The term crop rotation seems like a daunting concept and something that only farmers need to think about. Well I have news for you— if you’re planting things in your yard then that makes you a yard farmer, and crop rotation is something you need to think about if you want a healthy yard! So let’s break down the basics of crop rotation together. First off, what is crop rotation? Simply put, it's planting your tomatoes in a different spot than you did last year. You are rotating the placement of your crops throughout your garden from year to year. Why rotate crops in my garden? By rotating where you place each type of plant, this reduces pathogens and pests in your soil. If a certain pest likes tomatoes, and you plant tomatoes in the exact same spot year after year, eventually that pest will set up shop because you’ve created a consistent place for it to live and thrive. Moving plants around also improves soil structure and nutrient levels. For instance, if you put peppers in the exact same spot year after year, the peppers will eventually drain your soil of the very nutrients they need to live. In a nutshell by rotating where you plant things, you will deal with less pests and diseases and have healthier soil. How do I rotate the crops in my garden? Simple: note what you planted where this year, so that next year you can move things around. Draw a picture of your garden before this season is done, so when you go to plant next spring, you won’t have to guess. It’s helpful to note which biological family each plant belongs to since members of the same family are susceptible to the same pests and diseases. From there, design your garden based on these guidelines:
Finally, not sure how to shake things up? Good Sweet Earth offers a personalized Garden Pro Service. Click here to learn more. As always happy gardening!
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This spring we put two new raised beds in our garden and filled the beds with a mixture of our own Living Worm Compost and a topsoil blend that we purchased from our favorite local supplier. I planted my early crops, weeded and waited. About a week before my pak choi cabbages were ready to harvest I noticed they were not growing as well as they should have been. So being a curious gardener, I investigated, both above and below the ground! In the soil I noticed a small reddish-brown worm-like creature that I had never encountered before. Folks, my lovely topsoil blend that I bought from our favorite local supplier came with its own batch of wireworms! And wireworms, it turns out, are bad news. They eat the roots of plants, attack seedlings, and bore holes into potatoes, radishes, and carrots. I promptly called the local supplier to let them know they sold me tainted soil and asked them for suggestions on ridding my garden of these nasty critters. Unfortunately their only solutions involved chemicals, and lots of them! No thank you! So like any good Master Gardener worth her weight in compost, I did a bit of my own research. I soon discovered that beneficial nematodes would do the trick and clear these things right up. Now, what in the world is a beneficial nematode you ask? Let me explain. Beneficial Nematodes (Steinernema feltiae) are effective killers of any pest that lives in or on the soil, but they’re safe for humans, pets, plants, and earthworms. These amazing microscopic parasites continue working in your soil for 18 months after application. Some of the 230 pests that beneficial nematodes can destroy include wireworms, white grubs, fungus gnats, and black vine weevils…just to name a few. I ended up ordering my nematodes online since the discovery was made on a holiday weekend and I was unable to find them locally. While I waited for my order to arrive I did try an old-time remedy I found online: I cut a potato in half and stuck a stake in it then buried it in the soil. The wireworms were attracted to the potato and ultimately left my plants alone while I waited for my beneficial nematodes to arrive. (In my opinion, the potato trick was a nice temporary fix, but would not have saved my garden; the beneficial nematodes were absolutely necessary to fix the problem. However, seeing that potato draw in the wireworms did help me feel like I was being proactive while I waited for my nematode delivery.) Like all organic remedies the beneficial nematodes took a few days to work, and I will have to apply them again next season just to be sure I don’t see wireworms again. But that’s a small price to pay for a pest-free, and chemical-free, garden. -Corey Veldheer, Certified Master Gardener and owner of Good Sweet Earth Back in the spring, as you were getting your garden ready for the year, you most likely worked some compost into your soil (hopefully Good Sweet Earth's Living Worm Compost!), you planted your garden and now you are waiting for those first red tomatoes of the year… or maybe you’re already enjoying some fruits of your labor. So there’s nothing left to be done, but pick cucumbers and make pickles, right? Unfortunately, no. Your plants continue to need nutrients throughout the season! Now if you’re growing your garden the right way—organically, with no chemicals-- that means Miracle Gro isn’t an option at this point. But the plants still need some food—so what do you do? Six words: Top dress, top dress, top dress. If you want to maintain your chemical-free organic garden, and see amazing results, you need to top dress your plants at least once during the growing season. This tried and true organic garden practice is easy and your plants will flourish. I’m serious, they’ll absolutely explode. In fact, I’ve seen a tomato plant more than double its production from year to year when top dressed with Worm Compost. Here’s what you do: take some Living Worm Compost and place a layer around the base of your plant approximately ½ inch think and 3 inches wide. After spreading it around your plants water deeply to let the nutrients go down into the soil. Take care not to spread compost in the bare spots in the garden as you don’t want to feed the weeds! Here’s the best part: Living Worm Compost can be applied as often as you like—you’re never gonna overdo it or burn the plants. But at a minimum, you need to do it at the beginning of the season and again when your plants start fruiting. Pair Living Worm Compost with our Worm Tea and you’ll see some amazing results! Did you know that Living Worm Compost can also be used on potted plants as well as your lawn? If it grows in soil, Living Worm Compost will feed it! Try a bag, and see how much of a difference top dressing can make. If you've got tomatoes, try top dressing with Bold Tomoto. Got roses? Try Dulce Rosa. You'll be amazed by the results! -Corey Veldheer, Certified Master Gardner, Michigan State University Extension & owner of Good Sweet Earth We recently purchased two hanging zinnias. They both looked a little rough when we brought them home, so we decided to do a little experiment. We top-dressed one pot with a half-pound of Living Worm Compost (added a thin layer of the compost to the top of the soil), and we added nothing to the other. For seven days, we watered both pots equally and sat them in the sunshine all day. At the end of the week, the difference was absolutely remarkable! Check it out: Ready to top dress your garden and flowers now? Check out our all-natural soil amendments.
Before we put anything into our own garden, we research it. We find out what each ingredient is for, we learn about how it's produced and we look to see if there are local sources we can use. So we thought it would be a good idea for our customers (and potential customers) to know what goes into a batch of our Living Worm Compost (which is found at the foundation of all of our products and services). So here it is: First we've got tens of thousands of hungry red wiggler worms, kept at a comfortable 60-80 degrees year-round. They're compost worms, not nightcrawlers or earthworms, although you'll often see other little critters in our compost bins, helping out-- roly-polies, beetles, pot worms, etc. They're all great, they're all welcome. We feed them a wide variety of locally-sourced produce, organic coconut coir, shredded newsprint, finely crushed egg shells, coffee grounds, alfalfa meal and occasionally oatmeal. Now ask yourself: Is there anything on that short list you wouldn't want sitting on your kitchen table? Probably not, and that's the way we like it. Everything we use is "house safe." Some worm farmers feed their livestock a mixture of animal manure and chicken feed. Those are fine things, but they don't offer the nutritional variety we look for when we produce our vermicompost, and they don't meet our strict "house safe" standards.. Now here's how the composting process works with worms: When worms eat, they break down the food, but their digestive process leaves behind a lot of the nutrients found in the produce they eat. That means their compost will still contain some of the potassium from the bananas, iron from the spinach, etc. And that's good news for your soil! So without further ado, here's a list of produce we've fed our worms recently, helping to create some of the richest, most nutrient-dense vermicompost you'll ever use:
So, yes, we're very particular about the stuff our worms eat-- mainly because the end product will eventually end up in gardens growing food that our family and friends will eat, as well as growing food that our customers will eat. These things matter to us. If you're interested in buying some of our Living Worm Compost for your own garden, flowers or ornamentals, click here. |