video tutorials, tried-and-true tips + our latest learnings to surround you with abundance all season long
It's true: I used to drag my feet every year before forcing myself to get a soil test.
Over the years, we've come to love soil testing as an incredible tool to build our soil, decrease our susceptibility to pest insects and disease as well as increase our yields.
Here's the way I think about it:
If you're partying on a pontoon boat above the Great Barrier Reef, you're missing the party.
Grab your snorkel!
And get your soil tested.
Only then will an immensely beautiful and infinitely complex world begin to take shape around you. Your world-view --- and your garden --- will never be the same.
We're sending in our soil samples now!
And Friends, if you've got 20 minutes and $20, I suspect you'll find too that soil testing is both easy and endlessly illuminating. It's one of the simplest ways to ensure you'll be surrounded by beauty and abundance all season long, for many seasons to come.
I'll share how, when and why we test our soils, but first:
Fertility is the foundation of soil health and plant health, which all very abstract, but it's as simple as this: Abundance begets abundance, so don't skimp and don't be shy!
There are many ways to increase the fertility of your gardens, Friends.
Always, there is compost. Glorious, glorious compost. Soon I'll share more about this, one of my favorite facts of life :)
In the meantime, like two sides of a coin, our fish emulsion and granular fertilizer are easy to use and immensely effective across soil types. Of the many other approaches we use, cover cropping is a passion of ours and I look forward to sharing more with you about its art and science in the coming seasons.
Our granular fertilizer is Matthew's special blend of finely ground vegetables, animals and minerals, building soil as it feeds our crops with over one hundred micro- and macro-nutrients. We apply it in spring when we turn over our soil, allowing its...
For years we’ve been asked to demystify seed starting and here it is: Rise & Shine shares everything you need to start seeds successfully at home in 40 beautiful pages with easy-to-follow instructions and insightful tips for the novice and experienced grower alike.