Well hard to believe the calendar says it's almost September but coupled along with a few of the chiller evenings and we have a sound reminder that fall is just around the corner. Many are starting to pull the diseased plant material from their gardens and are taking the necessary steps to prepare the soil for a healthier fall harvest. With the amount of pests and disease, we experienced over the summer, it is more important than ever to take sound steps now for a healthy fall garden.
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| This is some nice looking soil! |
The easiest way to enhance the health and productivity from your garden is to improve the growing medium or your soil. Whenever disease and pests have been present, it is important to take steps that break the cycle of the problem for future seasons to come. There are actually three options for re-building your bed and putting pests and soil-borne pathogens at bay. Each of these options have their own pros and cons so decisions should be made on what works the best for you and what you feel the most comfortable with. As you see the terms in the next few posts to come, please take the time to educate yourself in order to make informed decisions for a healthier garden.
Option Number One: BIOFUMIGATION
Biofumication is a process whereby commercial farmers use a synthetic chemical fumigant to kill certain types of soil-borne pathogens. For the organic home gardener this process is adapted with an all-natural alternative called biofumigation. Biofumigation utilizes the cover crop of Mighty Mustard to release natural glucosinolates into the soil. The high levels of glucosinolates found in Mighty Mustard are the chemical properties of the plant that make certain members of the brassica family spicy. These chemical properties are known to mimic synthetic commercial fungicide treatments and destroy several soil borne pathogens. The glucosinolates are also the basis of many commercial pesticides available to large-scale growers. In addition, cover crops are of great benefit for adding pure organic matter to the soil.
Pros: When it comes to using cover crops, the pros are plentiful and live up to the claims they tout if kept healthy and disease free. For small home gardeners cover crops provide a solution in areas where it is difficult to incorporate long-term crop rotation strategies. By utilizing the different types of cover crops based on your specific needs and keeping the levels of beneficial microorganisms high and productive, your garden will have a chance to flourish even with pathogenic fungi and bacteria present in the soil. If you choose to forgo the planting of a fall and winter vegetable garden, this may be an excellent option to re-build your soil.
Cons: The cons are only a few. The amount of time it takes to grow a cover crop ties up the planting site for an extended time, which can interfere with planting schedules. Cover crops can turn a garden into a weedy field if ignored, so do expect extra pests for dinner if neglecting your bed. For example, the Mighty Mustard mentioned above is known to attract flea beetles. If you do not currently have flea beetles in your bed, this particular cover crop would introduce them to you. However, it can work to your advantage as a trap crop if using cover crops on one side of a bed only. Lastly, would be choosing the wrong type of cover crop based on your particular needs. For example, if you needed a crop to fix nitrogen into the soil and instead choose one that is nutrient scavenging, it may not accomplish what you set out to do.
As a special note, Mighty Mustard is excellent at destroying pathogens & pests from the soil; however, I cannot find the pathogen that causes early blight on any of its lists of diseases kept at bay.
For those that would like to do some additional reading on biofumigation and cover crops, the links below are for your convenience.
http://www.thegrower.com/issues/the-grower/118501009.html - excellent article on biofumigation.
http://www.mightymustard.com/varieties - A link to the line-up of Mighty Mustard varieties.
http://www.mightymustard.com/uses - link to specific uses for each variety.
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/cover-crop-basics - link to general cover crop information and types.
Johnny's Selected Seeds Company carries a full line of cover crop seeds under the sub-heading of Farm Seed on their website. Option Two & Three to follow.................
Happy Gardening,
Denise, Beds 25 & 29
