No Better Balm Than a Good Dig: Gardening on the Plateau

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/05 – May

What all gardeners know, especially those who reside on the Plateau and are well known for their affection for the activity, there is no better balm to the soul than digging in the soil.  The beginning of May, with its brighter and warmer days, signals it is time for the first plantings of the season.  Mountain wisdom dictates that the precise day for doing so dawns on Mother’s Day – May 9.  For Joey Kyle, head gardener at Many Hands Peace Farm at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, spring plantings begins with transplanting the annuals that were started 6 to 8 weeks earlier indoors – squash, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Planting the “3 Sisters” of corn, squash and beans – crops that thrive in concert – should also commence by first planting the corn, then the squash which grows along the ground and finally when the corn is one foot tall, the beans – they will grow up the corn stalks.  As to the beans, Kyle recommends planting several varietals at intervals throughout the growing season.  

But the thing with gardening – as I learned from Kyle – if you want to achieve that perfect world of potential and promise, the end product of one’s own homegrown vegetables, you have to invest in the hard work.  The key to success:  weeding, mulching, and composting. Kyle reminds us “As plants grow so do weeds.”  So weed first, then mulch.  Prepare your bed by moving aside the old mulch first, pull any weeds and then apply a layer of fresh mulch.  For good measure, add worm castings or good compost.  

The rules for planting are equally straightforward.  It’s important to make sure that your plants are properly spaced – placed too close together they will compete for sun, water and nutrients and run the risk of mildew.  A rule of thumb is to space the plants according to their expected width at maturity.   If planting on an incline, dig a ditch along the contour to avoid loosing the topsoil to rain.  

“Nature abhors blank spaces” is another Kyle adage.  You can of course cover those bare areas with mulch but Kyle urges us to “go gangbusters – experiment with things you have not planted in the past”.  Perhaps try companion plantings of herbs and marigolds interspersed among the beds – pretty plants that can fill in the intervals while promoting bees and pollination that will ultimately cut down on disease and pest pressure.  

Talking to Kyle I know that he would agree with NY Times columnist Margaret Roach who argues that we should “dig into the whole garden, because it offers everything – it offers a lens into the food web, to the story of evolution and adaptation among species.” And as you wait for the future of your garden to realize and vegetables to harvest, you may decide to make now Kyle’s recipe for Wild Greens Pesto, putting to good use those wild weeds pulled from the garden: 

Gather 4 cups tender wild green – violet, plantain, winter cress, sheep sorrel, garlic mustard, chickweed) and add to ½ cup of olive oil, and a handful of sunflower seeds to a food processor.  Blend until creamy, adding of the following to taste – lemon, salt, pepper, parmesan, sumac or chives.  Enjoy!