It is just incredible what you can learn in a few short hours. Today I took my six year old to an organic gardening workshop taught by a sustainability coach which was amazing and inspiring.
I have little experience gardening but I started composting a few months ago and recently filled three large beds in my back yard with fresh dirt. I am diving in and this workshop gave me tons of confidence. The main thing I learned, which is so simple, is that instead of thinking about growing food, we ought to approach the garden as growing soil. If we work with the soil, treating it not just well but with reverence, and helping it to be as rich as possible then we won’t have to struggle with growing food. With good soil, everything will thrive. There will still be pests and problems, but the plants will be able to handle them with a little support and lots of attention. It is like building an immune system into the soil.
We all had our ears perked up all afternoon, and even though she spent some time drawing pictures (of vegetables of course) my daughter was as interested as all the adults. We both dug our hands into the dirt and were energized. We turned a cover crop and planted lettuce and pulled weeds from some of the most beautiful soil I have ever encountered.
Armed with the simple concept of growing soil I no longer feel tentative about starting my first vegetable garden. I feel like I know what to do and that the earth itself will be helping to guide me through the process. I am very excited. I will plant seeds tomorrow!
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