Cycling and Enriching a Garden's Soil

Liz Crain of Leafhopper Farm gives an update on the Permaculture Gardens as we transition into Fall. She describes how she recently harvested potatoes while adding compost, wood chips and turning up the soil to add and keep nutrients cycling through the garden.

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POTATOES

• Potatoes are in the nightshade family and the portion we eat is part of the roots of the plant. After harvest, leave them on the edge of the dirt in the sun to encourage a chemical reaction which hardens and sets them (i.e. curing). To store them you can put them in dry sand, in a root cellar or you can leave them in the ground and harvest when you need them if you don't live in a moist area. Stored potatoes can last through the winter if stored somewhere with temperature and humidity control like a root cellar.

ENRICHING SOIL

• After digging out the potatoes the soil was turned upwards to a higher place in the garden. Compose from one of the bins was also added in the process. Ideally the nutrients in the soil are moved higher up in the garden so that it trickles down through the whole garden when moist. We have a high content of clay, so we also mix in other material like wood chips which the fungal mycelia root networks break down and distribute.

COLD FRAMES

• Cold frames are small areas in the garden covered with a sheet of glass creating a mini-greenhouse. This can work well in the winter in a south facing area. Stop watering the plants in the cold frame when the frost comes. You'll want to plant cold hearty crops like radish, beets, lettuce and carrots.

KALE

• Our Kale is doing fairly well, though it is starting to grow a little mold. We break off older pieces to help with ventilation and encourage younger pieces to grow.

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@leafhopperfarm

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