Good Soil

I put the natural materials found here in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains into my garden dirt. This is a hazardous wildfire area, so I am also eliminating some fuels from my 5 acres. The grasses grow Feb.- Apr., then dry out. I put them underneath my dirt, so I don't get any grass seeds germinating. I grow plants there, by time I harvest the grasses have decomposed. I like to build soil. I don't have to till, because the soil addtions build a great loam. How is it in your garden?

Actually I have 3 gardens.

One is fairly conventional . I add everything back I can to it like corn cobs and shucks...even unused apples and pears plus mulched leaves. This one I fall plow.

Another is amended beds...informal and easily adjusted for melons, potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. These beds have received a large amount of sand and local peat and are very nice and loose soil. I do add well rotted horse manure in the fall where melons are going to be next year....plus mulched leaves.


The other is a combination of beds and tilled areas