About A Healthy Garden

Water is life. But, did you know that plants can make rain??? Our planet used to be hot, dry, barren rock. Plants colonized this desert, soiless landscape, partnering with fungi and microbes and later with insects and animals to create soil, reduce temperatures, and MAKE RAIN. Plants and their fungal/microbial partners basically made life on land hospitable. Why am I telling you this? Well, because if you allow you garden's micro-ecosystem to flourish, the plants will be able to water themselves, fertilize themselves, fend off pests and diseases themselves, and all the while keeping your backyard cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, more resilient in the face of extreme climate, and even more fire resistant!

Our biggest principle to get your garden to hold more water is SLOW-SPREAD-SINK. SLOW down water flowing into and across your garden so that it is more easily absorbed into the landscape. This also reduces erosion and run-off. SPREAD water that gathers in one spot to other areas so that more of your garden is hydrated. SINK the water deep into your soils so plants can access this water in dry times and to re-charge groundwater levels.

Other important strategies include always keeping the ground planted and covered in plant litter, plant diversity (especially native plants), and of course rain harvesting and greywater. When most people think of rain harvesting, they picture rain tanks. Rain tanks are great! But, they only get you so far in California. The water holding capacity of your soil is vastly higher than what you can hold in any container. If you SLOW-SPREAD-SINK, you can hold that rain in your soils, and you can also make use of any overflow from rain tanks and sink that into your garden's soil.

Pretty soon, you'll have a lush, productive edible garden using little to no city water, no fertilizers of any kind (not even manure or compost), no pesticides of any kind, or any other inputs except what your plants are already making - a self-regenerative, healthy garden!!