Cory and I planted our first unsuccessful garden in 2002 and from that time we have learned the hard way about what it takes to grow vegetables beyond organic standards for a growing family. When Cory and I were first married, I had never heard the word “organic” and when our first weeds started popping up in that garden, I felt overwhelmed. Someone suggested using Preen and Green, because it was “natural,” so I gave it a try. As I was putting it on my garden, my chest tightened up and my throat got sore. After reading the warning label on the product and suffering the rest of the day, I learned to do my own research, and decided I would never use another chemical on my yard or garden. That was when I learned about organic methods, and after slowly changing to an organic diet over the years, we are all addicted!

I would love to say that we figured out how to grow our garden without harmful chemicals right after that experience, but in all honesty, it took a lot of years, and we are still learning today. I did not have a “green thumb” as some people say, but I have to wonder if anyone really does. Gardening has really revealed my weaknesses, but it’s definitely something anyone can learn. My first beliefs on growing food and animals were that as long as we didn’t use any chemicals, they would be healthy, but I have learned over the years that avoidance of chemicals is not enough. If my plants and animals don’t have nourishing food and minerals, they may stay alive, but they certainly don’t thrive.

I have tried a lot of gardening methods, because honestly, I’m lazy, and I want the best results with the least amount of work. I am simply going to share what has worked the best for us in the past, knowing that this is not the only way to do things, and also knowing that we will probably continue to change and strive to improve our practices.

For our large garden that contains many perennial plants (those that come back each year), along with annuals (those that get planted every year), we use the Back to Eden method of gardening. You can check out this method for free online. I don’t know that we follow it exactly, but here is what I do. In the fall I put a thick layer of compost where I will be planting plants the following spring along with all of the perennials. I usually plant everything in the same place (I have had no trouble doing this for the last 7 years). Then I put a thick layer of wood chips on everything (wood chips don’t contain weed seeds, they help to hold moisture, and block out weeds). You don’t want to put fresh wood chips around growing plants, but it doesn’t seem to affect our plants when we put them down in the fall. The longer the wood chips can rest before application, the better, because otherwise they can pull nitrogen from the plants.

In the spring I simply pull back the wood chips, add some compost where I’m going to plant something, and plant right into the compost. During the growing season, I will add a little compost to each plant or spray fish emulsion on the plants to feed them about every 2 to 3 weeks. I water as needed. A few things that I have learned about this method are that if done well, our plants have been very healthy, weeding is so easy because the soil is not compacted, and that it doesn’t take as much water. I have also learned that it takes a lot of discipline, because you can’t just go and till up an area if you get behind. It needs to remain untilled. I have been doing this method since 2013, but when we first moved to our farm in the fall of 2015, I made the mistake of starting this, and got so busy helping Cory with the house the next summer (trying to get out of the camper) and taking care of children that it got neglected and taken over with weeds (which meant weed seeds for the following years). Looking back, I wish I would have put a very thick layer of wood chips on it and left it to rest for a year. Each year gets a little better, and I keep telling myself to be consistent in keeping up with the weeds, so I don’t have to go backwards.

The second method of growing vegetables on our farm is how we plant our corn and melons. During the winter we set out round bales for our animals to eat. Some of the hay is wasted and is left on the ground which provides great places for everything to lay down. As soon as an area is covered with hay, we move them onto the next one and start again. In the spring when the animals go onto pasture, we use a tractor and planter to plant sweet corn and blue corn into these areas without tilling. The hay helps to block out weeds and hold moisture and the manure helps to fertilize the corn. In the past we haven’t watered or weeded these areas and have harvested very healthy corn. I will say that last year we ended up with a lot of pig weed in our blue corn, and I decided that this year we will try to do more weeding. Our pumpkins and melons get planted in this area too, but rather than using a planter, I pile up compost into hills to plant them into.

The following year we will till up the area where we planted corn and plant potatoes. The hay and manure that have been sitting there for over a year makes an amazing soil that grows really big potatoes without fertilizer. It’s as if we put a thick layer of compost on the land without so much work. Last year we did one round of fish emulsion on the potatoes and I think that was helpful.

One thing that I have learned about vegetables is that if bugs are attacking my plants it’s usually due to unhealthy soil or lack of diversity. This is one area that we plan to really focus on this year. In the past we have gone out and picked bugs off potatoes, pumpkins, and cucumbers (these seem to be our vegetables that get attacked the most). This year we are planning to plant more plants to attract beneficial insects that eat pests. I’m also planning to pray for wisdom and help with this. Last year I felt so overwhelmed with picking bugs off of everything, and I prayed about it. The next day I found a huge bullfrog in my pumpkins. I ran into the house to get a camera, but when I got back it had disappeared. The next two days the same thing happened and even though I watched the bullfrog while someone else ran into the camera, somehow it disappeared. That fall I had some of the best pumpkins that I have ever had, without picking off bugs. Praise the Lord.

I love having a reason to get outside and work physically in the garden and soak up the sun. I always feel so good during that time of year. It’s a huge blessing to be able to go out to the garden and grab food that I know exactly how it’s been grown, that is highly digestible and nutrient dense, and everyone feels good eating. We enjoy our vegetables fresh, and dehydrate, can, or freeze to be able to enjoy them in the off season.

What method do you use to grow vegetables? We love to hear from you!

Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, learned about the benefits of pastured, clean meats, considered getting mercury removed, we got the toxins out of our mouth, skin, and hair, made some changes in our cleaning routines, we talked about raw milk, and this week we are talking about old fashioned vegetables. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.