It’s official. Bare earth, not snow, now prevails. And so I am finally letting my mind fully wander to the garden and the possibilities it holds for the coming season.

Having a garden—whether it is a few tomato plants on a fire escape, an expansive plot or somewhere in between—is one of the simplest and most satisfying ways you can “green up” your life and be a positive contribution to your local eco-system.

I am a beginner gardener who comes from a long line of gardeners. But with the distractions of adolescence, college and then city living, it took awhile for the “gene” to kick in. Now I am hooked.

Last year was our first bona fide in-the-ground, bountiful garden. Launched with the wisdom and labor of my mom, we grew jalapenos, corn, tomatoes, green beans, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, carrots, lettuce and a variety of herbs.

It was trial by fire and quite wonderfully jungle-esque. We fought off weeds, Japanese beetles, cabbage worms and the dreaded tomato hornworm. We learned what happened when there is too much nitrogen in the soil, and how to balance it (mulch with wood chips or shavings). We learned how to preserve the bounty.

And we did it all without pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers.

It wasn’t a perfect garden. There were some failures—the zucchini, in particular, as well as some tomato losses—and plenty of lessons learned. We will be experimenting with different methods for supporting our tomato plants, for example. But it was a satisfying first foray into growing our own food, and I am proud to report we are still enjoying last season’s harvest.

This year I hope to do even better. About a week ago I went to an organic gardening workshop sponsored by the Maine Organic Gardeners and Farmers Association for some tips and to be energized after a particularly long winter.

A local organic farmer who is working his parents’ farm taught the class (check the farm out here). A side note: I have been watching with cautious optimism the groundswell of young farmers who are committed to sustainable farming techniques. If you haven’t seen The Greenhorns documentary, check it out.

Much of the workshop was dedicated to soil—balancing it, nurturing it, revering it. In fact, one of my favorite sound bites from the evening was, “feed the soil, not the plant.” The quest for the perfect loam, right?

Here are a few other takeaways:

Invest in a soil test

For $15, the University of Maine will do a standard test for pH; Lime Index; Available Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Sodium, Zinc by modified Morgan method; Organic matter; Lead scan; Calculated Cation Exchange Capacity. They will also provide recommendations for soil amendments. I plan to take advantage this spring.

Think of the pollinators! 

Plant flowers early to attract pollinators and keep them around. Annual poppies, Black-eyed Susans, asters and clover are favorites. Learn more here. Our local bees loved the dill flowers, too, and I became very used to working side-by-side with them. This was more of a surprise to me, than to the bees, I suspect.

Composting & mulching

If you have a compost, include some seaweed or fish. You can also use seaweed directly on the garden as mulch.

Adding straw to your compost can help keep it oxygenated. We placed palettes at the base of our compost pile to encourage airflow, which also seems to work. Give the bacteria oxygen, water and organic matter and “let them do the work.” A stinky compost is one that is not decomposing as it should.

Cover crops, such as buckwheat, can serve as “green manures.” You “grow the fertilizer.” Buckwheat can also help control weeds and maintain phosphorous levels.

As you retire the garden, don’t throw all of the plant matter into the compost pile. You can leave it right in the garden to feed the soil for next season.

To rototill or not to rototill? 

It was suggested that rototilling (especially deep rototilling) is harmful to earthworms—a critical ingredient to any successful garden. I have done some further digging in gardening forums and it may also be possible that deep rototilling can bring to light, literally, weeds.

If we till, it will only be for the top soil, but at this point I am leaning towards some extra exercise this spring.

Pests

When it comes to pests, there were two simple pieces of advice that resonated in particular:

(1) Prevention is key. For example, crop rotation isn’t just beneficial for the soil; it can also work as a pest deterrent.

(2) Know your enemy –i.e. the life cycles and the habits of the pests you are watching out for and trying to defeat

Also:

Last year I kept a couple of pairs of disposable chopsticks in the garden and a bucket of soapy water. The chopsticks were for plucking the hornworms off my tomato plants and the cabbage worms off the Brussels sprouts—but mostly for the hornworms. Give it a hookah and call me Alice, but I’ll pass on handling those tomato marauders.

The bucket of soapy water was both for execution and as a sort of head-on-a-stake warning to my victims’ kin—the Japanese beetles especially.

Admittedly, there were weeks during which I spent 20 to 30 minutes every morning or evening (sometimes both) hunting for pests with my trusty chopsticks. Using organic methods in the garden is, often, a time commitment.

If you are interested in learning more, check out MOFGA’s website and the University of Maine’s cooperative extension.

As the garden evolves, I am looking forward to writing about this year’s challenges, lessons and (hopefully!) successes.

This week, the temperatures soared into the low 50s, and despite being warned to be patient with the soil and wait until the worst of the mud is behind us, I confess that I took the pitchfork and poked around a bit. I needed that moment as I wait for my seedlings to poke through the dirt in our makeshift greenhouse.

Spring is a time of hope and rebirth. It’s a time to re-emerge from our winter dens and turn our faces towards the sun’s warmth. For me, now, the garden embodies this process. The garden is opportunity and mystery, intimacy and complexity.

It is the reward for enduring winter’s bite.

Above all, it is life affirming.

-Jesse Nankin

This post is dedicated to my Uncle Arch and to our dear family friend, affectionately known as Uncle Donald, who both passed way this week. You are greatly missed.