{"id":243,"date":"2016-10-21T04:36:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T04:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/how-to-make-a-fresh-fruit-arrangement-2\/"},"modified":"2016-10-21T04:36:45","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T04:36:45","slug":"5-ways-home-gardeners-can-make-more-robust-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/2016\/10\/21\/5-ways-home-gardeners-can-make-more-robust-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways Home Gardeners Can Make More Robust Soil"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a child, Ohlson had easy access to gardens. Her grandparents maintained a small orchard and grew produce on their farm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While Ohlson didn\u2019t develop a deeper agricultural interest until she grew up (all those hours harvesting vegetables cut into childhood playtime, after all), she eventually started researching how food is grown. And that research turned into a minor obsession.<\/p>\n

Disturb the soil as little as possible<\/h5>\n

Soil health starts with one basic principle: Don\u2019t disturb the dirt. Sure, soil supports roots and helps hold up plants, but it also serves as a habitat for beneficial microorganisms. \u201cUnderneath our feet is this incredible world teeming with billions of microorganisms that have been working in the soil for millions of years,\u201d Ohlson says.<\/p>\n

\"Behind
Behind the Scenes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It may sound counter-intuitive\u2014maybe even chaotic, in terms of landscaping\u2014but weeds don\u2019t need to be treated as an enemy. Even uninvited plants can help protect soil and feed the microorganisms at work below the surface. I used to dig up weeds or pull them out by the roots, but now I don\u2019t want to disturb the soil.<\/p>\n

Every gardener has heard this one before, and Ohlson is a firm believer as well.<\/p>\n

She aims to keep her garden soil engaged, either by covering it in dead plant material or by nurturing live roots in the ground. Cover crops play a dual role. They interact with microorganisms by extending their roots as they grow, they provide extra organic material to protect the soil once they\u2019re harvested. Simply clip cover crops with scissors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a child, Ohlson had easy access to gardens. Her grandparents maintained a small orchard and grew produce on their farm. While Ohlson didn\u2019t develop a deeper agricultural interest until she grew up (all those hours harvesting vegetables cut into childhood playtime, after all), she eventually started researching how food is grown. And that research…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[65,62,66],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-green","tag-healthy","tag-vegetables","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organie.thememove.com\/plant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}