Chapter 2 - Taking care of baby seedlings

We left off with perfectly sculpted raised beds. And you have back filled those pathway trenches with spoiled straw or leaves. Next is to get the nursery room filled with with your babies.

Transplanting is always the best. There is immediate gratification to seeing a garden filled with growing plants. In addition you can mulch immediately.

Your babies need food to grow quickly. Rotted manure and decomposed leaves add very little to the nutrients they need. You have 2 choices. Fertilizer or nutrient rich compost. Fertilizer does not have to be an evil thing. If you want to be organic, then buy an organic fertilizer. Depending on your soil analysis you can add whatever else is missing - all organic. And urine, diluted 1:10 is free, sanitary, and full of nitrogen. If you take vitamins, guess what? It further enhance the strength.

Nutrient rich compost is the alternative. Building a compost pile to be nutrient rich is a science. In "Living the Good Life" Nearing talks about it. But my point is your dirt is not fertile enough to support vigorous and healthy plants. They will succumb to drought, bugs and disease.

Remineralize your soil. I can only get gravel dust, but better amendments are available. you will see that the flavor of the vegetables improves.

Direct seeded plants benefit from pre-soaking (in the fridge for peas), scoring (beets), and under a cover of burlap (especially carrots). It is imperative to give them sufficient watering (irrigate or sprinkler). The sooner they get foliage, the faster they will take off in growth.

It's in the roots! What? The plants ability to withstand stress either drought, bugs, and other setbacks (like you harvesting the lettuce in a pick and come again method). So your primary goal is to develop a huge root support system for the plants. Now you see why tilling and fertilizing is not enough in the 'normal' gardeners plans.

• You need soil with tilth so that the roots can become expansive.
• You need healthy soil organisms that nurture and live in symbiosis with the plant.
• You need drainage to prevent water logging and suffocating the roots.
• You need depth for the deeper roots to have a pipeline to water.
• But you need something to hold that water at that depth. I look for semi-rotted branches, blast them through my shredder and toss a handful every time I spade deeply. I have even soaked the chips in a wheel barrow full of chicken manure in water broth as time permits.
• Eliminate competition from other roots.