Debby Ward, Author at Innovating Organic Gardening

Discover the Magic of Building Healthy Living Soil

Elevate Your Garden’s Potential.

Imagine stepping into your garden and witnessing a vibrant paradise of lush, thriving plants.

Vegetable Fruit and Flower Garden Landscape

The secret?

It all begins beneath the surface, in the rich vibrancy of your soil.

As a professional organic gardener, I’ve witnessed the transformational magic of healthy living soil time and time again. 🌿

Did you know there is more life in living soil than in a coral reef?

Your garden is a reflection of your connection with the earth. Healthy living soil isn’t just dirt; it’s a living ecosystem teeming with vitality and potential. 🌎 It’s the soul of your garden, nurturing every seedling and sustaining every bloom.

But why is healthy living garden soil so crucial?

When we build organic soil, we’re honoring the intricate balance of nature.

A garden reliant on chemicals becomes a cycle of dependency. You pour in more chemicals to compensate for depleted nutrients, only to further degrade the soil’s vitality. It’s a costly loop that leaves your soil lifeless and your plants struggling to thrive.

Chemical-laden alternatives might seem convenient at first, but they come with a hefty price tag—both financially and environmentally. 💸

In addition, there are questions about the health and safety of all those garden chemicals. They have been linked to various health issues.

Considering all these negative factors, using garden chemicals is not worth the risks. Especially because …

There’s a better way!

Building healthy living soil means cultivating an ecosystem that works for you. It’s about harnessing the power of nature’s brilliance to create a self-sustaining haven for your plants. 🌿

Imagine planting seeds that flourish effortlessly, blossoming into robust, resilient plants without constant interventions or added expenses.

I’ve seen this transformation firsthand in countless gardens.

In fact the number one reason I see why people’s gardens are not thriving is because they have not care for their soil.

By nurturing organic, living soil, gardeners unlock a bounty of benefits:

🌱 Enhanced plant resilience against pests and diseases.

🌿 Improved water retention, reducing the need for constant watering.

🌎 Boosted nutrient levels, fostering nutrient-dense produce.

💧 Reduced environmental impact, supporting a healthier ecosystem.

Do you know what makes up healthy living garden soil?

Quality soil needs air and water to be a home for your plants.

Your soil is the foundation of your garden. We want strong foundations for our homes, so lets give our gardens a healthy foundation too.

I’ve put together an exclusive, free PDF guide: “What Makes Healthy Living Soil,” 👇 with expert tips to nurture your soil into a thriving haven for your plants. 📚

🌟Get your free PDF now 🌟 and start to witness the transformative power of healthy living soil in your garden.👇

“Healthy living soil grow plants for you.” – Debby Ward Professional Organic Gardener

Let’s grow vibrant, sustainable gardens from the ground up—starting with our soil.

Garden Planning: A Quick Gardener’s Guide to Trusting Your Inner Wisdom

Debby WardLeave a comment

Seating in a garden to do your garden planning.

🌿 Are you ready to transform your garden into an organic paradise but feeling a bit lost on your next steps?

Tap into your senses!

Garden Planning

Seeing Beyond the Surface: 🌺

Imagine an organic garden that mirrors your aspirations—a sanctuary teeming with life, thriving with organic abundance. The secret lies in truly **seeing** your property. It’s not just about the soil and the plants; it’s about grasping the unique nuances, the energy, and the potential that your space holds.

Trust Your Instincts: 🌟

You possess an innate wisdom that can guide your gardening decisions. Embrace it! 🌻 Trusting yourself means recognizing your instincts and letting them lead you to the right choices for planning your organic garden.

Don’t underestimate the power of your intuition in nurturing your plants and making the right organic choices.

Dispelling Gardening Fears: 🍃

Apprehensions and doubts can hold you back from realizing your garden’s true potential. But fear not! 🌿 By learning to observe your property and prioritizing your dreams for your garden, you can dispel these worries. Take the first step in confronting your fears—acknowledge them and watch as they dissolve.

Trusting Yourself: A Quick Gardener’s Guide 📝

Observe Intently: 🧐

Take time to study your garden, noticing its quirks and unique characteristics. Go beyond the use of your eyes to see what is happening, with the light, the water, the critters. See with your heart as well.

These observations will allow you to better plan your garden and what you want to see where, and maybe see things you never noticed before.

Listen to Nature: 👂🏼

Nature communicates in its way. Tune in and understand what your garden is telling you. Sit quietly and hear the trees and plants. Hear the bird song, simply listen without expectation or judgment.

Experiment with Wonder: 💫

Don’t be afraid to try new methods or plants. Embrace the learning process. Enjoy the wonder of your organic garden’s transformation and your illuminated wisdom in the process.

Seek Support:😃

If you have garden planning questions, doubts or concerns, ask me! As an organic gardening expert, I’m here to support your journey. 🌿 Trust in my experience and knowledge to guide you through this process.

Ready to unlock your organic garden potential?

Take the Free Quiz and receive your Free Gardener Insight Packet that matches your gardening style.

It’s time to let your inner gardener shine and create the garden of your dreams! 🌿✨

Unlocking Abundance: The Power of Yearly Garden Planning

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Are you looking forward to your spring and summer garden, with it’s bounty of yummy edibles and joyous blooms?

Do you want to see your garden teeming with vibrancy, brimming with succulent produce, and blossoming with colors that enrich both your soul and your dinner plate.

This is the promise of meaningful yearly garden planning. It’s more than a mere boring task, it’s a strategic roadmap that propels your garden toward greatness like an orchestra in harmony with you as the conductor.

By embracing yearly garden planning, you harness the power of foresight. You lay the groundwork in advance, aligning the stars to create a harmonious ecosystem where plants thrive in synergy.

Say goodbye to the days of haphazard planting that yield – well- ??? If you welcome a structured approach that optimizes resources, space, and time – whether you consider yourself an “organizer” or “planner” or not, you manifest more from your garden.

I realize some of you are “not into planning”, so for you, I have created steps to simplify and shorten the process and make it fun and create.

For those who like to plan, embrace my system and manifest abundance in your garden.

Below are some yearly garden planning ideas, carefully lifted from my full planning process to get you started.

If you want to quicken the process and get my professional support, start with booking a short call here, or go to my website and message me from the contact page.

Yearly Garden Planning Tips

Maximized harvests: Plan out all four seasons at once. Things can change, but it gives me a plan for those days when I need a bit of clarity. Strategically time your plantings to ensure a continuous yield throughout the seasons.

Ecosystem balance: Encourage beneficial insects, and discourage pests, by planning your garden to be a self-sustaining thriving ecosystem. Diversity is the key here, have as many different types of veggies, fruit, flowers, and herbs, as you can fit into your garden spaces.

Conscious time management: By planning all four seasons in advance, you can look at your calendar, and consider what else is going on in your life to make strategic decisions about when to start seedlings, when to direct seed, and when to do any soil amending with mycorrhiza or when to do your biodynamic preparation sprays.

Again, here is that link to book a short free call so we can illuminate the next best step to your garden planning.

I look forward to hearing about your amazing garden ideas, Debby

Garden Planning Motives: Your Garden’s Personalized Transformation!

Debby WardLeave a comment

Picture this: a garden that not only flourishes but becomes your personal haven, where nature’s symphony orchestrates a beautiful harmony, tailored to your unique strengths and aspirations.

To manifest this wonderful sanctuary you envision, some planning is necessary. I realize some of you are excited by planning, and some, well, not so much.

As a seasoned gardener, my journey has been interwoven with an illuminating understanding of the profoundly positive impact garden planning has on creating the garden of your dreams, be it a small veggie patch, flower bed or your whole yard.

Three Motives for Garden Planning

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You don’t miss opportunities by doing a bit of garden planning.

I remember a couple who bought a house and put a shed where they thought it *should* go. Then the following year, when they want to put in some veggies and summer flowers, they realized they had built the shed in the sunniest part of their yard, so they were coming to me to see how to grow tomatoes in the shade!

Actualize your garden goals and dreams – on time.

New gardeners don’t tend to think about gardening until it is past time for the spring garden, to build garden beds or start seeds. This means they start their learning curve late, if they start at all.

And, just because seasoned gardeners know the schedule, that doesn’t mean they always make it – plus – I have found they tend to get in a rut with their garden, which begins degrading their garden over time, and minimized their yield.

You save money.

In case you don’t know, you spend way more money buying plants than if you start from seed, even with an initial investment in seed starting equipment.

In addition, trying to build a garden quickly to get in a summer garden, means you spend money on inputs like soil, than if you planned ahead and let nature do the work for you.

Garden Planning Styles Vary

Gardeners approach planning their annual vegetable garden differently.

Some meticulous plan everything to the smallest detail, while some grab a few plants from a parking-lot seller as an afterthought on their way back to the car. Most are somewhere in between.

I love planning my garden, but I have gardened long enough to know that some crops will fail every year, that some ideas turn out to be brilliant, some unexpected and some a disaster, which makes for a good lesson I can pass on to you.

Over the decades I have gardened, I have honed my garden planning into systems to simplify garden planning processes.

For those who love to plan, it quickens their process.

For those who don’t dig planning, it allows them a short-cut to start planning to actualize their garden goals and dreams.

First Step to Garden Planning

The first step in garden planning is observation, because it is here where you set the stage for the bounty that is to come.

Observe:

How much sun and shade you have in each area of your potential growing area.
If you have critters. Look for both those who might be helpful for your garden, such as pollinators, or harmful ones such as deer. (Unless you are going for a wildlife garden)
What is it that grows in your climate that you and your household like to eat.
The amount of time you have to garden. This allows you to make wise choices on how much space to garden in what way – annuals vs. perennials – containers vs. in-ground.

Imagine embarking on a journey where your garden becomes an extension of your being—a canvas for your creativity and a haven for tranquility.

What truly distinguishes my system is the fusion of creativity and precision. I possess the uncanny ability to dance between these two realms effortlessly. For you, this means the opportunity to have support in manifesting a garden that transcends the mundane, while being grounded in simple, tested systems that ensures your garden flourishes organically.

My support isn’t just about planting seeds; it’s about nurturing your dreams and empowering you with the tools to watch them bloom into vibrant realities.

Why Choose My Garden Planning System?

Illuminating Guidance: Personalized support that aligns with your unique strengths.
Artistic Vision: Assist you in manifesting gardens that reflect your unique style and approach.
Simplified Systems: Streamlined processes that make organic gardening a joyous endeavor.

Let’s embark on this journey together, where your garden becomes a testament to your inner creativity and a sanctuary of natural harmony.

Uncover amazing collaboration and take the leap toward an organic garden that not only thrives but becomes a living, breathing masterpiece—a reflection of your unique spirit and my innovative approach to organic gardening.

Book a 15-minute Free Discovery Call today, and let’s unveil the true potential of your organic garden.

Together, we’ll transform it into the oasis you’ve always envisioned. I’m here to guide, inspire, and witness your garden flourish into a testament of your organic journey.

Book Your 15 Minute Call Now

Look forward to talking with you soon!

Debby

Maximizing Garden Abundance: The Rationality and Economics of Indoor Seed Starting

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In the aspiration of an abundant and thriving garden, indoor seed starting emerges as a pragmatic and economically viable approach.

It offers a myriad of benefits that cater to discerning organic gardeners like you.

By germinating seeds indoors, we embrace a fun time-honored method rooted in science and efficiency, optimizing the growth cycle and enhancing our return on investment (ROI) for our gardening endeavors.

Scientifically, indoor seed starting capitalizes on the principles of germination, leveraging controlled environments to provide the optimal conditions for seedling development.

This method harnesses psychological insights, recognizing the impact of environmental cues on plant growth.

Studies in cognitive science underline the importance of consistent stimuli for fostering robust growth, a phenomenon parallel to the controlled settings of indoor seed starting.

Furthermore, the economic advantages of indoor seed starting are important for most gardeners. Through the reduction of external dependencies on store-bought seedlings, economies of scale manifest themselves, enabling gardeners to maximize their yield at a fraction of the cost. 💰

This practice aligns with the principles of sustainability and fiscal prudence, offering a means to harness resources efficiently and reduce unnecessary expenditures, a sentiment cherished by every organic gardener.

This all translates to our opportunities:

To provide seedlings with ideal environments from which to grow and
Allows us to grow the varieties we want so we have
More diversity in our garden, both for our food harvests and the beauty of our flowers and
Saves us money.

Contrary voices may raise concerns regarding the initial investments in indoor seed starting setups, positing that the costs may outweigh the benefits. However, a comprehensive analysis reveals the long-term gains eclipsing these initial expenses, especially if you build a seed starting rack yourself.

The ability to nurture and monitor seedlings from their inception enables precision gardening, empowering gardeners to select the healthiest seedling for transplantation, ultimately contributing to the garden’s overall vitality.

It also often gives us the opportunity to gift 🎁 others in our community with any extra plants, thus building positive cooperative relationships.

The rationale behind indoor seed starting stands fortified by the amalgamation of scientific understanding, economic prudence, and sustainability consciousness.

For the organic gardener seeking to optimize yields and foster a flourishing garden, embracing indoor seed starting proves not only logical but also economically astute.

Plus, folks, it is a fun activity 😀 in winter to nurture your seedlings as they bring you the renewing joy of spring.

By delving into the scientific principles and economic sensibilities underpinning indoor seed starting for your spring and summer garden, gardeners can manifest a bountiful and gratifying harvest, underscoring the inherent value of this meticulous, strategic and empowering approach.

Illuminate Your Seed Starting with my Free Seed Starting Checklist.

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Understanding the Impact of Seed Companies on Your Organic Garden

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In the thriving landscape of organic gardening, the selection of seed companies stands as a pivotal decision that profoundly influences the quality, diversity, and sustainability of your garden.

Choosing your seed provider shapes the future of not only your garden but also what seeds we have available.

Many years ago I started to realize that there were seed companies beyond the one that was in my local big box store.

As I began to gain knowledge of seeds companies and their differences, I embarked on extensive research into them.

There are different kinds of seed companies, I didn’t know that 40 years ago.

Understanding the nuances of seed quality and the philosophies upheld by different companies became essential for me as a gardener.

Scientific studies in fields like psychology and cognitive science consistently illustrate the link between the quality of inputs—seeds in this case—and the outputs—the crops harvested.

Delving into various providers empowers gardeners to make informed decisions that resonate with their values.

Consumer spending on seeds for home gardens in the United States showcases a substantial investment, reflecting the significance of this choice.

We, as gardeners get to shape the future of gardening by our choices.

This financial commitment underscores the responsibility to conscientiously select seed companies that align with one’s principles and aspirations.

As you likely know, the market is reactive; our choices drive the offerings made available to us. When we support ethical and diverse seed providers, we contribute to a richer pool of options, promoting biodiversity and resilience in our gardens.

Beyond the economic dimension, the choice of seed companies profoundly impacts your food supply.

By opting for reputable organic seed sources, individuals assume control over their sustenance, safeguarding against potential health hazards associated with pesticides and genetically modified organisms.

This proactive awareness not only fosters a more wholesome diet for you and your family, but also serves as a substantial savings of time and money, circumventing potential health issues.

It’s imperative to acknowledge dissenting opinions that argue against the gravity of seed company selection. Some may contend that all seeds, regardless of the source, will yield similar results if cultivated under identical conditions. While this argument carries weight, evidence highlights the importance of the variance in genetic diversity and the potential long-term consequences of monoculture practices, emphasizing the relevance of diversified seed sources.

And dear gardeners, there are some incredible folks out there breeding new varieties specifically for organic growers and considering our changing climate.

Going back to my research on seed companies.

What I found out was remarkable, sometimes scary and disheartening, sometimes uplifting and inspirational.

I uncovered some companies grow all their own seed, while others buy seed and redistribute it. Those companies are seed distributors.

Some companies spend lots of money on genetic modification of seeds and pass on those costs to the consumer.

Yet others source their seeds from small family farms.

Some live the ethics of organic growing and some only use it to attract customers but don’t enact sustainability and preservation for anything other than their financial bottom line.

The result of all this research was the creation of my creating 15 criteria to vet seed companies. I have used and taught these criteria for over 10 years to hundreds of people.

Get my FREE 15 Criteria to Vet Seed Companies below.

For each criteria you’ll find out what it is and why it matters.

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Happy New Year! – What did & didn’t thrive last year

Debby WardLeave a comment

Around the new year, many of us take some time to reflect on the past year.

It can be fun to read about the famous people we have lost and revel in their contributions – a kind of celebration.

Reflecting on our year, on lessons we have learned and what we have to be grateful for in our lives leads to a useful consideration of what to leave behind in the new year. This can create space for something else we want to call in for the new year.

As gardeners, reflecting on our gardening year is part of this consideration.

In the past year in my garden:

We had a bumper crop of spring peas, but not as much lettuce as usual.

The tomatoes did fantastic, the eggplant and peppers not so much.
We had a bummer crop of bush beans, but almost no sweet potatoes.
And we got bags of fennel seeds – as well as baby fennel plants!
The lavender was lovely, yet the parsley died.

Again the tall zinnias were a show stopper as was the fennel.

This is how gardening goes. Every year some plants do great, some not so much.

Looking forward to 2024, I want to build a raised bed for the winter squash. The weeds have been creeping in more and more, so it is time to rehab that area.

May your 2024 garden year be your best yet! – Debby

Recommended Vegetable Varieties from 2023 – Part 2

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Hey there, green-thumbed friends! 👋🏼

Debby Ward, professional organic gardening coach, back with Part 2 of my 2023 vegetable trials.

I’ve been digging in the dirt, nurturing my little green babies, and today, I’m thrilled to share more insights on what thrived and what didn’t quite make the cut in my garden this year.

Let’s start with some winners, shall we?

Jade Bush Beans were a smashing success, offering bountiful harvests and a crisp, tender bite.

We got so much harvest, I have bags in the freezer for winter!

These have become a standard go-to-green bean for three years now.

My garden was blessed with an abundance of Pirat Butter Lettuce, a personal favorite, which stayed sweet and crispy even as the weather started to heat up.

I plant this is both spring and fall and have some over-winter in a hoop-house.

It is beautiful and delicious.

And the Red Chieftain potato once again simply *rocked*, giving us so many potatoes to enjoy all winter.

I keep thinking of trying other potatoes, but I get **so much** harvest, I keep growing this one. It does well in our heavy clay soils, and even better in high quality living garden soil Want to know more about great soil, get my soil freebee.

These varieties are definite keepers for any vegetable gardener!

Now, onto the less fortunate varieties.

The Velour Purple Bush Beans struggled to keep up with their Jade cousins, producing smaller yields with tiny pods that never got big enough to bother with or harvest. This was year two and I’m on to something else – stay tuned!

Brandywine Tomatoes, while delicious, required more attention and care than I had time for. They are a classic heirloom, but I keep finding them falling short. Even if they taste great, I want more harvest from each plant than these give before they succumb to disease in my humid summer weather.

Likewise with the Amish Paste tomatoes. Again, great flavor, with the few you get. If you don’t want allot of tomatoes, then both of these are fine. If you want a paste tomato for processing, then look elsewhere.

And the Trident Poblano peppers, that were supposed to be extra big, turned out to be extra small and not worth the time or space they took up. The plant was huge, but the largest pepper I got was 3” vs the advertised as 6-7”. They didn’t measure up to the hype.

But hey, that’s what gardening adventures are all about, right?

But here’s the real secret to a successful garden: staying organized and prepared.

If you’re tired of seed packets scattered all over the place, it’s time to consider the Seed Organization Mini Course.

This course will be your trusty guide to streamline your seed storage and keep track of your garden’s treasure trove. Simplify your gardening life and make room for the magic to happen!

So, my fellow vegetable gardeners, let’s make the most of our gardening journey and embrace the ups and downs.

I hope these insights from my trials help you choose the perfect veggies for your garden.

And remember, with the Seed Organization Mini Course, you’ll have the key to an organized, stress-free garden that will truly bring abundance. Happy gardening, my friends! 🌱🌿

Recommended Vegetable Varieties from 2023 – Part 1

Debby Ward1 Comment

Hey there, fellow veggie enthusiasts! Debby Ward here, your go-to gal for all things organic gardening.

Today, I’m sharing the juicy details from my 2023 vegetable trials.

You know, those trials where we plant a bunch of different veggies and see which ones shine and which ones…well, not so much.

So, grab your notebook, and let’s dive into what worked wonders and what fell short in my garden this year.

First up, let’s talk about the stars of the show. 🌟

Citrine orange cherry tomatoes were the *Amazing* stars of the cherry tomato bed this year. They were super sweet and I loved watching people’s faces light up surprised when they tasted the first one. Bred by Johnny’s Select Seeds, they were the unanimous favorite crop of the summer garden.

The new pink tomato I tried Rose de Brune from High Mowing seeds grew huge quick and kept pumping out tasty tomatoes all season. The plants didn’t succumb to disease either. Nice balanced flavor in an easy-to-use size. A nice choice for those who like red tomatoes.

For you tomato sauce makers, this year I tried Coure Di Bue and wow! Great flavor, great harvest and wonderful for sauce and stuffing.

Cherry Belle Radishes – as always, practically grew overnight and were crisp, spicy, and perfect for snacking. This classic never fails.

And, my oh my, the Cascadia and Wando Peas were an absolute delight, with their sweet, delectable peas were eaten in the garden. It took restraint to save some for freezing. These varieties are definitely worth planting in your garden!

Now, on to the ones that didn’t quite make the cut.

Red Pearl grape tomato had its last chance this year. They were tiny, hard, and tasteless for the third year in a row.

The Early Black Egg eggplant that did so well the last couple of years sadly, struggled despite my best efforts. The one plant that didn’t die never grew fruit.

California Wonder sweet pepper was a bit high-maintenance for my taste, demanding more TLC than I was willing to provide.

And the Detroit Dark Red beets, while adorable (think tiny), didn’t yield as much as I had hoped for. But that’s the beauty of trial and error in gardening – we learn and adapt!

But wait, there’s more! Now that the summer garden is spent, you may be feeling overwhelmed with how to keep your seeds organized so you don’t loose track of them over the winter.

Fear not! I’ve got just the solution to make your gardening life easier.

Introducing the Seed Organization Mini Course – your ticket to saving time and money.

Learn how to keep your seeds in order, so you never have to guess what seeds you have and what you need to buy.

With this mini-course, you will quickly be well on your way to insuring you don’t waste money on seeds for your magical, and abundant garden sanctuary.

So, fellow vegetable gardeners, here’s to a year of fantastic harvests and endless inspiration.

Let’s make the most of our gardening adventures and explore new, exciting varieties. And remember, with the Seed Organization Mini Course, you’re in for a game-changer that’ll simplify your gardening journey.

Look for Part 2 of my 2023 veggie trials and … Happy gardening, my friends! 🌱🌿

Cover Crops – to boost your garden over winter and beyond

Debby WardLeave a comment

In the last two posts, we talked about growing plants to harvest, either in the fall or over winter.

Manifest more from your garden next year with cover crops.

Honestly, growing cover crops over the winter is one of the easiest ways to improve your garden with almost no work. It protects your soil and keeps weeds down.

💪There are three main reasons cover crops boost your garden’s productivity.

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Legume ‘Cover Crops for Nitrogen

Add nitrogen to the soil by growing legume cover crops such as field peas and clovers.

When the plants are spent, be sure to cut them off at ground level and leave those amazing roots that hold nitrogen in the soil so it can be used by other plants.

This works especially well if you notice that leaf crops are not as robust or leaves of other young plants are not greening up.

Once you cut the legume crop, follow it with something that loves lots of nitrogen to grow, like leaf crops.

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Cover crops for Compacted Soil

Break up compacted soil. Perhaps you have a bed that has compacted over time. It is not longer loose and loamy. Perhaps you have a bed that has never had the loose soil you want.

In this case, mangle beets, long carrots or daikon radish, can dig deep in the soil and loosen it for you.

Leave the crops in for a while after spring warming so they grow more to loosen your soil. Some carrots overwinter, so they can still be harvested in spring. This way they give you two benefits. Not only does your soil get loosened up, you get sweet spring harvested carrots. 🥕

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Add Nutrients to Your Compost

Add biomass to your beds or compost.

Cover crops like buckwheat or winter rye can add bulk to your soil once they dye back in hot weather.

Several years ago, when I was building some new beds and added bee hives to boost pollination. I seeded some beds with winter rye and buckwheat for bio mass, some with field peas for nitrogen.

When I cut down the rye and field peas, I added it to my compost pile. That compost was added to the beds a few months later.

I left the buckwheat to flower in the spring to provide food for the bee population. 🐝

The bees loved it, we harvested a bit of buckwheat seed and late in the summer, the seed that had fallen into the bed sprouted and provided the bees some late season food.

Not sure if bees really love buckwheat flowers, look at the types on honey on your grocery shelves, you will likely find Buckwheat Honey. 🍯

Cover crops are a win all around! – Debby Ward, Member of GardenComm International