I decided to blog about my takeaways from How to Grow more Vegetables by John Jeavons.
Introduction – Building Soil, Building the Future
Deep soil preparation
Need good soil. Once you have that, you can maintain it.
Tools
Good tools are essential – https://homesteadiron.com is supposed to be a good place to buy them.
Things I don’t have:
- D-handled flat spade
- hula hoe
- Dibber
Laying out your beds
Raised beds – access to water, 7-11 hours of direct sunlight, 3-5 feet wide and 3 feet longs
Double dig the soil in early morning or evening in spring or autumn. (Loosen the soil to a depth of 24 inches)
- Mark the bed length.
- Place a digging board on the bed.
- Spread a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of compost over the entire area. Mix it thoroughly and evenly into the upper 12 inch deep trench.
- Remove seven 5-gallon buckets of soil from the upper level. This will be used to make the compost.
- Dig trenches the with of the bed.
- Using a spade remove the soil from the trench 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide. Put the soil into buckets.
- Loosen the soil an additional 12 inches with a spade fork.
- For comp[acted soil, while standing in the trench loosen the soil an additional 12 inches with a spading fork.
- By moving your arms upward in a small jerk, the soil will break apart as it falls downward,.
- Dig out the upper part of the second trench 1 food deep and 1 food wie. Move each spadeful of soil.
Use Compost
Soil fertility and nutrients
Close Planting
This is what happens in nature.
Companion planting
They enhance each other.
Carbon Efficient Crops
Some of your garden should be used for grains, seeds and compost.
Calorie Efficient Crops
Plant crops that are calorie dense like potatoes, leeks, garlic, parsnips and artichokes.
