Anything but practical, a potager speaks volumes of beauty and function dancing the most delicious tango of greens, reds, and yellows. Just think about the sensation of walking into a burst of tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots, aromatically luring herbs that just present perfectly the way they would. And voilà, magic happens right beneath your feet. Preparation of soil is very much the first clue toward getting a potager garden that appeals to both eye and palate.
First things first, scope out your location. That’s where your veggies will be happiest under the sun. Sunlight isn’t all there is, though. At the very least, don’t ignore the dirt. If anything, start digging a foot into your yard and see what kind of texture and structure your soil consists of. Does it contain lots of sand, through which water whizzes by the poor roots like a speed skater in the Winter Olympics? Does it cling for dear life to every last drop of moisture, much like overcooked spaghetti? Know your base, and modifications in your terrain will be determined by that.
Healthy soil is much like healthy, kitchen food; it’s what you put inside it that gives the taste. Compost here stands for your bread and butter.
Feed this picky eater the best cuisine, and he yields in return, bit by bit, the best within him. Compost mixed with your soil–soil is to an old friend one bumps into at a party. The first few words of introduction are hesitant, and very soon they are inseparable. Make great sparks of fun your plants will notice and bask in.
If your plant were an athlete, think of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus as its personal trainers-the nutrients fill the plants with motivational anticipation to give it their all, season after season. You will know what’s missing from this triad with a simple soil test kit. As inexpensive as chips and super-easy to use, boy-the payoffs are huge. This will have your cranberry beans grow, not just grow but sing.
But of course, temper your enthusiasm: What your plants don’t want is to drown in fertilizer. Literally the best example of “too much of a good thing,” too much fertilizer leads to much chatter with little growth. More often than not, however, a mixture of compost and steer manure is just what the doctor ordered for that perfect pinch of zhuzh to your soil.
Now to those small, usually unnoticed dirt dwellers: worms, beetles, microorganisms-those squirmy little dudes, the VIPs of the underground dance floor, always on the go, shaking it, churning the soil, and decomposing organic matter. Let this party happen because it is just about the best indicator that your soil is alive and kicking.
The second tale from yesteryears is that once my thoughtful neighbor actually showed me how marigolds, placed amongst vegetables, could save them from them. There they are, shining bodyguards protecting the menacing insects from the vegetables. Oddly enough, it sounds like teaming the flowers of marigold with tomatoes; really, it is a delightful and protective friendship.
Another golden rule is the power of the plow-or rather its subtle counterpart-that gently aerates. That’s fluffing up the earth, kind of like some sort of giant pillow fight in one’s backyard, only gently. It’s all so the tender shoot can work its way through the soil like a ballet dancer, sipping in oxygen and moisture without stress.
Dig in: Soil Amendments to Thrive in a Potager Garden But it’s every gardener’s dream to have it lush and productive, and that most definitely has something to do with a potager garden: just think about how that luscious mix of veggies, herbs, and flowers has got to have at least a few tweaks to soil to really strut their stuff. Your garden is the stage, and the soil amendments are those makeup artists, getting ready for each plant’s close-up. A little theatrical? Now let’s learn about how to make the star of the show, which is the soil.
Compost; it’s like the shot of espresso to the garden bed-that little something extra that gives the plants their oomph. Compost is made from chopped-up kitchen scraps-vegetable peels, bits of garden refuse-which break down and release nutrients into the soil.
It doesn’t take any fancy setup; just piling in the corner will suffice. The worms and bacteria just have one heck of a party; your plants get the loot-now, that’s a win-win!
Now, don’t skip over aged manure. Yes, it’s kind of the black sheep of the gardening family, just because it really carries such a distinct fragrance, but it really is a powerhouse when aged correctly.
Chicken, cow, horse-it doesn’t really matter that much. Aged manure brings great nutrients, enhances textures-just like adding breadcrumbs to meatloaf. It helps plants stand tall, giving yields that would probably make that farmer in every back pocket beam with pride. Just spread it around like butter on toast.
And then, of course, there is the old star of the show: green manures, otherwise known as cover crops, the best-kept secrets of the gardener. Plant legumes, like clover or vetch, or grains, like rye. Like the understudy performers, they work quietly and anonymously, enriching the soil when plowed under-a kind of abracadabra, healthy soil! Of course, then there is the lime-one is not referring to the sour fruit here but to the mineral amendment in the form of dolomitic or calcitic lime. The gardens can be sour sometimes, and lime sweetens the deal, so to say, by neutralizing undue acidity. Perhaps your tomatoes seem to be moping, and just that pinch of lime would perk them up. The tests will help you judge; just do not just wing it! But when it comes to testing, the other go-to for tight, clayish soils is gypsum; that can break those dense clods apart, adding air and letting roots breathe. Just like some sort of fairy dust, sprinkle, water in, and voilà. Just think of those roots wiggling down with a relieved sigh. And of course, the bone meal-processed from the bones of steamed animals-full of phosphorous for pretty flowers and robust roots of the plants. Then spread around like one does with confetti to celebrate a parade, for a blossoming review across the potager. This is slow release, though, and doesn’t keep giving with the pyrotechnics. Kelp? How about kelp tales? The liquid or meal types are a splash of micronutrients. It’s a mineral smoothie for your plants-only shake, don’t stir! And a little goes a long way.
