Let’s dig into soil temperatures for early season success.

Climate Change in the Garden

While specific years will always fluctuate, the country and Northern world is experiencing a long-term trend of warming winters. Minnesota’s average annual temperatures have increased by 3.2°F between 1895 and 2024.

Spring soil temperatures in Minnesota show significant year-over-year variability, heavily influenced by snow cover, spring precipitation, and air temperature, with a long-term trend toward earlier warming. Minnesota is recording earlier spring soil warming temperatures overall.

In recent years, soil temperatures have varied from early-season warm spells to late-season “nosedives,” with 4-inch deep soil temperatures commonly reaching 50°F in April. But we still get anomalies like April readings of 33°F in 2014 and 60°F in 2012.

How to Measure Soil Temperature for Seed Germination

This spring in my Minnesota garden in mid-May I still had soil temps dip down below 50°F in the early morning, and we’re still having frosts this May. In recent years this temperature was higher.

Planting in protected growing areas like Low Tunnels or a Cattle Panel Greenhouse can increase soil temperatures by 10–15°F compared to open ground, promoting faster, healthier growth. These consistent few degrees warmer means so much for good germination early in the season.

• Use a simple soil thermometer
  (I actually have a few of them) and test roughly 4-6 inches deep to get my readings.
• To know the low temperature you have to check it before the sun starts warming it for the day.
• Leave the thermometer in the soil for at least 5 minutes before reading so it can level off

Each seed has its own ‘happy place’ temperature range. And trying to push the season by planting out a seed before the soil is warm enough means that seed will likely rot in place. So be patient for your soil to warm up, or help them along with covering.

Seed Germination Temperature Chart

Minimum Soil Temperatures for Germination

• Beans – 60°F
• Beets – 40°F
• Broccoli + Cauliflower – 45°F
• Cabbages – 55°F
• Carrots – 45°F
• Corn – 55°F
• Cucumbers – 65°F
• Lettuce (most greens) – 40°F
• Melons – 70°F
• Onions – 40°F
• Peas – 40°F
• Peppers – 65°F
• Tomatoes – 60°F
• Spinach – 35°F
• Squash/Zucchini – 70°F

Direct Sowing Versus Starting Indoors

This above graph information combined with which plants to direct sow versus which to start indoors can help you get your garden rolling as early as possible- giving many more harvests throughout the seasons.

It also means I can stagger my planting times, so beans will be going into the soil in about a week, while radishes and spinach were direct sown weeks ago.

Depth matters – deeper soils hold warming easier, shallow (over rock) cool quicker. The amount of sand and how damp the soil is overall also has a real impact. In general soil still warms and cools the most in the first inch.

While damp soil holds more heat than dry soil, evaporation of that excess moisture consumes heat which is a cooling process. Avoid bone dry soils AND oversaturated soil for optimal warming of non-covered soils in spring.

It also matters how deep you’re planting that seed. Smaller seeds like lettuce and carrots usually are planted closer to the surface, which is warmer than 6” down. But can also cool off more. But this cooling is easily moderated by adding a layer of fleece or plastic row cover to the seeds.

Learn more about Starting Seeds.

Soil Temperature FAQ

What temperature do seeds germinate at?

Seeds vary widely in their preferred germination temperature range. From soil temperatures starting at just above freezing at 35°F to 75°F depending on where the seed naturally developed. So when northern gardeners want to grow warm weather crops, we need to trick seeds into germinating by raising temps inside.

Can I use a meat thermometer to measure soil temperature?

While you can use a meat thermometer to measure temperatures, it is best to use a tool meant for outside if you plan on keeping it outside. The soil thermometers also have a different range of temperatures and larger font.

Does soil temperature matter more than air temperature?

Short answer is yes, but really, it depends… In general, seeds know what the soil temperature should be to germinate. Remember, they only have one shot. They are not reading the air temperature because they are in the soil.

But (there’s always a but), if you’re raising the soil temperatures by growing undercover, you need to be more aware of late spring cold snaps that can kill off above-ground plant greens. But if you start with the cool weather crops, you should be safe.

Air temperatures do matter, and most states gather this data and make it available online. In Minnesota our DNR hosts an interactive map with frost and freeze date probabilities that I find invaluable.

All of this is to say…

Know what your soil temperature is.
Know what temperature your specific seed prefers.

You’ll have better germination, less plant stress, and a happier overall gardening experience…

So, when the time is right–
Dig In,
Michelle

The post Understanding Soil Temperature for Seed Germination appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Seed Saving is something that has made me a better gardener in so many ways. It requires us to be more aware of how our plants are progressing through the season. It makes you see more than just the ‘product’ you’re growing—you see the plant as a self-sustaining entity. It can reproduce itself! For all these reasons and more, seed saving connects you to your garden in new and beautiful ways.

Did you know that saving annual flower seeds is a simple and cost-saving skill to master in your garden? It doesn’t require any special equipment and gives you another ‘harvest’ from your gardens.

Saving seeds is another way gardening helps us work closer with nature. And we need to really pay attention to nature as she moves through the seasons in order to save the best seeds. And being ‘in the moment’ in our gardens is one of things that brings us the most joy, isn’t it!?

So, I’m sharing my favorite annual flower seeds to save. The flowers listed also make amazing companion plants in any vegetable garden, along with adding color to the beautiful bouquets I get to bring inside all season…

More on these flowers as companion plants HERE.

Basics to Successful Seed Saving

• Start with the right seeds– grow open pollinated or heirloom varieties that will come back true to type. Saving seeds from hybrid plants will most likely not grow into the same plants (or flower/fruit) that they came from. More information on which are viable seeds to save HERE.
• Save seeds from the healthiest plants- Only save seeds from plants and fruits/veggies with traits you want to bring back (earlier, bigger, color, etc.).
• Mark specific blooms– as colors may fade before you can collect seed.
• Collect Seeds on dry days– wet seeds can mold when brought inside.
• Be patient– Saving seeds is mostly intuitive, but researching the specific seed maturity time of plants will help you gather the best seed.

Saving the best seeds means you’ll have the best luck germinating them next season.

My Favorite + Easiest Annual Flowers to Save Seeds

From the well-loved marigolds and zinnias to nasturtium and calendula and so many more, let’s see what flowers you can bring back to your garden for FREE next year!

Since all the flowers listed bloom continually, you can deadhead AND leave a few to fully mature into seeds throughout the season.

Calendula

These are also known as pot marigold and come in many shades and varieties. These seeds look like little aliens and very unlikely to sprout—but these beauties are easy to harvest and require very little cleaning. Waiting until the seed heads are fully brown and dried on the plant is key. They should basically fall off into your hands or collecting bowl.

Since these flowers bloom continually, you can deadhead—or leave a few to fully mature into seeds throughout the season.

*If you’re growing a few different varieties of calendula, note that they do cross-pollinate, which means that eventually you’ll have your own variety.

Seeds viable for 3–6 years

Check out my post on how to make calendula salve.

Cosmos

I love the way these blow in the summer breeze and add such a variety of color to the vegetable garden and border. I find most of the varieties are hybrids, but sensation, radiance and candy stripe have all grown well from home saved seeds for me. Wait for the flower heads to dry completely on the plant, then rub between fingers into a bucket. The seeds will fall off, and look like little curved pine needles. Then blow away the extra fluff (chaff).

Seed viable for 3–5 years

Marigold

Oh, the marigold, is there any flower that is either loved or hated as intensely? I am a lover, for so many reasons. True marigolds are from the Tagetes family, and they offer a wide array of colors and sizes. I prefer the French marigolds for the full-sized blooms and large (3’x3’) plant size and lemon or tangerine gem for the smaller flowers and (1’x1’) plant size.

These seeds will dry on the plant and stay encapsulated in the involucre—how cool is that word—and that function!? So, they really stay all together until weather and time wear the papery seed package away—it falls to the soil and is ready to grow again. But we get to play with these and pull them out of their packaging.

Marigold seeds look like two-toned needles. We’re looking for seeds that are darker/black on the bottom and a straw color on the top. If the seeds aren’t fully mature, they’ll still be lighter in color at the base.

Larger seeds from larger french marigold flowers, tiny seeds from the gem series!

Seeds viable for 1–3 years

Nasturtium

These cascading beauties seem to save their seeds until the end of the season. Seeds form in groups of 2–3 and are attached well to the stem. They are tasty as immature green seeds and make a fun alternative to capers.

But these seeds need to ripen fully and fall off on their own to have the best germination rates. So my practice is to wait until mid-September, then start lifting the mass of blooms and vines up off the ground and picking up the fallen seeds. They look like dried up, wrinkly little brains (as my schoolyard garden kids call out year after year). Make sure these are fully dry before sealing them up.

Seeds viable for 2–5 years

Poppies

Snap Dragons

Tithonia

Tithonia (aka Mexican Sunflower) is one of those plants that impresses me every year. They often grow 6–7 feet tall and produce so many large branches laden with blooms that the bees and butterflies love late in the season. These are another flower that do best when the seeds are left to dry fully on the plant.

I snip just below the base of the flowers and drop directly into a brown paper bag. If you plan on handling these at all consider gloves as they are sharp! Shake the bag to help release the seeds from the heads. The seeds are gray to black and triangular, with a rough ‘crown’ on their wide end..

Viable for 2–4 years

Zinnia

With zinnias you can have your bouquet and save seeds too! As long as the flowers are in full bloom when you cut them, you can enjoy them as cut flowers and then as they fade, remove from water, rinse and hang to dry—and still have great germination rates. I actually find this works better than leaving the flower heads in the garden to mature, because so many birds pick at the flowers and seed heads.

Gently tug from the base of the blooms to separate seeds. I usually hold the flowers upside down for this. You can keep the petals intact or break off depending on your preference. The seeds are flat arrow-shaped seeds, usually dark gray.

They won’t always bloom true to color, but tend to stay in the same shades, shapes and sizes from what I have saved and regrown.

Viable for 3–5 years

Learn all about Saving Veggie Garden Seeds HERE!

Storing Seeds

Make sure seeds are 100% dry before storing in either paper envelopes or an air tight container. I opt for paper envelopes and keep them inside a loose metal tin, in a cool and dry part of my home.

With each flower seed saved you’re adding to the story and resiliency of your garden, and saving money too!

What flower seeds do you want to save first?

Dig into Seed Saving,

Michelle

The post Seed Saving: Annual Flowers appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Imagine buying less compost, growing more food and flowers while lowering water use, all by setting up our gardens to mimic the way nature multitasks... Here are three permaculture garden projects you can start today!

Permaculture offers exciting and common-sense ways to take environmental action in our own yards by working with nature. We can be part of the climate solution; one plant, compost pile, or rain barrel at a time.

The idea of permaculture has been around since the dawn of time, but the term was coined in the 1970s when two Australians joined the concepts of ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’. Since then, it has evolved to include the central ideas of earth care, human care, and fair share, supported by a dozen principles.

Permaculture Defined: The harmonious integration of landscape and people, and a framework for creating self-sustaining agricultural ecosystems.

As you practice permaculture, you’ll start seeing your land and the things living on it as interconnected resources working together to sustain each other. You’ll notice how each plant, insect, and rain drop serves multiple functions. In an undisturbed forest, this kind of system has slowly matured over hundreds of years. Today we can help recreate nature’s self-sustaining systems by designing with existing resources to benefit the whole.

Permaculture functions best as a whole system’s approach. To get us started, we’re highlighting a few practices while acknowledging that as we work on getting better techniques, plants, and soil in place—it is the relationships between these elements that make permaculture so powerful.

Stacking Functions

Stacking Functions is a central concept in permaculture. Learning the plants’ functions will help us place the plant into our design.

Examples of multiple functions:

Raspberries: Growing berries, leaves for tea, attracting pollinators, and conserving soil structure as a perennial.

Yarrow: Dynamic nutrient accumulator (phosphorus, potassium and copper), attracts beneficial insects, repels pests, breaks up compacted soil.

Clover: Nitrogen fixer, conserves soil, drought tolerant, attracts beneficial insects.

Permaculture suggests that garden designs flow from observing your yard and learning from it; where is your yard sunniest, driest, windiest, wettest? As we explain the following projects, consider how these would best fit into your space with your lifestyle and garden goals. 

Permaculture Garden Ethics

Earth Care
People Care
Fair Share

Principles of Permaculture

1. Observe and Interact
2. Catch and Store Energy
3. Obtain a Yield
4. Apply Self-regulation and Accept Feedback
5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
6. Produce No Waste
7. Design from Patterns and Details
8. Integrate Rather than Segregate
9. Use Small and Slow Solutions
10. Use and Value Diversity
11. Use Edges and Value the Margins
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

1. Compost Options

As author Toby Hemenway says, “start with the soil” in his book, Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Composting is one of the best ways to continually build and replenish soil. It’s also one of the only ways to replenish trace elements like magnesium and copper, etc. (which plant roots pull from the soil) back into the soil. But did you know there are many ways to compost?

You can set up traditional compost piles in your yard. You could vermicompost, which uses worms to decompose food scraps within a closed bin, to keep composting indoors during winter in northern climates. There are also self-contained units that make composting an option for those without much outdoor space.

As we learn more about the soil food web, more people are starting No Dig gardening. This style of gardening minimizes soil disturbance and composts in place. This can look like ‘chop + drop’, where you cut down non-diseased plant material and let it first act as mulch and then slowly decompose in the garden where it grew.

Or try Hügelkultur gardening, which uses organic materials found on your property to build soil health. Start with larger pieces of dead wood at the base, then branches. Top with layers of organic materials, same as what you’d add to a compost pile, but right in the garden. This applies the permaculture principle of using the ‘available services’ of the insect and microorganism world that are already present, while skipping the step of hauling and turning compost.

Communal Composting
If you really can’t or don’t want to compost yourself, remember, most cities also have yard waste drop-off sites and many have started “Organics Recycling” options.

2. Planting Perennial Guilds

Planting edible landscapes is a great way to add function, biodiversity, and healthier plant communities to your permaculture garden. Interplanting and companion planting might be more familiar terms to gardeners and are similar to plant guilds. Think the “Three Sisters” Indigenous way of planting, but make it perennial. Choosing perennial instead of annual edibles also helps the garden develop deeper soil food web relationships.

Many cold-climate edible perennials make wonderful guild plant options. These include herbs like chives, clary sage, horseradish, oregano, and thyme, to vegetables like asparagus, perennial kale, ramps, rhubarb, sorrel, walking onions, and fruits like blueberries, currants, grapes, raspberries, rhubarb, and strawberries. Fruit- and nut-producing trees add another layer of food and height to the landscape. A food forest might seem unattainable—but we can imitate nature’s way of growing by starting with a tree or two. Perennial ground covers, herbs, shrubs, vines, dwarf and full-size trees can all be interplanted.

A typical fruit tree guild will have a ring of bulbs at the outer drip line, with mulch producing, insectary, and nutrient accumulating plants under the canopy. The exact plant choices would take into consideration resource sharing for root depth, nutrients needed, etc.

APPLE TREE GUILD

• Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree
• Comfrey
• Yarrow
• White Clover
• Feverfew
• Anise Hyssop
• Monarda
• Chives/Onions

While these mini ecosystems take longer to mature and require more upfront planning, in the long run they’ll reduce the need for care, fertilizer, and pest management.  They’ll end up supporting themselves, a permaculture garden goal. By adding plant diversity, you’re also growing more overall resilience.

3. Water Collection

As gardeners living through climate chaos, we understand the value of rainwater as a resource. There are ways to make the most of this resource and collect water that go beyond planting rain gardens.

A smart place to store water is the soil, and we can do this by designing swales. Swales function best on sloping land. They’re made by digging shallow trenches and adding berms on the lower side to slow run-off and let water percolate down into the soil. This creates an underground ‘lense’ of water as a reserve that deeper plant roots can access. 

Capturing water from rooftops into rain barrels is an easy way for smaller and flatter properties to collect water. You run water from gutters down a spout and directly into a barrel for holding until needed. Place your barrel in an easy to access spot, and make sure to keep a filter secured to the intake area to catch debris before entering the barrel.

There’s been ample research into whether chemicals from petroleum-based shingles leech into the water collected. Findings continue to be within a safe range. Rain barrel water is usually slightly acidic, which is excellent for nutrient uptake by plants.  In general, harvested rainwater is best applied at the soil level.

As an extra safety precaution, you can wait to harvest produce watered with rainwater a full day after watering to benefit from the sun’s ultraviolet light disinfection of any possible contaminants. More information is available under on the EPA’s website.

Permaculture Gardening in Practice

At its heart, permaculture is a commonsense approach to welcoming sustainable gardening practices into our lives. It also puts us in the mindset to react to our ever-changing environment with adaptive, fun, and imaginative solutions. It reminds us that everything, even us gardeners, are part of nature. Let’s get out there and harness our existing resources!

Have I inspired you to Dig Into Permaculture?

I originally wrote this article for Northern Gardener magazine. It appeared in a shorter form in the Spring 2024 issue.

Michelle

The post 3 Permaculture Garden Projects to Get You Started! appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Fall temps can quite literally cool our northern garden jets once fall hits its stride and apple season arrives. But for those of us that enjoy those frost sweetened crops and don’t mind gardening into the cool of autumn, Season Extension opens another mini-season of gardening and harvesting!

For those just getting started on season extension, you may be wondering why we bother with this extra work?

For me the reason is clear: by keeping plants alive in the ground, it allows them to hold onto their nutrients, compared to if we harvested at the first sign of frost. Food loses around 30% of its nutrients within three days of harvest…

Practicing season extension can add weeks or even months of harvesting FRESH FOOD from your garden. And isn’t harvesting healthy food one of our main goals?

*This post includes some links to products I have tested, and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Season Extension Factors

Successfully extending the harvesting season depends on a few individual factors.  Each one affecting the other; like the plant variety, weather, your growing zone, microclimates within your garden and if deciduous trees drop leaves and add a little more sunlight to an area that is shady during the summer months. But it all starts with the right plants!

Knowing which plants do well in cool weather is key to success. We’ve got a list of the 21 most common garden plants (everything from arugula to zucchini) and their germination temps and their low temperature threshold listed on page 46 of our book, Small-Scale Homesteading. You can also find most of this information online at whichever seed company you purchased your seeds from as well. Johnny’s Seeds and High Mowing are especially good at adding this info online.

It can be surprising how much low temp threshold variation there can be between what we all typically think of as cool weather crops. So do your research and you’ll be ahead of the game!

Read more on which plants work best in my Succession Planting blog.

Growing Under Covers

The next key to success is adding some physical cover over the plants. There are many ways to add a layer of protection over your plants, from simply setting a plastic bin over a few plants, or quick to set up and moveable low tunnels, to permanent cold frame structures. Even adding a layer of dry, shredded leaves will help protect many root crops for a few more weeks.

We pop up these kinds of covers for two different reasons.

1. To protect frost sensitive plants
2. To hold cold-hardy plants in the garden longer  

The first category of plants we cover up tend to be lettuce and other plants like broccoli and cauliflower that can typically handle down to 28F without damage.  So, if we know a frost is coming, we’ll get the cover structure up *at least* a day or two before the temps dip. This allows the soil and air temps to gain a few degrees before they get to the critical low temperature.

Managing the temperatures inside low tunnels and cold frames is a bit of an art. The air temps under coverage will vary greatly depending on how sunny the days are. Even with air temps in the 20F’s outside, we’ve had air temps inside low tunnels above 70F (this happens both in the spring and the fall).

Temperature Fluctuations

Something to watch in adding a low tunnel over plants in the fall is how fast the sun still warms the air. Sudden changes can cause plants stress because they have to quickly change up their internal metabolic processes. Even experiencing this one time can lead to a weakening of the plant’s overall vigor. This in turn makes it more susceptible to diseases and pests. If we’re using this practice at the end of the season for an annual plant, this weakening isn’t crucial for longevity. But it is good to know both for spring low tunnel use – and because drastic air temperature fluctuations will affect the quality of produce you harvest.

Depending on when the sun hits the low tunnel (or cold frame like pictured here) temps can easily rise 10F every half an hour. And this is where plants can suffer from temperature shock.

In a typical Minnesota fall, temps can be down in the low 30/40s overnight and back up to the 70s in the afternoon. So it doesn’t make sense to say there’s a specific number of degrees plants can handle in a day. The issue is that under a plastic cover the temps increase more rapidly than in a natural setting, so the plants don’t have time to adjust their internal processes.

Opening up the end of the low tunnel in the morning, and closing back down early in the afternoon to keep temperatures as moderated as possible is my goal.

DIY Low Tunnel

Low tunnels are VERY easy to construct and move around to follow your crop rotations. Start by pounding in 2-foot lengths of 1/4″ rebar at your corners and along the edges every 2’ or so.

Then slide some ½” PVC over the rebar. This creates an arch over the bed when you slide the PVC onto the rebar on the other side of the bed.

Then add a stick of PVC the length of the bed. At the top of and perpendicular to the arches, to add strength to the structure. You can easily secure with zip ties.

Cover in “poly” which is just plastic between 2-6 millimeters thick. Cut so you have enough to make good contact with the soil all the way around. You can use a longer piece of rebar or rocks, lumber etc… to weigh down the edges. Secure the plastic to the PVC with clips or clamps. This whole set up can cost as little as $40 and will last for years.

You can also cover with fabric called “floating row cover.” This is a woven fabric that breaths where plastic does not- but it doesn’t hold in the heat quite as well as plastic- but it is great for light frosts.

Know that you’ll be peeking in to check on temps often, so adding a soil thermometer and a regular small exterior thermometer where you can easily see it makes that step lots easier.

If you’re looking for an easy all in one option? I know garden friends who enjoy this combo of a structure and easily to install 3-Season Plant Protection Tent from Gardener’s Supply. (I am not affiliated with them).

Season extension has added months of fresh harvests for my family over the years, and I hope it can do the same for you!

What questions do you still have about starting this process?

Let’s Dig In!

Michelle

The post Season Extension: Garden + Harvest into Winter appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

To make the most of this fleeting, yet oh so sweet taste of summer – we’ve got tips and tricks on growing, picking and preserving all the local strawberries you possibly can.

I promise, you will thank yourself as you make a strawberry smoothie or strawberry muffins come winter.

Strawberries are one of our little homestead’s most anticipated foods by every member of our family. So, we spend some time prepping and loving on the gardens so they produce to their fullest. Here’s how we work at growing great strawberries.

How to Grow Great Strawberries at Home

Strawberries are as close to instant gratification as you can get with a perennial fruit. I recommend planting bare root plants, as you have more choice on suitable varieties. They’re also less expensive than potted plants, and the bare root plants seem to do better in the long run. The catch is you want to plant them in late May, before the heat of summer comes on too strong. You’ll soak the roots for an hour or two before planting. During the first growing season, plan to pinch off the first few buds that form, but let the next rounds of flowers mature to pick fruit later in the season.

Growing Strawberries in Minnesota (Zone 4–5 Tips)

Winter Protection: Cover with 3-4 inches of straw or pine needles after the first hard freeze to protect roots from severe cold.

Frost: Cover flowers in early spring if frost is predicted to avoid blackened, sterile flowers

Birds: Use bird netting to protect ripening fruit.

Slugs: Use beer traps or sand to deter slugs.

Water Well: Consistent moisture (1-2 inches/week)

Best Location for Growing Strawberries

Choose a sunny spot (8+ hours) with good drainage, preferably a sandy-loam soil as strawberries do not like wet feet. They also enjoy slightly acidic soil.

Plant 12–24” apart. And as their name ‘STRAWberry’ suggests, they like to be mulched with STRAW. There are different varieties that will do well in Zones 3–8, making it a widely adaptable perennial fruit.

Note that once established, strawberry plants spread by runners and will need to be managed to keep from getting overgrown. Cutting and replanting or gifting the ‘daughter’ plants is a great way to spread the strawberry love!

Main Varieties of Strawberries

June Bearing

This variety is harvested in June and early July here in Minnesota, with a concentrated harvest window of 3-4 weeks. These are the biggest producers in the shortest time. Best if you want a shorter harvest period, and are focused on preserving. Typically June bearing varieties offer slightly larger berries, and are the ones most often grown at Pick Your Own berry farms.

**I grow mostly Honeoye, a June bearing.**

Ever Bearing Strawberries

These strawberries produce two main crops; summer and fall with waves of smaller harvests in between. This is a good choice if your main goal is to eat fresh berries throughout the growing season as they offer a prolonged harvest. You can often harvest in the first year after planting as well.

Day Neutral

These produce a smaller crop, but for most of the growing season. As the name implies, day neutral plants are not sensitive to the length of the days, often producing a larger yield over the whole season compared to June bearing. These plants also are bred to have more disease resistance, but also often treated as an annual crop by larger growers.

Learn more about growing other Perennial Foods

Why Local Strawberries Taste Better

Did you know strawberries don’t ripen after being picked?! So those strawberries that you buy from a grocery store that spent days travelling across the country will never taste as good as ones you pick when fully ripe. Locally grown berries tend to be sweeter, smaller, more nutritious, and denser than the varieties of berries grown to sit in grocery stores.

Both flavor and nutrition start to degrade soon after picking. The vitamin C content and the antioxidant amounts fade quickly. Strawberries are best within 24 hours of being picked, although some people have luck extending the life of their fresh berries by soaking them in one-part apple cider vinegar to one-part water for a few minutes before drying very thoroughly and refrigerating.

When Are Strawberries in Season in Minnesota?

In our area, with a split growing Zone 4/5, strawberries make an appearance for about 4 weeks every year, from June to early July. The window for picking is short, so make time for it as soon as you hear the buzz.

Going to a Pick Your Own (PYO in berry lingo) is a great way to increase your local berry harvest. Our fabulous MN Grown has a directory of PYO farms! Even though we grow a lot of strawberries we usually go and pick some as well, bags of frozen strawberries feel like food insurance!

I know this is a post all about strawberries, but let’s give a shout out
to the PYO Blueberry Farms that will be up in mid-July!

How to Preserve Strawberries

Strawberries are a delicious source of vitamin C, one of the many antioxidants that make strawberries such a healthy food. Did you know that just one cup provides more than the recommended daily allowance? Strawberries are also an excellent source of fiber (3 grams/cup), folate, and potassium, to name a few.

To get the most flavor and nutrition out of the fresh and local berries, make sure you eat as many as humanly possible (ha) right away and preserve the rest within 24–48 hours of harvesting them.

I tend to remove hulls and flash freeze as we harvest, because the quicker they go from living to frozen the better! Just hull and quickly rinse (or skip if they’re your own and you feel OK with that) and place in a single layer on a pan and freeze overnight. Place into a freezer bag and squeeze out air the next day.

Freezing the berries is an excellent way to protect their flavor and nutrition. Plus, savoring those summer flavors deep in winter is downright magical!

I love making freezer jam, as I think it tastes way better than the cooked versions. Use MY RECIPE for that fresh strawberry favor all winter long.

Remember you can use strawberry jam to make my Strawberry Vinaigrette too!

Fresh strawberries are especially tasty on fresh local greens for a summer salad, or drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar, or served over vanilla ice cream.  

But really, there’s no wrong way to eat strawberries!

Growing Strawberries FAQs

When should I plant strawberries in Minnesota?

Plant strawberries in May in cooler climates, giving them time to settle in and flower before the heat of summer hits.

How long do strawberries take to grow?

It depends on which variety you plant, you will get a harvest the first year you plant day neutral varieties. You should pick off the first flush of flowers from everbearing and June bearing varieties, so you’ll get a much smaller harvest from those the first year. But know that strawberry patches can last for at least 5 years when well maintained.

Do strawberries need full sun?

Yes, strawberries will produce best in 10 hours of sunlight, but 6-8 hours of direct sunlight is sufficient.

Do strawberry plants come back every year?

Yes, Strawberry plants are perennials that come back year after year, but each main crown will only produce well for a few years, so you’ll need to make sure some of the runners (daughter plants) set root to keep your patch growing strong.

Have I convinced you to try growing your own strawberries yet?

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Growing Strawberries: How to Grow, Harvest, and Preserve appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

We love growing cucumbers! But there are many differences, so let’s do a cucumber comparison.

They’re a favorite of the vegetable garden and one of the homegrown treats my kids most impatiently look forward to munching fresh off the vine—as well as sliced (with ranch)—then fermented and pickled all winter long.

Needless to say, we grow a lot of cucumbers!

*This post includes affiliate links*

There are different cucumber varieties including slicing, English (burpless), pickling, and then you can get into the specialty varieties that have been saved for their unique characters for centuries. These specialty varieties have a special place in my heart.

Planting Basics

In general, cucumbers prefer 5–8 hours of sunlight a day, and can benefit from a little afternoon shade. They do best with good drainage in slightly acidic yet fertile soil.

This is one of those plants that gardeners debate over whether to start indoors or direct sow. If you do start indoors, wait until just 2–4 weeks before the last frost dates, as these plants grow quickly. If direct seeding into the garden, wait until the soil is around 70°F for best germination. I love my Soil Thermometer. Adding floating row cover can help raise the soil temps at that time of year.

In general, cucumbers produce best in a mild temperature range, with soil at least 70°F and 75–85°F air temperatures. They kind of shut down flowering below 50°F and over 95°F. I’ve also had great results heavily mulching or planting another ground cover/companion crop at the base to keep roots in the happy temperature zone. Deep watering is key.

Space out individual cucumber plants 8–12 inches apart. They love to climb, so plan to grow where a trellis makes sense.

Common Problems Growing Cucumbers

If you’re seeing more leaves than fruits, I will suggest you stay away from a typical all-purpose fertilizer here and focus on using a fertilizer with a higher phosphorus number. Phosphorus is the middle number in the N-P-K ratio.

Cucumbers do require pollinators, so if you’re short on bees, you may be short on fruit. You can hand pollinate in a few different ways. Female flowers will have a slight bulge at the base while male flowers have no bulge.

1. Take a male flower and touch central flower stalk (the anther) to a female flower center (the stigma).
2. Take a little paint brush and go from male flower pollen to female flower center to hand pollinate.

Pest info below from the University of Minnesota Extension website

• Pests:
  Striped cucumber beetles damage plants by eating leaves as well as flowers, stems, and fruit. They may also contribute to bacterial wilt.
• Spotted cucumber beetles migrate to Minnesota every year, and once here they feed on all above-ground parts of the plant.
• During periods of hot, dry weather, spider mites can feed on leaves, giving them a bleached or bronzed appearance.

Photo below includes:
Top Middle: 3 little pickle bush cucumbers, Upper Right: 1 Poona Kheera
Middle: 3 large Telegraph Improved, Bottom: 1 Armenian
1 tiny mini-muncher below and 1 above 3 Dragon’s Eggs

A Cucumber Comparison of Varieties I’ve Grown

Armenian (Cucumis melo)

50–75 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 12–24” fruits

Burpless, crunchy flesh, lots of seeds (but soft and edible + easy to scoop out if desired), on the sweeter side. Skins range from pale green to striped, with Painted Serpent a variety with pronounced stripes. Still produces well in hot weather.
–Seed Savers Exchange

Chicago Pickling Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

50-60 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 2” gherkins, 4” slicers.

Classic pickling cucumber since 1888! Dark green skin with spines. Long season of production, especially if fruits are taken when still small. Resistant to scab and cucumber mosaic virus.
Experimental Farm Network (offering a “Dual Purpose Grex” this year)

Dragon’s Egg (Cucumis sativus)

50–70 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 3–4” ovals, from Croatia.

These really do look like eggs! Thin skins, VERY prolific (especially if well-mulched) early producers, mild flavor. Seeds do get tough if left on the vine too long. My kids eat them like apples in the garden. Best eaten within a few days. Not the best for pickling—but makes great cucumber lemonade!

Lemon Cucumbers
(Cucumis sativus)

60–70 days, Heirloom, + Open Pollinated, 2.5”–3.5” round yellow skin.

A specialty variety with strikingly bright yellow skin, with many spines. Crisp white flesh, lots of seeds. Never bitter burpless variety. Not my favorite as the spines are hard to remove and the seeds get tough before the fruits get fully yellow.
–Territorial Seed Company

Marketmore 76
(Cucumis sativus)

65 Days, Open Pollinated, 8–9” fruits

Classic slicing cucumber with dark green bumpy skin and good flavor. These can get long fast; expect to peel skin if over 10” long. Once it starts producing it goes strong. Resistant to powdery mildew.
–High Mowing Organic Seeds

Pickle Bush

50–55 Days, 4” paler green fruits on a 2’ long vine

This is my favorite space-saving variety for growing in containers. Early yielding, lots of fruits (they grow in pairs—so cute!) at once, so you could pickle a few jars from just two plants. I’ve only grown the Burpee seeds for this.
–Burpee

Poona Kheera (Cucumis sativus)

50 Days, Heirloom, + Open Pollinated, 4–6” blunt ended fruits

The Indian cucumber that looks like a potato—these go from yellow-green to full-on russet colored as they mature! These weird-looking fruits are a new family favorite, super crisp (almost apple-ish) white flesh, almost salty not sweet—but also never bitter.
–High Mowing Organic Seeds

Mini Muncher F1

55–60 days, Hybrid, 3–4” long fruits

These are similar to the fancy little cucumbers you find in the store. Basically seedless when picked under 4” with a barely there skin. Sets fruit in cooler temps, and keeps on producing late into the season. These resisted powdery mildew the longest of my cucumbers last season too!
–Territorial Seed Company

Telegraph Improved

60 Days, Heirloom, 10–18” fruits, English slicer

Burpless, and mild overall, thin and shiny skinned with soft seeds. These plants will grow up to 8 feet, so get a sturdy trellis! These will also set fruit without pollination as they were developed back in the 1800s for greenhouse growers but have been a home gardener favorite ever since.
–Botanical Interests

Cucamelon (Melothria Scabra)

70 days, Heirloom and Open Pollinated, 1” fruits

Grown as much for the novelty as anything else, the mini-watermelon-looking fruits have a crisp, sour-lemon flavor and are the cutest things coming out of the garden in August. One plant can easily take over a trellis, as they climb over 8 feet even in our shorter Minnesota growing season. Start these indoors as they are slow to germinate and get growing. We mostly eat them fresh, and area  fun addition to fruit salads.
–Botanical Interests

And since I always love trying something new, I’m trialing Suyo Long this summer. Follow along for my results…

Eating (and Drinking) All Those Cucumbers!

We do eat a lot of cucumbers sitting in the garden or—if they make it inside—simply sliced, in salads, or fermented as pickles…

And since I discovered Cucumber Lemonade we never let any cucumbers go to waste! Just peel, scoop seeds if tough, and puree, then strain out pulp if desired, add fresh-squeezed lemon juice, some honey, and sip away!

We also just found Freezer Pickles thanks to Crystal’s book, Freeze Fresh. This is such an easy way to use up those one or two extra cucumbers—so now I’m never worried about growing too many cucumbers!

Has this cucumber comparison inspired you to try growing cucumbers this season?

Dig In!
-Michelle

The post Cucumber Comparison appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

I’m finally slowing down enough to take the time to get in that frame of mind where I can rewind and somewhat clearly peer back at 2022, the year in review.

Thankful for 2022

I distinctly remember being so very grateful for the late spring as I was frantically writing/editing/revising so many pages (so many times) along with Stephanie Thurow for our upcoming book, Small-Scale Homesteading.

I felt lucky that the maple sap held off until we got back from our March vacations. We brought home and raised a new brood of chicks into a healthy, happy (and spoiled) backyard flock. I took my local Master Gardener coursework and completed 50+ hours of volunteer hours. I helped grow vegetables and flowers at my son’s elementary school.

We took time up north in Minnesota to walk through and wonder at creation. I taught classes on companion planting, composting, growing garlic, garden planning and preserving the harvest, wrote for magazines new and old. I got to manage our 6^th annual Winter Farmers Markets. My family all got Influenza A at the same time and we nursed each other back to health with homegrown remedies. And I grew as much food as ever- including so many new favorites.

We celebrated life as we lived it. What a year both in and out of the garden!

Weather Woes

And while I can truly say that I’ve never experienced weather like we had last season, I am grateful for all it taught me.

From our early season chill that got everything started late, to May’s thunderstorms, June’s record heat and learning what a Derecho was, hail in September and the Dirty rain that followed…only to have the drought conditions put at ease by way too early and way too much SNOW. Then the artic storms of Christmas. Whew.

And yet, our plants persisted! They grew to the best of their abilities, and hopefully we got to grow with them as we helped them along with low tunnels and shade cloths, deep mulching and frequent watering…

Onward

I’ve become even more enamored with our planet. Not taking for granted the simple act that life exists because of photosynthesis. I’m working towards being part of the solution in taking care of this planet in my small ways. Living as simply as I can, eating local, being smart about my energy consumption- and making those choices with humility, because I know it is a luxury to have a choice.

I believe that each of us doing whatever small things that work for us will be the way we turn the tide and in turn are able to gift a healthy planet to future generations. One of my small parts is growing food for our family and sharing how we do that with you all.

Garden in Review

All in all our (roughly) 550 square feet of garden space produced (roughly) 554 pounds of produce (not counting the egg and maple syrup we harvested). Just a few pounds more than last year. Not bad considering that farmers anticipate about 0.5 pounds of produce per square foot.

I’d call that intensive gardening. And it is all made possible by working with nature via taking care of the soil, companion planting, extending our growing seasons, and paying really close attention to what is happening in the gardens. 

From welcoming wildlife big and small, to practicing No Till Gardening, from using what we’ve got with leaf mulch and composting what comes out of our chicken coop- this garden cycle never gets old.

There’s always a way to dive deeper into relationship with Mother Nature, more to learn about tending plants or beneficial insects, another recipe to try that means another new seed to start. I am so grateful I get to do these things – I’m blown away by those of you that follow along. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this journey with me.

I hope I can inspire you in some ways, because I know so many of you have inspired me!

Favorite Blogs from 2022

• Beet Love
• Harvesting, Preserving + Using Herbs
• Growing Great Garlic (bonus link to webinar)
• DIY Cocktail Infusing

And I added so many tasty recipes to the blog as well, From Summer Spaghetti to Broccoli Soup on my newly updated Recipe Page

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at book signings (PS- you can still pre-order the book to get our bonus content HERE), or during the Home and Garden Show days and maybe even at some more in-person classes and events… more on that soon, for now; cheers to 2023!

Dig In,

Michelle

The post Homestead Year In Review 2022 appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

It is perfectly absurd to search for a beginning or an end to this cycle; is it when the seeds start forming, when I harvest my saved seed out of the garden, as I store it over winter, or when I plant it next spring that is “the beginning”? Is it when the food emerges, when its ripe, when I harvest, when I eat it, or when I compost the excess that is “the ending”? 

Taking into consideration the piles of compost, continuously added to by our hens, and all the other intertwined inputs and harvests from our little backyard homestead garden- I’m proud to announce that I can I find neither beginning nor end… instead I find a naturally flowing cycle that swallows its own tail year after year. A process without any one formula, rather a myriad of methods and infinite accomplishments along its way.

That being said; we all like to “take stock” every so often. The end of the calendar year, as the garden lays sleeping and frozen under the snow here in Minnesota seems a fitting time as ever. So, I’m taking a look back on this year of growing with you to share what I gleaned from my gardens. Or rather, what lessons my garden unearthed for me. I’ve added links to previous posts at the end of most topics, as it seems the lessons I learned this year are also perennial. But as with gardening- the roots grow deeper and the harvests increase with each passing year. I hope you can take a few of these ideas and let them inspire you to grow and harvest more (veggies, sustainability, peace) from your gardens this upcoming season. Let’s Dig In!

Grow Lights are Worth It

Without grow lights my northern garden simply would not produce the food (looking at you tomatoes + peppers) I look forward to starting from seed every year. If I purchased all the crops I grow as plants rather than seed my garden would not be profitable. Grow lights are an investment, but being able to start plants indoors is a game changer that any gardener who has taken the leap will attest to. If you want to start a garden from seeds, and you live in a cold growing zone like I do- these help produce happy healthy plants!
Seed Starting 101
Seed Catalog and Company Overview

Extend Your Growing Season

Growing under any kind of cover can bring both earlier and later harvesting. Extending your growing season by a few weeks on each end may not seem like a lot, but in my zone 4 garden in Minnesota every week counts. Some guides give us as little as 115 growing days. If you’re planting with the seasons, I’d say more like 140, and adding a low tunnel or cold frame can easily take you to 200 growing days- if you plant cold tolerant veggies.

Just Keep Planting

Being able to start the majority of your garden from seeds allows you to try so many new varieties. And you can stagger those plantings (called succession planting) to keep eating fresh from the garden all season long. Being able to replant a garden bed two to three times makes your gardens so much more productive!
Succession Planting to Extend Your Harvests

Good Garden Layout

Being able to get your garden out of your head and down on paper is a game changer. Taking the time to do this step, and redo it a few times- saves time and frustration later in the season. Being able to dream in plants and meals in the depths of winter makes the frozen months easier too. It will 100% add to your harvests and overall joy in the garden come summer and who isn’t looking for that!
Garden Design Class

Know Your Farmer

I can’t come close to growing it all, nor do I want to try on this city lot. So, I heartily rely on my local farmers. Building relationships with the people who grow my food is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my garden. It allows me to not worry about trying to grow enough sweet corn to feed my family- a truly daunting undertaking to being with. Instead, I know a few farmers who grow amazing sweet corn, that I purchase to can and freeze. This frees up my garden space for things that I can grow well.
Winter Farmers Market
Farmers Market Shopping Tips + Tricks

Compost

The simple, completely natural act of composting is an impactful way to up your garden game. There are so many ways to compost, and not many ways for it to go wrong. Nature knows what to do when you put a bunch of organic matter together, I promise. Keeping veggie and yard waste out of landfills is so simple and you get garden gold out of the deal. This was the first blog I ever wrote, so be gentle if you read this one, but the information is still sound!
Composting Basics

No Dig Works Wonders

I grew my first real front yard garden this year and it pushed me out of my comfort zone in a few ways. And I was greatly rewarded in new friendships, more food, and a new understanding of the power of sheet composting. In the last few years I have added many new garden beds and edible landscape space with both sheet composting, hugelkultur and lasagna gardening techniques. It is the way I plan on continuing because it is easier and grows amazing food!
Building a No Till (Lasagna) Garden

Add More Flowers

Adding flowers and more bio diversity in general is also called Companion Planting. Planning for more diversity, with veggies, flowers, annuals and perennials will bring in the pollinators and give your garden the natural defenses to fend off attacks from many common garden problems- from insects to diseases.
Companion Planting Flowers for Veggie Gardens

Add More Fruit

I will always add more fruit! From ground covers, bushes, canes, trees and vines the diversity of fruit is every bit as exciting as the varieties of vegetables.

This was my first season getting a grape harvest and being able to snack on sun ripened grapes while in the garden was a new high for my whole family. I’m focusing more and more on perennials in my garden and loving the returns!

Keep Saving Seed

Saving seeds, and adding plants that are open pollinated, is a key to keeping me engaged on my garden journey. Knowing I am growing food AND seed still gives me those garden superpower vibes. Knowing what, how and when to save seed is a gift that I love to share. If you are new to the seed saving game, it starts with buying seeds that can be saved in the future…
Seed Saving Starts Now

Suburban Homesteading

In roughly 450 square feet of garden space in the 2021 gardens we grew a total of 543 pounds of homegrown goodness! *I forgot to weigh some of my potatoes* – but, this gives you a pretty darn good idea of what can be grown in roughly 550 square feet of garden space. On a larger scale farmers often anticipate about 0.5 pounds of produce per square foot.

We also tapped and processed over 6 quarts of maple syrup and brought in over 600 eggs from our little city lot. Not to mention the foraged foods we enjoyed.

I’m glad there will never be a way to quantify the bird songs heard, the butterflies watched or the underground microorganisms multiplied. But I do know it was a very good year in the garden and I can’t wait to see what the next one brings.

Now is a great time to dream and plan, I hope this helps you find some direction for your dreams. Cheers to each of you- and all my best wishes for a joyful and meaningful 2022!

Keep Digging in!
Michelle

The post Lessons from the Garden appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Planting cover crop seed is an easy and effective way to practice good soil health on any scale. There are a few tips and tricks for having the best luck for home gardeners. Timing and seed selection are key!

General Benefits of Planting a Cover Crop

• Better Water Retention – soil with root mass holds more water
• Less Weeding – soil that is covered keeps weed seeds from germinating
• Reduced Disease – soil life diversity increases disease resistance
• Less splash up – having a physical barrier between the soil and plants reduces pathogens from infecting plants

What Is a Cover Crop?

Cover crops are plants, usually grasses or legumes in vegetable gardens that are grown to benefit the soil rather than for harvest. Planted during off-seasons or between cash crops, they prevent erosion, suppress weeds, manage pests, and increase soil fertility. They act as a protective, living mulch, improving soil structure and organic matter.

There are many different ways of cover cropping, from holding a field for a full year, or part of spring or over the winter. Because I succession plant so much of my garden space (from early spring to late fall), I don’t leave much of my soil bare at any one time. But one of the reasons I have incorporated cover crops is how easy it is to sow the seeds after harvesting a late summer crop.

There are many different benefits of planting cover crops in the garden. One is to build up organic matter in the soil. Another is using legumes to add nitrogen to the soil. A final reason is to help break up compacted heavy soil with plants that have think roots. If left to rot they create wonderful space in the soil for nutrient and water transfer. I see cover cropping as another way of Companion Planting for your garden.

Soil Health Starts with Cover

It always helps me to know the WHY behind whatever I’m doing. You too?

Before I started planting cover crops years ago, I took a deep dive into soil health. Asking, “Why are we planting seeds in the fall when they won’t have time to mature?” The basic answer is soil health.

When bare soil is pounded by rain it compresses it making it harder for roots, worms, nutrients and even water to penetrate. When bare soil is baked by the sun, it dries and cracks. Any existing soil life moves deeper down under ground and the existing organic material becomes stagnant and lifeless.

Adding a mulch like straw or leaves keeps a protective barrier on top of the soil, preventing both compaction and drying. Green mulches will also decompose over time adding organic matter to the soil. This makes it even more inviting for more varieties of soil life.

If you decide growing a cover crop isn’t something you want to do, try adding a layer of organic mulch (leaves or straw) to that bare garden soil instead. Your soil will reward you the following year!

On a large scale, we can see carbon dioxide levels rise after farmland is harvested and tilled—and the soil is left bare for months. The levels above the same areas drop drastically once crops start growing again in the spring. If you want to be wowed at the power of plants to create carbon sinks, watch this time lapse video from NASA.

Planting Cover Crops for Soil Health

When we feed the soil we keep it alive.

Cover cropping is a way to grow your own mulch which feeds the soil in different ways from organic mulches. By choosing which seeds to plant, you can choose what to feed your soil. Most home gardeners are looking to add some nitrogen, some organic material, and maybe help with breaking up the soil a little with their cover crop.

 Oats + Peas + Radish: I find great results with a seed blend of oats, peas and radishes. Specifically, a blend with these three seeds called Nitro Max Mix from Albert Lea Seed has done well for me. 

The oats create a thick mat of mulch keeping weeds down the following spring (see the notes on allelopathy below). The peas add nitrogen and the radishes break up the soil. I also blend my own with organic seed from my local feed mill. Locally, I know that EggPlant Urban Farm Supply also carries cover crop seed.

Another winner for home gardeners is Buckwheat. This plant is easy to cut back—but should be cut before the seed heads form so it doesn’t re-seed. Buckwheat is usually planted in the spring before a later succession of heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers or zucchini. You can both leave the cut stalks or work into the soil.

Crimson clover is a wonderful way to add nitrogen (it is a legume). It can also be used as a living mulch. This is a great choice for attracting lots of pollinators. But make sure to chop after blooming before seeds set, or you’ll be growing it forever

How I Cover Crop

In Minnesota, I most often plant cover crops in the fall. Right after I’ve harvested something that required more digging than my normal no till practices, like potatoes is typical. Since I’m already digging into the soil, it feels natural to plant something that will build back soil relationships. This is part pf practicing no till gardening even though I’m planting.

Plant these crops 5-6 weeks before a frost or freeze will kill them off.

That’s another reason I prefer an oat-based cover crop: they always winter-kill. This is often a concern for home gardeners thinking about cover crops. With plants that die with freezing temperatures you don’t have to worry about the cover crop self-seeding the next season.

Get Planting

Direct seed into soil that was recently harvested from. I usually plant out in mid-September. Water and let it grow.

I often use a wire covering over the freshly planted seed to keep pests from digging into the soil. In the spring you’ll find a nice mat of dead mulch on top of the soil as well as a thick root mass still intact under the soil. These roots have kept a whole host of soil microorganisms closer over winter. This soil life would have had nothing to feed on and left otherwise.

I tend to plant transplants or larger seeded crops into these areas to leave as much of the soil as possible undisturbed come spring.

If you do need to till in the cover crop, it is recommended to wait three to four weeks to plant. Tilling in the dead plant matter will alter the soil activity to the point where your new transplants or seeds won’t do well.

Allelopathy Explained

Allelopathy is another way to harness the power of cover crops. This is a process when a plant secretes growth inhibiting compounds from its roots. Even cucumbers excrete a growth prohibiting chemical via their roots. But most people use this chemical warfare to their advantage with crops left in the ground. Oats are a great example. As the oat straw decomposes, creating a wonderful mulch, its also leaving behind a residue (phenolic acid) that prohibits seed germination.

Living Mulches

A living mulch is anything that keeps down other plant growth just by growing itself. It is worth mentioning within cover cropping simply because it is another sustainable way to keep the ground covered while feeding the soil life. I’m a firm believer in planting Dutch white clover in my garden paths. I’ve had great success with bringing in even more pollinators by adding clover.

Now the clover is slowly taking over the old grass. It requires less mowing and is easier to weed out of edges of gardens compared to the old existing lawn. Living mulches can also be used to simply shade out other plants.

Bottom line is to keep your soil covered for happier plants and a better harvest. So, tell me, have you cover cropped or will you now? What other questions do you have about planting a cover crop in your home garden?

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Cover Crops for Soil Health: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Making garden beds this way works with nature’s existing cycles, creating healthy soil, less weeding and happier plants!

This process does NOT need to be created inside a box, just easier to keep layers tidy, I’ve success both in and out of boxes!

Build It and They Will Come!

The idea of setting up a garden bed like this is to let nature do the work for you. You’ll be helping nature create good soil by composting in place- and that requires things for the soil organisms to eat. By giving a diverse group of soil life things to feast on you can create a very active and healthy soil to plant into.

Building Better Soil

Soil biodiversity creates a more resilient garden. I like to equate good soil organisms with good gut health. We’ve likely all heard of pre- and pro- biotics; the helpers of digestion (and so much more). Soil organisms help break things down and make them available to plants in a similar fashion.

Everything from worms and beetles we can see, to bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and actinomycetes (though I sure couldn’t tell you what those looked like!) have a specific job to do- and many work in relationship with vegetable plant roots to feed them. There is a whole world of info about the soil food web out there, and I suggest watching THIS by Dr. Elaine Ingham if you want to dig a little deeper.

BUT… the beauty of this process is that it works without you knowing soil biology! By layering the raw materials listed below the good guys will set up shop breaking down matter AND making it available to your plants in a few short months.

Helpful Garden Terms

No Dig Gardening: Leaving the soil as undisturbed as possible.

Sheet Composting VS Sheet Mulching:  Sheet Mulching is where you overlap cardboard and place mulch directly over it (like I did for my front yard garden). Sheet composting is another term for Lasagna gardening.

Hügelkultur: Using wood and other organic matter to warm and drive faster decomposition. (I think of this as Lasagna Gardening on steroids.)

the more you know

When to Build

You can start building a garden this way anytime, but Fall is a great time. You’ll have lots of yard waste to add to the boxes, plus letting the bed sit overwinter will give the layers time to decompose and release some of the nutrients to help feed plants next spring. In northern climates, like us in Minnesota, the freeze thaw cycle also helps break things down over winter.

The process can take up to six months- another reason why Fall is a great time to get started. And yes, it will continue to decompose over winter even in Minnesota. Remember this is a cold (or slow) compost process, not a hot one.

Remember to Practice No Dig Garden Clean Up Techniques every fall as well. Cut healthy, annual plants back at the soil level to leave roots in the ground. This will help feed soil life over winter.

Step by Step Bed Construction:

Choose a location for your new garden (veggies do best in full sun) then decide the dimensions and start laying down the layers!

• Mow: Mow grass as short as possible where you will be creating the garden bed. This step can also help define the edges and curves as garden beds should be easy to mow around!

• Fork: Using a small tined pitchfork or broad fork if you have one, gently push into the soil to create air holes and ‘space’. This invites worms and the larger organisms towards the surface.

• Compost: Lay a thin layer of compost under the cardboard to entice soil life up into the area.

• Cardboard: Lay solid cardboard (free of color printing or tape!) over space, making sure to overlap liberally. Overlapping too little can cause weeds to find light and sneak up. Collecting large sheets of cardboard from appliances, and friends that have recently moved can be a big help!

• Layer: Now we start adding all that organic matter which can be broken down into two main groups; carbon or nitrogen suppliers. Layering these invites decomposers to the garden party!

Layer By Layer

To me this is the fun part, finally getting to add the layers. Organic matter high in carbon is often referred to as “browns” and matter high in Nitrogen as “greens”. Thinking of Browns as drier and Greens as wetter helps keep them straight in my head. Sticking to around 2″ per layer helps the process along.

*This really is like composting in place- but without turning the soil ourselves we’re inviting the soil life to turn it for us, so thinner layers are key to success.*

More information on composting HERE!

Carbon Sources

Carbon rich materials include cardboard, newspaper, wood chips, sawdust and dry leaves (another reason to do sheet composting in the fall—you can put all those falling leaves to good use). It’s best to start with a nitrogen layer touching the cardboard to help break it down enough for the soil organisms to bust through.

Nitrogen Sources

Nitrogen rich materials include already composted horse or cow manure, fresh grass clippings, deadheaded flowers, fruit/vegetable scraps, used coffee grounds, and green leaves as well as alfalfa pellets and cottonseed meal.

I also use spent chicken bedding from our backyard flock and consider it a ‘pre-blended’ mix of carbon (straw) and chicken droppings (nitrogen).

Keep the ratio of carbon to nitrogen roughly 70/30 – 50/50. This is a forgiving process, and will eventually create compost regardless of exact proportions.

*The smaller the pieces you add to the layers, the faster it will decompose.*

Unlike traditional composting, during which weed seeds and disease organisms are killed as the pile heats up, this is a cold composting process and will not kill diseases or seeds.

Garden debris that contains weed seeds or diseased materials should be skipped when making a lasagna garden.

Ask me how I know

I’ve created very healthy soil in my new beds and increased my organic matter from 2.8% to 9.8% in two years with No Dig Gardening! Between 4-6% is considered adequate for most veggies. If you’re interested in doing a soil test the U of MN does their basic version for $17, that and lots more info on soil in my article HERE.

I’ve built my fair share of garden beds over the years, and really love the way no till garden beds produce and thrive! It’s also pretty amazing how with a little planning these beds use up yard ‘waste’ and cost virtually nothing!

For loads of great videos on how this can look in a garden check out the OG No Dig guru; Charles Dowding.

If you’re looking to expand your gardens for next season- think about starting now. Make it easy on yourself by layering on the goodness and letting nature do the work.

Dig In!
Michelle

The post No Dig Gardening + Hügelkultur: Layer a Lasagna Garden appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.