All Life Depends on Soil: A Successful Gardener Must First Know the Nature of His Soil

By Susanne Wilder

This first mini book in the Medicinal Menus For Degenerative Diseases series covers topics like vertical integration, companionate gardening, naturally enhancing your growing area, small space gardening, and sources for learning the art of gardening, as well as covering such interesting topics as edible weeds, sprouting and foraging at the farmers markets.

The author, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef and home economist, also includes more than 45 easy to prepare recipes that embrace the ideals covered in the text. Recipes include Fast & Furious Fresh Smoothies, Berry Yummy Muffins, Watercress Creamy Dreamy Dressing, Spicy Sweet Tomato Sipping Soup, Organic Garden Patch Green Salad, Baramundi on Citrus Savory Sago with Fruit Salsa, Mango Aphrodisiac Passion Fruit Sauce and Chocolate Decadent Killer Liability Mousse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susanne Wilder
• Release date: Apr 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311665348

Susanne Wilder

Susanne E Wilder, CFE, Cert IV, Dip Ed, BS FNIM is a Home Economist (Washington State University), Enlightened Cordon Bleu Chef, nutrition consultant, travel writer, culinary consultant in the food industry to worldwide resorts. Additionally she is an in and instructor/trainer with three decades of experience in the food service and consumer food segments as well as a media spokesperson for wellness and lifestyle.Avocationally, Susanne is also a Hatha Yoga instructor, as well as a roller-blading, biking, kayaking, and fishing bon vivant! Currently she is working on new formulas and PR for various organic and healthy Australian food clients. She enjoys experiencing and writing food and adventure travel articles for IFWTWA (International Food Wine Travel Writers Association) and many other on and off line publications.

Book preview

Celebrating 2015: The International Year of Soils!

Soil is vital to the health of both people and the planet. Unfortunately, it is often the most overlooked of all agricultural inputs. The U.N. General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils (IYS) to increase awareness and understanding of the many important roles of soil. The proverbial bottom line is the healthier the soil is, the healthier the plants will be.

This is why this is the first building block of my culmination cookbook: Medicinal Menus for Degenerative Diseases. Attention to these details in your own survival garden or a community project will insure you are enjoying the best of flavour, nutrition, higher levels of wellness and most likely preventing any of the DDs (Degenerative Diseases) from the SAD!

According to the Land Institute, soil is every bit as non-renewable as oil, and it is essential for human survival. Healthy soil is the foundation for food, fuel, fibre, and medical products, and is a vital part of ecosystems. It stores and filters water, provides resilience to drought, plays an important role in the carbon cycle, and is the foundation of agriculture and food production.

Plant geneticist and president of The Land Institute, Wes Jackson, and farmer and author Wendell Berry, say, Our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities.

Jackson says we’re plowing through our soil bank account and sending those riches downstream to the ocean. He believes that the loss of topsoil is the single greatest threat to our food supply and to the continued existence of civilization.

The Land Institute is working on the development of mixed-perennial-grain crops to restore the planet’s natural landscape. Since the beginning of agricultural production, one-fourth of the Earth’s surface has been converted for agriculture; and currently, two-thirds of global cropland is used for monocultures and annual crops. These practices are accompanied by widespread use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, altering the soil biota landscape and depleting its health. Perennial crops, agro-forestry, inter-cropping, and other ‘agro-ecological’ practices can be more efficient methods, conserving soils, preventing erosion, and protecting water."

Regions and Seasons

If you’re new to the gardening scene, you really need to understand your region and zone, as well as which seasons are best to plant which plants. A great app and site for Australia and New Zealand is Gardenate run by Chris Hutchinson and his mother Liz, of New Zealand. Marcelle Coakley, Project Officer at Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation told me about this app. (You’ll read more about her enterprising garden later.) You can also check the USDA’s site for more information.

Vertical Integration

All successful gardening endeavors, big or small, start with fertile soil. If you have a large plot, you can get away with having less-fertile soil by planting more and spacing out your crops. In a small space, however, that approach simply doesn’t work, so you have to get intense. That means planting a lot in a small space.

If you have the gardening bug, but you’re short on growing space and want to be more intensive, Gro-Walls offers great products. The Australia-based company has some great vertical integration systems and they ship internationally. Some are even meant for use in the dining room. Their gallery has excellent ideas for big and small spaces. If you’d like to find something manufactured closer to your location, search vertical gardening systems and you’ll find what you need.

Companionate Gardening

• Corn, Beans and Squash

The traditional trio of corn, bean and squash plants is referred to as three sisters, so named within the Native American culture. It was the Iroquois tribe that believed that these three crops were precious gifts from The Great Spirit and are watched over by the spirits of The Three Sisters. Beans fix nitrogen in soil and corn requires a considerable amount of nitrogen to grow. The corn also provides the bean with support, as the beans use the corn stalk as a trellis and then protect the corn from any winds. The squash, with its large, fan-like leaves, acts like a mulch, keeping the soil cool and moist, protecting the delicate root systems from the summer’s heat. Finally the squash discourages predators because it is spiky!

• Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic

Tomato, basil and garlic together make a tasty pasta sauce. Grow them together in your garden as well. Garlic