Intensive gardening has its foundation in rich, fertile, friable soil, filled with organic matter. Soil of this type does not happen by accident; it is something that must be built up over time.
Fall is the best time to begin building up the fertility and tilth of your soil. The ground is warm and not damp like it is in spring. Begin by removing all vegetation in the garden bed. Till the soil with a rototiller or turn it over with a garden spade. Rake the surface of the soil smooth after tilling or digging.
Add organic matter to improve the soil's fertility and texture, such as compost, manure, peat moss, greensand, coarse builder's sand, perlite and vermiculite. Add as much of these as you can afford, an inch or more of compost, manure and peat moss and ¼ to ½ inch of the others. Manure should be well-rotted or composted. Fresh manure should not be added directly to the garden bed; pile it separately and allow it to compost for six to 12 months before adding to the soil in your garden.
Spread the organic and other soil amendments on the surface of the garden bed and till or turn over the soil a second time. This will incorporate the amendments into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. Rake the bed smooth when finished.
Cover crops are another soil improvement method used in intensive gardening. Plant a cover crop of annual ryegrass, field peas, or clover. Broadcast the seeds with your hands to evenly distribute them in the growing bed. Allow the cover crop to grow until it is about 6 inches high, which should take about 4 to 6 weeks.
Turn under the cover crop with a rototiller or shovel when it is at least 6 inches high, and before it produces seeds. Allow the turned-under crop to remain in the soil. It will break down and add more organic matter.
Cover the bed in autumn with an organic mulch, such as hay, straw, or shredded autumn leaves. Put down the mulch so it is about 4 to 6 inches deep.
The following spring, till in or turn the winter mulch into the soil as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. Allow the mulch to decompose for about two weeks before planting the bed with spring vegetables.
To maintain the best and most fertile soil for intensive gardening, add organic matter to the garden twice a year. Every spring, add ½ to 1 inch each of compost, peat moss and manure to your garden beds. Every year in late summer or early autumn, plant a cover crop in your garden bed and turn it into the soil when it reaches at least 4 inches high. Mulch the bed with organic materials over winter and till them into the soil the following spring.coarse builder's sand, perlite and vermiculite. Add as much of these as you can afford, an inch or more of comp
Sharon Sweeny specializes in all things gardening, as well as self-sufficient, do-it-yourself lifestyles. Read more about intensive gardening at http://moxiegardener.com.
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