recycled into the compost.

Now it’s time to wash the produce, the harvest area, and your hands. There are a variety of strategies for washing produce to preserve quality and save time. This is detailed under each plant in the plant guide, but most of the time you will use a solution of 100 parts per million of chlorine bleach in clean water. This is the same as ½ teaspoon per liter. To do this, first wash your hands and the processing area with the soap, and scrub most of the dirt off the produce. Wash your hands again and clean the area again, this time sanitizing the sinks, tables, and tools with the bleach solution. Wash the produce with the bleach solution and set aside on the clean produce table. Sanitize your salad spinner before using it as well.

Farm refrigerators also get very dirty, whether it’s your home fridge or a dedicated farm fridge/walk-in cooler you use before the farmers’ market. It’s a good idea to start your processing ritual by cleaning out the fridge, using the bleach formula to sanitize it. Get all the dirt out so you can start fresh each week.

Freezer Box Fridge

A practical alternative to a regular fridge is difficult to find. Even the most energy-efficient models are woeful energy hogs, and yet an effective method of keeping all of your produce cool is so necessary, especially when you are growing so much fresh food. A regular home-sized refrigerator is not large enough for a profitable farm, so you will need at least two or three, which cost a lot to run.

The simplest and easiest solution is to take a chest freezer and replace the thermostat with a regular refrigerator thermostat. Cold air is heavier and tends to fall, which means that every time you open your typical vertical fridge, all the cold air falls right out the door. A chest freezer has the door on the top to prevent this inefficient escape of cold air. These kinds of cheap chest freezers can be found on Craigslist or other websites, and many farms just find multiple old fridges and run several at a time. The freezer box fridge is just slightly more efficient than an upright fridge.

Walk-In Storage Cooler

Ideally, a serious farmer will want and need a walk-in cooler. This is basically a small room that acts as a refrigerator and creates a perfect temperature and humidity level for keeping vegetables fresh. The simplest and cheapest solution is to frame out the corner of a room and insulate it with pink foam insulation (at least a couple inches thick). Insert an air conditioning unit into the wall and use a CoolBot device to control the airconditioning unit to keep the room at a cold temperature. While a commercial cooler can cost many thousands of dollars, a CoolBot room costs around $500 or less.

Freezing

The best temperature for freezing vegetables is -5°F, but to save energy you can go as high as 0°F (but no higher!). Put cartons or buckets full of water into the bottom of your freezer, so if the electricity goes out, food will last longer, and you will have a small water supply. Keep the freezer in the coolest room of the house, but not where it freezes, since it can withstand hot temperatures but not cold.

Before you can freeze vegetables, you must blanch them. Blanching slows or stops the enzymes that make vegetables lose their flavor and color. There are two ways to do this: boiling and steaming. If you blanch too much they will lose nutritional value, but blanching too little will speed up the enzyme breakdown and make them all brown and wilted. You have to stick to tried-and-true blanching times to do this right.

Food that does better if you freeze it than drying or canning:

Asparagus, sweet green peas, snow peas, whole berries, melons, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, freshwater fish

Food that you can’t refreeze after thawing:

Any kind of meat, ice cream, and vegetables. Fruit and bread you can refreeze without any problems.

The day before you start, turn the freezer temperature down to -10°F (-23°C), which will help everything to freeze quickly. Be ready to label every item with the date and what it is. Don’t forget to turn the temperature back to 0°F (-17°C) when everything is frozen. Frozen fruits and vegetables will last about a year, with the exception of onions, which last about eight months, and baked foods can last six months. Animal products and meat only last three to six months.

To boil vegetables, wash them thoroughly and drain well. Some foods can be frozen whole; check the table for those. Most must be trimmed and chopped. You will need one gallon (3.7 L) of water per pound (0.5 kg) of prepared vegetables, or two gallons (7.6 L) per pound (0.5 kg) of leafy greens. Bring the water to a boil, and lower the food in with a wire basket, mesh bag, or metal strainer, which will slow down the boil. It should take less than a minute for the water to get back up to a boil; if it takes more, you are using too much water.

Keep them submerged for the time specified on the chart, then pull them out and quickly chill them in ice water for the same length of time that you boiled them. Drain them well, pack into a container or a zip-up freezer bag, with as little air as possible, and put them in the freezer.

Steaming is almost exactly the same, but instead of submersing foods, use only about two inches (5 cm) of boiling water in the pot. The steamer basket is lowered in, and the lid is put on. You start timing it as soon as the steam starts trying to push out of the lid again.

Onions, peppers, and herbs don’t need to be blanched at all. Squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and beets need to be fully cooked.

Blanching Chart

Food Type

Steaming

Boiling

Artichoke

hearts: 8 minutes

hearts: 7 minutes

Asparagus

small stalk: 2 minutes

medium stalk: 3 minutes

large stalk: 3 minutes

medium stalk: 3 minutes

Bamboo shoots

10 minutes

Bean sprouts

5 minutes

Beet greens

2½ minutes

Black-eyed peas

2½ minutes

2 minutes

Broad bean pods

4 minutes

Broccoli

5 minutes

Brussels sprouts

small heads: 3 minutes

medium heads: 4 minutes

large heads: 5 minutes

Butter beans

small: 2 minutes

medium: 3 minutes

large: 4 minutes

Cabbage

shredded: 2 minutes

wedges: 3 minutes

1½ minutes

Carrots

whole: 5 minutes

diced/sliced: 3½ minutes

sliced: 3 minutes

Cauliflower

3½ minutes

3 minutes

Celery

diced: 3½ minutes

diced: 3 minutes

Chard

2½ minutes

Chayote

diced: 2½ minutes

diced: 2 minutes

Chinese cabbage

shredded: 1½ minutes

Collard greens

3 minutes

2½ minutes

Corn on the cob

small ears: 7 minutes

medium ears: 9 minutes

large ears: 11 minutes

(note: cooling time double)

small ears: 6 minutes

medium ears: 9 minutes

large ears: 10 minutes

(note: cooling time double)

Corn cut from the cob

5 minutes

4 minutes

Dasheen

3 minutes

2½ minutes

Eggplant

1½-inch slices: 4½ minutes

1½-inch slices: 4 minutes

Green beans

3 minutes

2½ minutes

Green peas

2 minutes

Greens

2 minutes

Irish potatoes

4 minutes

Jerusalem artichokes

4 minutes

Kale

2½ minutes

Kohlrabi

whole: 3 minutes

diced: 1¾ minute

diced: 1 minute

Lima beans

small: 2 minutes

medium: 3 minutes

large: 4 minutes

small: 1½ minutes

medium: 2½ minutes

large: 3½ minutes

Mushrooms

whole: 5 minutes

sliced: 4 minutes

buttons/quarters: 3½ minutes

medium, whole: 5 minutes

Mustard greens

2½ minutes

Okra

small pods: 3 minutes

medium pods: 4 minutes

small pods: 3 minutes

medium: 4 minutes

Parsnip

3 minutes

2 minutes

Peas

edible pod: 2 minutes

edible pod: 1½ minutes

Pinto beans

small: 2 minutes

medium: 3 minutes

large: 4 minutes

Rutabagas

diced: 2½ minutes

diced: 2 minutes

Shell beans

1¾ minutes

Snap beans

3 minutes

Soybeans

in pod: 3 minutes

4 minutes

Spinach

2½ minutes

Summer squash

2 minutes

Sweet peppers

halves: 3 minutes

strips/rings: 2 minutes

Turnips

diced: 2½ minutes

diced: 2 minutes

Turnip greens

2½ minutes

Wax beans

2½ minutes

3 minutes

Drying

Air drying works well for many herbs as well as alliums like onions and garlic. Herbs can be tied in bunches, and onions and garlic can be braided together by their tops. They are simply hung upside down from the ceiling. Some people do this in the greenhouse, and others recommend a cool, dark place. Your cold storage downstairs may be too humid, but a large cool pantry or even a big cupboard will work. It should take about two weeks to completely dry, and they will hold their flavor longer if you just keep them there. Just take some as you need them.

I have used round dehydrators, but for a farmer, the large rectangular Excaliber dehydrator is a necessity.

Sun drying is a no-cost, low-energy dehydration method that uses the power of the sun. This method works well in a hot, dry climate. In temperate regions, a large reflector can be made to help focus the sun’s rays, like a big solar cooker, but it will still take a few days if it is successful at all. The alternative is an electric dehydrator. There are many on the market today that use very little energy to power a heating element and fan, and there are some that work effectively with a fan alone. They can dry food of any kind (including chips, jerky, and fruit leather); they can make stale chips and crackers taste better; de-crystalize honey; dry bread sticks, pasta, flowers, and dyed wool; start seedlings; grow sprouts; and make yogurt. A low-wattage dehydrator can run well on a home power source.

The process of preparing food for dehydration is a little time-consuming but well worth the effort. The most important part is deciding when the dehydration is done. Follow this list for prepping and drying fruit, vegetables, and meat:

  1. Use only ripe fruits and vegetables. Wash everything thoroughly, peel, and slice them very thin unless you are dehydrating peas or corn, which can just be removed from pods and cobs. For seed pods, harvest them before they burst and use them whole. For meat, choose lean cuts of beef, buffalo, goat, or deer. Don’t use pork, which is too fatty. Cut into trimmed strips around an inch wide and half an inch tall, and as long as you want, cut along the grain. Sprinkle with ground pepper and salt. This process is the most time-consuming step. There are simple devices such as apple corers and peelers that can help speed this process along. Overripe or even fermenting fruit can still make good fruit leather. Wash, peel, remove seeds and pits, and then grind it up by mashing or blending. The puree must be thin enough to pour but not watery. If it is too thick, add fruit juice or water; if it is too thin, add another kind of fruit puree.
  2. Normally, when you dehydrate foods, you want to soak fruits and vegetables in a solution of vitamin C or sugar for five minutes to prevent oxidation and discoloration. However, this extra soaking will make it difficult to dry in the sun. If you are using an electric dehydrator, get a big bowl or bucket of ice water and dump some sugar or citric acid (vitamin C) in it. As you chop, put the finished slices into the bowl until you are ready to lay them on the drying trays.
  3. Spread one layer on a drying tray. When making fruit leather, line the tray with plastic wrap or even parchment paper. Each type of food will dry at a different rate, so it’s important to keep them all separate. Make sure you label everything so you know what it is.
  4. Put the trays in the hot sun, or in the electric dryer. If you are drying meat in the sun rather than the dryer, it should be on a tray that is four feet above a slow fire. The firewood should be nonresinous hardwood and with very low flames because its purpose is to keep away the birds and the flies. Green wood that makes a lot of smoke works well for this.
  5. Turn big chunks of food three times a day and small foods once or twice a day. In a dehydrator, move the trays of almost-dry food to the top and the moist food to the bottom. It should not take more than two days for them to dry. Everything needs to be protected from dew and bugs. If you must continue the next day, bring everything inside before dusk and bring them out again in the morning when the sun is out.
  6. Vegetables are dry when they are brittle and break when bent. Fruits are leathery or brittle, and should produce no moisture when squeezed. Fruit leathers will be a little sticky, but easily peeled from the paper or plastic lining in the tray. Pods will become dry and brittle. Meat should be hard and solid, with a uniform appearance; this means that they should be the same dark red color throughout, without any excessively large wrinkles in one place. Break a piece to make sure it is dry in the center.
  7. Put fruits and vegetables into a wide-mouthed bowl for a week, stirring it two to three times a day. Keep it covered with a screen or porous cloth. This conditions the food to resist mold. Then repack it tightly in an airtight container or freezer bag and store in a dark, dry place.
  8. If you want to pasteurize the food, put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 175°F. Remember to label with the type and date, and check it in the first two weeks for moisture—if you find that there is some, you’ll need to dry them some more. Properly dried food should stay good for at least six months or more. If you find bugs, remove the bugs and roast the food at 300°F for 30 minutes.

Fermentation

Lacto-fermentation has become more popular again in recent years because it saves the nutritional properties of the food preserved and has all kinds of friendly bacteria. Where other types of food preservation techniques try to kill all the bacteria, fermentation encourages bacterial growth. It works because the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which kills botulism and other bacteria. For this reason, it can be much safer than canning or even eating raw vegetables, which can harbor E. coli.

It is highly recommended that you put the fermenting foods into jars with rubber-sealed lids. The rubber seals release gasses that build up during the fermentation process, preventing an explosion. Traditionally, people used crocks as well. You can sterilize the jars by pouring boiling water in them if it makes you feel better, but soap and water is enough. Grow the food yourself or get it from a farmer who has clean produce and a good reputation.

Pickling

Cucumbers are the most popular type of pickle, but beets, carrots, green beans, onions, radishes, Swiss chard ribs, turnips, zucchini, and many other vegetables can be pickled too. The recipe is pretty much the same as for kimchi and sauerkraut, with only a few variations. The recipe is as follows:

  • 1 pound of sliced cucumbers
  • 1 cup of sea salt for salting the layers
  • Water to fill jar
  • Salt water solution for soaking dill
  • 1½ tablespoons of sea salt for brine
  • 1 cup of unchlorinated water
  • Mustard seeds
  • Peppercorns
  • Lots of fresh dill
  • 2 cloves chopped or mashed garlic

Lay the cucumbers tightly into a bowl, adding the 1 cup of salt as you go, layer by layer so they are all salted. Fill with water so that there is at least an inch of water on the top. Soak the dill heads upside down in salt water as well. After 24 hours, mix the unchlorinated water and brine salt so the salt is completely dissolved. If they still have peels on them, you can poke holes in the cucumber peels with a fork. Pack the cucumbers tightly into extremely clean or sterilized jars by layering them with the mustard seeds, peppercorns, dill, and garlic. Add the brine solution, but don’t fill it right to the brim. Optionally, you can place a horseradish leaf on the top to protect the top layer. Close the jar tightly and keep it in the kitchen for a couple of days so you can watch it. When it begins to form bubbles on the top, put it in the fridge or cellar for six weeks before eating.

Sugar

The first thing you need to make jam or jelly is pectin, which turns your juice into a thicker substance. Many people buy Certo Fruit Pectin in packets and add it to the jam, but you don’t need to do that if you have apples.

To do this, save the peels and cores of apples and tie them up in a bundle of unbleached muslin cloth. The more apples you put in there, the more pectin you will have, but even a few will make a difference. There is also a distinction between jams and jellies. Jelly is the kind of spread that has no chunks of fruit in it. Instead, the fruit has been pureed and strained. Since you are using natural pectin, you have to make jam. The fruit in jam has simply been crushed or just boiled until it is mush. The measure of sugar has everything to do with the quality of your jam. Some fruits also need extra acidity to form a gel. Usually this is lemon juice, but any citrus could work.

Does it have to be sugar?

Sugar as a preserving method is almost exclusively used for fruit, because of all the natural sugars that they already have. The extra cane sugar has the job of preserving the color of the fruit. It also helps to create the firm consistency we are familiar with in jams and jellies. It also helps the fruit last longer; without the sugar, the jam won’t store as long. It doesn’t have to be cane sugar, but cane sugar ensures success. A note about honey: it is recommended to substitute only up to half the sugar, or your jam will be a runny syrup that lasts a much shorter amount of time.

To substitute other sugars, use the following:

  • honey: ¾ cup for every cup of sugar
  • brown sugar: use the same amount as sugar, but it has a strong flavor—works well for peaches
  • raw sugar: add ¼ cup more for every cup of sugar

Clean, peel, and remove the stems of the fruit you want to add. Grapes need a little extra processing to remove the peel, which can be done by simmering or squeezing the fruit. Rosehips are gathered in the winter, after the first frost, and must be pureed to remove all the seeds. Once they are all prepared, put all the ingredients in a big pot with the muslin bag of apple cores—with the exception of the rosehips, which don’t need apple cores to thicken up. If you are making apple jam (or apple butter), you will have to add 1 tablespoon of water per cup of apples. Bring the fruit to a simmer over low to medium heat, stirring now and then. Toward the end you will have to stir more. Continue until it has reached a consistency that doesn’t drip. Most jams, especially berry jams, may still be fairly liquid and won’t have that store-bought jiggle, but as long as it slides slowly off a spoon it should be done.

Fruit

Sugar

Citrus

1 cup apples

¼ cup

1½ teaspoons

1 cup apricots

1 cup

2 tablespoons

1 cup berries

¾ cup

1½ teaspoons (optional)

1 cup grapes

1 cup

1 cup peaches

¾ cup

2 tablespoons

1 cup pears

¾ cup

2 tablespoons

1 cup plums

¾ cup

1 cup rosehips

¾ cup

Fill the jars up as full as you can with the hot jam, close tightly, and turn the jars upside down. The jam will help sterilize the empty space at the top. Store them upside down and they will last the winter. Other ingredients to add include cinnamon, fresh walnuts, raisins, mint, currants, hazelnuts, and vanilla.

Good ingredients for jam:

apple

apricot

blackberry and raspberry

blueberry and cranberry

cherry

citrus

grape

peach

pear

quince

strawberry

Apple jam:

  1. To use the natural pectin in the fruit, first clean the fruit and taste it for tartness. If it is not very tart, add some lemon juice for extra acid. Prepare the apples as you would to make pectin. Cut up enough apples to make 5 pounds, add 1 cup of water, and simmer (you may have to add more or less water for a better simmer).
  2. Stir frequently until soft. Sieve the pulp in cheesecloth or a Foley food mill.
  3. In your jelly pot, measure in 10 cups of pulp, ½ cup of water and 2½ cups of sugar.
  4. Cook the pulp quickly over medium-high heat (220°F), stirring constantly. When it is done it should be boiling fast, have a sheen, and it will have reduced in volume. This is tricky … if you stop the boiling too soon it will not set, but too late it will be rubbery. You can test to see if the jam is ready to set by removing a small amount of it and putting it on a plate. Stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. If it gels, it is ready.
  5. Sterilize the jars as you would for canning, then put the jam in hot and seal them. The recommended processing time is 5 minutes at sea level, 10 minutes at 1,000 feet, and 15 minutes above 6,000 feet (see the section later on canning). This can make 11 cups of jam.

Chutney formula:

Chutney originated in India and is usually prepared right before a meal, but it can also be used to preserve any kind of fruit or vegetable. It is very similar to jam but there are a bunch of different spices and flavors combined together, and rather than being something reserved for toast, chutney is used to top cold meat, potatoes, rice, and salads.

You will need the following:

  • 4 cups of chopped fruit or vegetables (apples, mangoes, plums, tomatoes, rhubarb, etc.)
  • 1 cup of a complementary vegetable (radish, zucchini, eggplant, etc.)
  • 1 cup of chopped onions
  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • ½ cup vinegar
  • Salt
  • Herbs (ginger, mustard seed, cloves, cayenne pepper, rosemary, pepper, curry etc.)

Throw all the fruits and vegetables and onions into a pot with the herbs and salt to taste, add a little water, and bring it to a boil. Simmer until everything is very soft and mixed together. Add the sugar and vinegar and continue boiling until it has the same consistency as jam. Sterilize the jars and lids, and pour the chutney in while it is very hot. Close the lids immediately and store upside down. Ketchup is basically a chutney.

Vegetable Oil

Any oil extracted from a plant is a vegetable oil. This includes almond oil, avocado oil, castor oil, coconut oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil, wheat germ oil, soy oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, etc.—any nut, grain, bean, seed, or olive. The oil is pure fat. Only sesame seeds and olives can be pressed without being heated. This is called “cold pressing” and is the most nutritious. Other foods need to be heated before pressing. There are several modern ways to extract the oil by pressing, either hydraulically or by expeller. The other way is with a solvent, which is definitely bad for your health. Most store-bought oil has been refined to the point that its age and taste are gone. Homemade oils are rich and flavorful, and it is easy to tell when they have gone rancid (store-bought and processed oils are more difficult to tell). When you purchase olive oil at the store it is labeled Olive Oil, Pure Olive Oil, Virgin or Extra-Virgin. Virgin means that no chemicals were used in extracting the oil. Regular olive oil has some virgin oil mixed in, but isn’t very high on flavor and has had solvents in it. Extra-virgin has exceptional taste.

With olives it is just a matter of crushing the juice out and letting the oil rise to the top. With other foods, first crush them and press the oil out, then boil the pulp in water and more oil will rise to the surface and can be skimmed off. There are no home-size presses for this, so either a fruit press can be used or a homemade press can be devised for this purpose.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a useful ingredient for many dishes. It also preserves foods like herbs and is a great product to sell. The easiest way to collect vinegar is to keep a mixture of half vinegar and half cider at 80°F for a few days. The thin scum on the top is “mother of vinegar.” You can save this to turn any fruit juice into vinegar.

  1. Take sweet apple cider, uncooked with no preservatives, and fill a gallon glass jug to the neck. The jug should have an airlock with a tube. As the juice ferments, the carbon dioxide will come out the tube and bubble the water.
  2. Keep the cider at room temperature and then wait 4-6 weeks for it to ferment. When the bubbling stops, pour half the cider into another jug. Then add mother of vinegar to each by putting a little on a dry corncob and floating it inside, or add already-made vinegar to it (1 part vinegar to 4 parts cider). Cover each jug by tying a cloth on over it.
  3. Try to keep the jugs at 70-80°F. Ordinarily it will take 3-9 months. When it is vinegar, dilute it before you use it.
  4. To store it, strain the vinegar through cheesecloth and store in a cool, dry place in bottles.

Test your vinegar to make sure it is strong enough (titration):

  1. Mix a small amount of baking soda in water in a small jar. There should be enough soda that some of it settles to the bottom.
  2. Steam a head of cabbage in a little water and keep the juice (make sure it is very purple liquid). Pour this juice in another jar.
  3. Add a few ounces of water to two drinking glasses, making sure they’re equal to each other. Using an eyedropper, add enough cabbage juice to each of the glasses to make them purple (put the same amount in each).
  4. Rinse the dropper, and then put seven drops of five-grain store-bought vinegar into one of the glasses of purple water.
  5. Rinse the dropper and add seven drops of the homemade vinegar to the other glass.
  6. Rinse the dropper, and then add 20 drops of baking soda water to the store-bought vinegar mixture. This will turn the water blue.
  7. Add baking soda one drop at a time to the homemade vinegar mixture, counting each drop, until it is the same color blue as the store-bought one.
  8. To calculate the acidity, divide the number of drops you used by four. Thirty drops divided by 4 = 7.5 percent acidity.

Your vinegar is a little strong to use in any recipes at this point. The following formula uses 7.5 as the example homemade vinegar acidity. Most recipes use 5 percent acidity, so that’s probably what you’ll dilute it to.

  1. Subtract 5 from 7.5 (your current acidity) to find the difference: 7.5 - 5 = 2.5
  2. Multiply the answer by your total amount of vinegar (in ounces). 1 quart = 32 oz.

32 x 2.5 = 80

  1. Divide the answer by 5. 80 / 5 = 16
  2. The answer is how much water you add to the vinegar. So in this case, you would add 16 ounces of water to it.

Now you can pasteurize your vinegar. Pasteurizing prevents you from using the vinegar as a starter, but it also keeps it from being cloudy, because no mother forms. Put the bottles (loosely corked or unsealed) into a pan filled with cold water. Heat the water gradually until the vinegar is about 145°F and keep it there for 30 minutes, then cool.

Herbal vinegars are the most fantastic way to use and sell your homemade vinegar. Collect some aromatic herbs. You can use the leaves, stalks, flowers, fruits, roots and even nuts. Cut them up very finely, and fill any jar up to a thumb’s width from the top. Pour room temperature vinegar into the jar up to the top—apple cider vinegar is best. Cover it with a plastic lid, several layers of plastic wrap or wax paper held on with a rubber band, or a cork. Don’t use metal, as the vinegar will corrode it. Label it with the name and date, and in six weeks it will be ready to use. The fun part about this is that not only is the vinegar useful, it can make a great gift because the jar can be beautiful. To use, pour on beans and grains as a condiment, in salad dressing, in cooked greens, stir fry, soup, or any recipe that calls for vinegar. You could even use it for cleaning. After six weeks you can decant the vinegar into a better jar so it does not get stronger.

Best tasting herbs:

Apple mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) leaves

Bee balm (Monarda didyma) flowers, leaves, stalks

Bergamot (Monarda sp.) flowers, leaves, stalks

Burdock (Arctium lappa) roots

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) leaves, stalks

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) leaves, roots

Chives and especially chive blossoms

Dandelion (Taraxacum off.) flower buds, leaves, roots

Dill (Anethum graveolens) herb, seeds

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) herb, seeds

Garlic (Allium sativum) bulbs, greens, flowers

Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis) leaves and roots

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) flowers

Ginger (Zingiber off.) and wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) roots

Lavender (Lavendula sp.) flowers, leaves

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) new growth leaves and roots

Orange mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks

Orange peel, organic only

Peppermint (Mentha piperata etc.) leaves, stalks

Perilla (Shiso) (Agastache) leaves, stalks

Rosemary (Rosmarinus off.) leaves, stalks

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) leaves, stalks

Thyme (Thymus sp.) leaves, stalks

White pine (Pinus strobus) needles

Yarrow (Achilllea millifolium) flowers and leaves

Canning

Note: If canning isn’t done properly, you can end up with botulism and die. Follow the instructions exactly, and use proper jars and seals.

The initial investment in canning equipment can be steep but worth it. A pressure canner has a dial-type temperature gauge, pressure regulator, and lock-down clamps. It is not recommended to can without an accurate pressure regulator. In the old days it was done, but today, and for beginners, always use one. This is because water boils at 212°F, not hot enough to kill all bacteria, so pressure is used to raise the temperature to 250°F.

An enameled canner is blue or black with white speckles, has a lid and canning rack, and is for sterilizing and boiling things. It is also used to can things such as fruit that has lots of acid so it’s safe to can—which is called water bath canning.

The jars must be heavy mason jars (or similar) made for canning. Using old mayonnaise jars doesn’t work because they break very easily under pressure (although it is possible in an enameled canner). Some companies are now selling classic mason jars with the wire bail lids, but the cheapest method is to get reusable jars and get new lids and screw bands. This type has a small lid with a rubber seal, and a metal band or ring that tightens it (the rubber seal can only be used once, but the ring can be reused). Then you throw out just the lid after one use. Never use cracked, chipped jars or jars with a worn rim.

Pressure canning:

  1. Prepare the food for canning by blanching, skinning, pitting, slicing, and poaching as needed (use a canning recipe for each mixture). Use only the best fruit, and make sure to remove all the bruised or infected parts.

Equipment needed for canning:

pressure canner

enameled canner

glass canning jars

a sieve

canning jar lids and seals

wide-mouthed funnel

rubber gloves

jar tongs or lifters

a loud timer

  1. Boil all your plastic and stainless steel equipment for 30 minutes, then wrap in a clean towel. Wipe down counters with a chlorine scouring powder (like Comet) or other antibacterial solution, and rinse with boiling water. Dip knives with wooden handles in boiling water. Wash canning jars and put in simmering water (180°F) for ten minutes. Heat canning lids in hot water but don’t boil.
  2. Put the food into the canning jar and fill liquid up to a half inch from the top (for air space). Put on a lid snugly, but not so tight that air can’t escape.
  3. Put the jars in a rack in the pressure canner with 2-3 inches of boiling water in the bottom. Make sure the jars don’t touch the sides, the bottom of the canner, or other jars. Fasten the lid and open the petcock. For fruit: Put jars in the rack, and cover with 2 inches of briskly boiling water. Put the lid on, but don’t fasten it down. Leave the petcock open so that steam can escape.
  4. Turn on the heat until steam comes out of the petcock in a steady stream (about 10 minutes). When the steam is nearly invisible 1 or 2 inches from the petcock, close the petcock.
  5. Raise pressure rapidly to 2 pounds less than you need, then lower the heat and slowly bring the pressure up the remaining 2 pounds. This slow pressure rise should last for the amount of time specified for that particular food. Turn off the heat and let the pressure drop to zero. Wait 2 minutes, and then slowly open the petcock. Open the lid away from you so you won’t get burned by steam, or just wait a while until it cools.
  6. Pull the jars out with tongs, holding them straight upright (don’t tip them!); let them cool on a dry, nonmetal surface for at least 20 hours. When they are cool, test the seals; wash, dry, and label them; remove the jar rings; and store in a cool, dry, and dark place.

Pressure Canning Altitude Adjustments

Find out your altitude, and for every thousand feet use the appropriate pounds. The poundage raises the temperature (which takes longer the higher you are).

Altitude in Feet

Weighted Gauge

Dial Gauge

Under 1,000

10 pounds

11 pounds

1,000 to 2,000

15 pounds

11 pounds

2,000 to 4,000

15 pounds

12 pounds

4,000 to 6,000

15 pounds

13 pounds

6,000 to 8,000

15 pounds

14 pounds

8,000 or more

15 pounds

15 pounds

Water bath canning:

  1. Use only highly acidic foods such as high-acid tomatoes and tomato sauce (no mushrooms or meat), jam, jelly, juices, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, relish, pickles, etc., or use a recipe that calls for an acidic additive specifically for water bath canning in an enamel canner. If you are in doubt of the acidity of something, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice or ½ teaspoon citric acid (vitamin C) per quart.
  2. Clean and sterilize the jars by boiling and heat lids (same as step 2 for pressure canning), then fill the jars with the hot food (as called for in the recipe). Put a new lid on the jar and screw on a ring firmly.
  3. Fill the canner with water. The water will reach 1-2 inches above the top of the tallest jars. Bring to boil, and put the jars into the wire rack in the canner. This is the water bath. Put the cover on and let it reach a full rolling boil.
  4. Processing time starts when the water reaches full boil. At the end of the processing time (check the recipe), lift out each jar carefully and place on dry folded towels. Each jar will seal and you will usually hear a ping as the lid is sucked in. Don’t touch them until they are cool.
  5. The next day (usually takes a long time to cool), remove the rings, check for a good seal, wash the jar, label it with contents and date, and put it in a cool, dark, dry place.

Water Bath Canning Altitude Adjustments

Altitude in Feet

Increase Processing Time

1,000 to 3,000

5 minutes

3,000 to 6,000

10 minutes

6,000 to 8,000

15 minutes

8,000 to 10,000

20 minutes

Food safety rules:

  • Never eat from a jar that has lost its seal. It won’t make a suction noise when you open it, and the lid won’t be sucked in.
  • When canning, make sure the temperature is high enough and that you boil it for a long enough time.
  • Keep the jars stored below 40°F.
  • Cook canned food for at least 10 minutes at boiling or 350°F in the oven before eating.
  • Don’t use recipes or methods from before the mid-1980s—always use modern recipes.
  • Throw out anything with mold—don’t try to scrape it off. Store jars loosely to prevent mold.
  • Don’t use jars larger than a quart because they can’t be heated enough.
  • Check the top rim of the jars for nicks before you use them.
  • If your boil drops or your temperature drops at any time, start over completely from the beginning.
  • A boil means a super-hot, really bubbling boil—not tiny bubbles.
  • Put hot food in hot jars and cold food in cold jars. If not, temperature changes will break the glass.
  • Don’t put hot jars on a cold surface or in cold air.
  • Check the processing time for altitude and adjust as needed.
  • If your water bath is not covering the jars by at least an inch, cover with more boiling water.
  • Add a piece of tomato to everything you can. Tomato has enough acid in it to prevent botulism from occurring.

Government authorities say that canned food lasts one year, and that’s when you should throw it out. However, most home canners use their food far after that time period without problems. If you follow all the safety rules, your food should be fine for a very long time, even ten to twenty years. However, it will not have the same nutritional value, and the longer you wait, the bigger the risk.

Live Storage

Pumpkins, potatoes, dry beans and peas, onions, parsnips, turnips, apples, oranges, pears, tomatoes, and most other root vegetables can be stored live, or without any processing, in a properly maintained cold storage. While the conditions of your cold storage are essential to your success in this, picking a species made for preserving this way and harvesting at the right time are extremely important. Make sure that the foods you use are not bruised or blemished in any way, and remove the tops.

Food

How Long

Method

Apples (especially Winesap Granny Smith, Black Arkansas, Idared, Liberty)

4 months

In small crates stacked no more than 2-3 high. Stack the ripest ones on top. Store above ground on a shelf or table.

Cabbage

3 months

Pick before frost, removing roots and outer leaves. Place upsidedown in a single, loose layer in a crate. Stack the boxes and cover with a tarp.

Carrots

4 months

Line crate with leaves and stack carrots upright against each other. Stack crates above ground.

Chestnuts

6 months

Soak nuts in water for 2 days. Remove anything that floats. Let dry for 1 day on a screen out of the sun. Store in bucket with sand with a screen cover.

Leeks

Varies

Cut off roots and leaves. Transplant to a container of sand or sawdust and water once during winter.

Root Vegetables

Varies

Root vegetables need to be put into any large waterproof container and layered with sand or sawdust so they are not touching each other.

Squash

3-8 months

Wipe down with vegetable oil and wrap loosely in newspaper. Throw out moldy ones.

Tomato

4 months

Pull up the entire plant at the start of autumn. Wrap each tomato in newspaper and hang the plant upside down. The green ones will ripen.

The first step is to leave the dirt on, which will help protect them from decay. Use plastic buckets, or enamel cans, as these will be rodent and decay-proof. Fruits need to be stored away from vegetables because the gas produced by apples can cause vegetables to sprout. Pack root vegetables in damp sawdust, sand, or moss. Keep potatoes out of any light or they will turn green and become poisonous to humans. The table on page 146 shows how to store a variety of foods and how long they will last in live storage.

Put a thermometer on the inside and outside of the cellar and monitor the temperature every day. Use doors and windows to maintain a temperature of 32°F: open the door in cold weather and close the door in very cold or hot weather. Alternatively, you could install a fan attached to a thermostat that functions similarly to the kind used to ventilate a greenhouse. The food needs humidity so that it doesn’t dry out, usually 60-75 percent. If necessary, you can set out pans of water, sprinkle the floor with water, or cover the floor with damp sawdust. If it is too damp, take pumpkins, squash, and onions to a dryer area or they will rot quickly. Remove all spoiled food, and if something is about to spoil, dry it quickly before it rots. If something is rotting or molding, get rid of it immediately, and make sure there are no insects infesting anything.

If you can’t build a cellar or cold storage, you can use a clamp. This is a very old device that functions similar to a cellar and just leaving roots in the ground. It can range from just a hole in the ground to an old washing machine drum to a nice brick box sunk into the ground. The pit can be between eight and twenty inches (20-50 cm) deep and lined with something to stop rodents. This can be wire mesh, clay, or brick. Inside, throw down a layer of sand, leaves, straw or twigs, and begin layering the vegetables with layers of dry material in-between. If you don’t have very many to store, just put them all in one pit (not packed too tightly), but if you have lots, make more than one clamp, one for each type of food. In the center, leave a hole or tunnel up to the top and fill it with twigs for ventilation. Cover the top with another layer of dry material and cover that with a wooden board. Cover that with plastic and put a heavy rock over the top to keep animals out.

Beet root

Leave in the garden until very cold.

Brussels sprouts

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic.

Cabbage

Dig an 8-x8-inch trench running east to west. Lay down a row of cabbages in the trench with the stem toward the south. Cover with straw.

Carrot

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic.

Cauliflower

Leave in the garden until very cold.

Chicory

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic. Prevent rot by uncovering in mild weather.

Curly kale

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic.

Endive

Cut off the leaves, cover with 8 inches of dirt. Cover shoots with more dirt. Eat in early spring.

Jerusalem artichoke

Leave in the ground and cover with straw.

Kohlrabi

Leave in the garden.

Leek

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic.

Lettuce

Dig a 16x16-inch trench and lay the heads in but they should be not touching. Cover with straw.

Parsnip

Leave in the ground and cover with straw.

Radish

Cover well with dry straw and a sheet of plastic.

Salsify

Leave in the ground and cover with straw.

Turnip

Leave in the ground and cover with straw.

Some root vegetables can simply be left in the ground. This is similar to a clamp except that they are just individually surrounded by the soil they grew in. They must be protected from frost, however, and this is done in different ways depending on the vegetable. You can do this in October or November, before the first frost. If you have raised wooden beds then you simply need to cover the plants in the manner described below; if not, you will need to sink wooden boards into the ground around the bed to help protect it. The table on page 146 shows how you can leave certain vegetables directly in the ground until you are ready to eat or sell them.

Saving Honey

Honey does not need to be frozen, canned, or refrigerated, and it keeps well in any type of container. Don’t refrigerate it or it will crystallize sooner. When storing for a long time, don’t let it get warmer than 75°F or it will lose flavor. Use a container that has a wide mouth because eventually the honey will crystallize and then you won’t have to be pouring it, you can scoop. When you keep a small amount in your kitchen keep it in a warm place.

Freezing: There is no real need to freeze honey. Freezing will prevent honey from crystallizing if that’s necessary for you, but there is a solution to crystallizing as well. Just warm it up and it will liquefy.

Crystallizing: This happens naturally to honey, and it simply dries. It can be used exactly the same in a recipe, and to make it liquid you simply warm it up to 130°F as quickly as you can and then cool it as quickly you can. If it is in a can, put it on your woodstove. If in a jar, put it in a double boiler. Don’t let it get hotter than 130°F.

SAVING SEED

“Passion is of the nature of seed, and finds nourishment within, tending to a predominance which determines all currents towards itself, and makes the whole life its tributary.”

—George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

Each tiny seed carries thousands of years of evolutionary history, waiting until just the right moment to burst into life. Within a few days, a dormant little speck no bigger than a grain of sand becomes a white sprout stretching up toward the light, and only weeks later is a tall green ready to be eaten. Each variety carries the potential of continuing the species despite predators, weather, and disease, and each species could be the possible salvation of some human society facing starvation.

A Little Science

Just like our interaction with the soil, interacting with plants requires a little scientific knowledge. To make seeds, plants must flower. It takes male and female flower parts to make a seed, and for some species these are on the same plant. Others have male and female parts on separate plants. The pollen from the male part must make it to the female part and thus seeds are born.

For serious seed savers, your first concern is to make sure your pollen isn’t contaminated by another variety. This is the big problem with GM genetic drift. The pollen containing all of that genetic material mixes up the DNA of your own strain, creating something else entirely. You’ll have to have a basic understanding of how your particular plant gets pollinated and how to keep it isolated. The wind and bees are the biggest culprits in contamination. Only grow one variety of the species you want to save. Bear in mind the distance between you and other gardens. Is your neighbor growing carrots? Each variety has an optimum isolation distance, which is information you can find out from a quick Internet search. If this is not possible, plant earlier or later than your neighbor so that your plants flower at different times.

You can only save seeds from open-pollinated varieties, which is usually indicated on the packet if you purchase it from a good source. Hybrids (or F1 hybrids) will produce seeds that are not true to type—that is, the child of a plant grown from a hybrid seed may not look anything like its parent. This is because they are like clones and genetically identical, and if they have children they will all be inbred and look like the grandparent plants. Open-pollinated varieties will carry the traits of the parent plants, although there may be a lot of variation. There’s nothing wrong with hybrids, it’s just difficult to breed them.

You can isolate the flowers of a plant by covering them in bags made out of mesh or paper, but this is not the most ideal method. The bags can get in the way once you start pollinating and can increase the chances of mold or wilt or other problems. The simplest way to ensure pollination is to do so by hand, literally. Use your finger or a paintbrush and mimic the actions of a bee. It may seem like a lot of trouble, but each plant will produce thousands of seeds and careful pollination ensures that your plants stay pure.

Once you are well on your way to serious seed saving, you’ll learn how to “rogue out.” Rogueing out just means saving only the seeds from plants that are true to type, ones that carry the traits of the parents. This takes some practice but is the most important part of saving good seed. If a carrot variety grows long, has a bright white root, and is resistant to carrot fly, then you would certainly not save seed from a short, orange carrot that was injured by carrot flies. Sometimes the discrepancies are more subtle … you decide not to save the seed of the tomato that was less red, or even less sweet.

When your true-to-type plant successfully makes seeds that have been appropriately isolated from contamination from other varieties, it’s time to save them. Gather the seeds, and lay them out to dry. For some seeds, you’ll have to first remove any pulp and wash them off. Although some people use a dehydrator, heat is a bad thing because high temperatures can either kill the seed or make it germinate early. It works just as well to lay them out on a surface that is low in humidity. A large board, screen, or pan is ideal. Paper and cloth will just stick to the seeds, so just keep the surface bare. A gentle fan to keep air circulating in the room (but not blow directly on the seeds) can help speed the process, which generally takes a couple of days to a week.

Once dry, the seeds should last about a year, if stored properly. Put them in a clean, dry container. It does not have to be airtight. In fact, sealing too tightly can increase the chances of mold. If you plan to use the seeds within a few months, store them in a cool, dry, and dark location. If you need to store them longer than that, put them in the refrigerator.

Plants that you can save the seeds from:

Don’t buy hybrid seeds or patented varieties (they should specify on the package). Heirloom seeds work great, but for normal varieties buy the open-pollinated kind. Open-pollinated seeds were pollinated naturally, and not in a lab. When you have diverse seeds that were grown naturally, they are more resistant to pests and disease. Hybrids get bigger but die more easily. Some plants, such as bananas, potatoes, and some herbs don’t need seeds to grow; you simply stick a piece of the plant into the ground (a process called propagation).

Saving seeds:

  1. First make sure your plants get pollinated. This means either encouraging bees, or sticking your finger in one flower and rubbing the pollen in another.
  2. Flowers that make a flower head will create a seedpod. Simply cut it off, dry it, and break it open when you need to plant. Fruit are another example of a pod, except you can eat them. Cut open the fully ripe fruit and scrape out the seeds, and let them dry. For any other plant, make sure there are no weed seeds in with your good seeds by making a sieve. The mesh should only allow the seeds you want to keep to stay on top.

Types of plants:

Annuals: Makes a flower and then makes seed for each flower in one year.

Biennials: Most root vegetables are biennial. They flower and make seed after two years. The first year they just store up food in a root.

Self-seeders: Self-seeding plants create volunteers, or plants that grow without you having to do anything; for example, a sunflower drops its seeds before you get to them.

  1. After putting them through a mesh and sifting, dry the seeds for at least two weeks before storing them, unless the seeds have beards or tufts.

Let them dry well, and then store them in a cool, dry place such as a dry cellar or a basement. The fridge is good if you keep them in tightly sealed, very dry jars and containers.