On Soil and Cargo Pants

For anyone who knows me well, this question may seem ridiculous coming from someone who got 2 degrees in soil engineering (yes you read that right, you can get a degree in dirt).   Since the entirety of my schooling at the University of Florida revolved around the science of engineering soil, it may come as a surprise that I have NO IDEA what kind of soil is in our yard.  Other than visually observing that 1/2 our yard seems to be a sandy clay and the other 1/2 a clayey sand (and again, yes there is a difference), I know absolutely NOTHING about the acidity, level of organics, etc.  Quite honestly, this is pure laziness given that I work in lab and have access to all the tools to identify and classify my soil.  But quite frankly, who cares?

Gardeners care — that’s who!  I have read scores of books, articles, posts, etc on the importance of garden soil, and when friends have looked at my garden they comment on my soil.  I on the other hand tilled a  spot (well Greg did this actually) and loaded it up with Organic Garden Soil and a composted Humus and Manure mix.  This spring, we turned the garden and loaded it up with more soil/manure.  This did the trick!  Now, did the base soil matter — I have no clue.  Personally, I think you can engineer almost any type of soil you want — and at $1.50/bag, the composted manure (that doesn’t smell) from Lowes did the trick.

Personally, I’m not sure I care what the base soil is… as long as you’ve turned it and loosened it!  I think there are two things more important than soil: full sun and happy thoughts.  Oh, and watering is probably a good idea, too.

Then again, maybe it’s just LUCK.

While we’re on the soil discussion, let’s talk composting.  Again, I’ve read all this literature about the need to turn, screw, mix whatever your compost.  There’s talk of layering with soil for optimization of composting.  Well, this too I think is a load of malarky!  I mean, who has time for that kind of nonsense?  Talking with my friend Jeff, I learned there are two types of composting: active and passive.  I give you two guesses as to what I have embraced!

Check out the recipe page later today for an awesome fish and tartar sauce recipe that we made last night with our home grown herbs (dill, parsley and chives) and onions!

Happy Farming!

🙂 Farmer Ran

p.s. Greg just came in asking where someone would buy $200 cargo pants.  I say “Bergdorf” he thinks I made up this store and it doesn’t exist!  LOL He has no idea what kind of shopper I could be if I wanted to!!!!

p.p.s. The proof is in the pudding: http://www.bergdorfgoodman.com/store/catalog/templates/P9.jhtml?itemId=cat255914&parentId=cat263500&masterId=cat000024

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