Check out the mycelium on those roots!! We harvested sunchokes this week, which gave me the opportunity to check in on the soil development. We put about 6 inches of mulch down in the orchard in June, and things were still pretty hard when we planted flower bulbs in July. Granted, that was the middle of 8 weeks without rain. But digging these was a breeze - easy to slide the shovel deep under the mulch, and most plants had a solid half pound of tubers. Lots of worms and other evidence of soil life, though I still need to look at a sample under the microscope.
I've got a lot that I want to accomplish in the off season, but the biggest piece is to increase my understanding and implementation of the soil health theories I've been learning. I want to come out of the winter with lots of compost piles, an understanding of how ingredients in various recipes work together in our climate, and how various soil and plant health theories tie together. I want to go back through the foundation courses with Dr Ingham and dig into John Kempf's theories about foliar feeding. I want to try both approaches and compare the results in our unique climate.
I built a compost pile Thursday and Friday, layering buckets of wood chips, manure, spent grains and grass clippings. It took 5 hours, and will probably take another 5 by the time it's done being turned. So I'm committing myself to almost two days of compost work each week. My compost turning muscles will be well developed by the time the winter is over!
