Ben and I have been busy and completed our basic springtime garden chores by Mother’s Day. Yay! This year’s jobs included; repairing old garden beds and creating new ones, setting up the drying shed, starting vegetables from seed under a lamp, planning the season’s growing areas, planting annual herb seeds, taming eager weeds in perennial beds, enlivening the compost bins, setting up the watering system, spreading mulch, transplanting local volunteer herbs into new areas, and the annual organic paperwork. Each of these jobs requires a certain amount of connected focus, and a clear vision of how they all coalesce into a bountiful summer garden. As a cook, I liken it to putting together a multi-course fancy dinner for a crowd. Skillful timing and planning are key in a productive kitchen as well as in a dynamic garden.

Part of that planning includes building a healthy foundation for the growing season. This starts months before, during the previous fall season. We at Wildcat Gardens and Earthstar Farms believe in feeding and maintaining our soil. Having alive, nutrient-rich soil is a priority for organic growing. Earthstar Farms has three distinct growing designations on the roughly 190 acres that we harvest herbs on. Each of these zones or areas has a different soil maintenance program. The ‘inner’ garden beds are where we grow our cultivated herbs; these are annuals and certain perennials (Calendula, Clover, Raspberry, Sweet Grass, Echinacea, Nettles) that require fenced protection from the wildlife. These inner growing beds are our highest maintenance areas, where we layer the beds with hardwood leaves, compost, well-rotted horse manure, straw, and occasionally thick mineral-rich mud from our pond. What we call the ‘outer’ gardens are the open, non-fenced areas, and any plants growing there must be able to withstand hungry deer and inconsistent water.

These outer growing areas are further divided into two classifications known as cultivated and wild-crafted areas. The cultivated outer garden areas are where our tougher perennials and annuals grow (planted Lavender, Poppy, Sage, Hyssop). In these areas we add rotted horse manure and heavy wood mulch in the fall. Lastly, in the designated wild-crafted zones, we do nothing in order not to disturb the natural cycles of the ‘wild’ plants that live there (Yarrow, Monarda, Artemesia, Oregon grape root and others). Mother nature cares for the soil (and everything else) in these lovely meadow and forest zones. This is great for us, as these wild-crafted areas cover a large portion of Earthstar Farms. Our only work there is to respectfully harvest the herbs, and protect the area from any outside contamination.

Due to all the pre-growing-season work that we do in the fall, we are able to sow in the spring with relative ease. The soil beneath the straw in the cultivated areas is dark, moist and teeming with worms. Weeds are kept at a minimum with the heavy top layer of straw. In over ten years of following this process I have witnessed the soil steadily improving. We also rotate nitrogen-fixing red clover, and leave annual root stalks in the soil to feed the micro-organisms over the winter… but that is another story for another time.

The recent cool, rainy days were perfectly timed for our garden. The seeds and transplants were in the ground and germination occurred quickly as the weather warmed again. We now have many beds full of tiny green herbs and vegetables, and we will soon transit into the next stage of our season. For me there is a real sense of richness with having fruit, vegetables and medicinal plants happily growing in our garden. Once again, I am deeply appreciative for the ongoing cycle of reciprocity within nature. Sow the spring goes…