Feeding the soil, not the crop, key to organic farming success

FALLS VILLAGE — The David M. Hunt library hosted a discussion over Zoom on March 29 with Janna Siller, farm director at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center-Hazon in Falls Village, about various techniques and procedures in growing organic crops.

Siller began by discussing the concept of regenerative farming, thinking of the land’s ability to hold life from year to year.

Regenerative growing will increase and store carbon in the soil, increase biodiversity and maximize photosynthesis.

“Any organic grower will tell you, ‘feed the soil, not the crop,’” Siller said. Plants that have the benefit of healthy soil will naturally overcome pests and diseases, without relying on products.

Siller, citing organic farming legend Eliot Coleman, addressed the question of how and why plants grow.

“The answers lie in those factors that affect the growth of the plants: they include light, moisture, temperature, soil fertility, mineral balance, biotic life, weeds, pests, seeds, labor, planning and skill,” Siller said, quoting Coleman.

While farmers and gardeners can affect certain aspects of these more than others, it is up to the gardener to try and shift as many of these aspects as they can to be conducive to their crops.

Stiller said that increasing organic matter in soil keeps the soil together and provides a solid foundation for plant life, and the best way to get good organic matter in soil is through good compost.

“Feeding the soil is the number one thing you can do,” Siller said.

To help retain organic matter, Siller advised covering soil and disturbing it as little as possible.

Covering the soil, even with something like a black tarp or garbage bag, will decompose grass that grows while crops aren’t planted. The grass will feed the soil again without the need to dig up the dirt or rip up plants. It will also help prevent weeds from growing. There are non-plastic solutions for covering as well, such as wood chips and leaves. There are even cover crops, which are crops planted purely for the sake of not leaving soil bare and not for harvest.

Finally, Stiller briefly covered Mycorrhizal fungi and increasing nitrogen in soil. Mycorrhizal fungi are mushrooms that grow near or underneath plants in the soil that give plants access to more nutrients than they would otherwise have access to.

Siller said the mushrooms are likely already in the soil, and can be kept alive through the means previously discussed.

To hear Siller’s presentation in its entirety, as well as a Q&A section with local gardeners, go to the library’s YouTube page or website at www.huntlibrary.org.