By June most of our seeds have been planted and are up and growing. And yet we may be leaving bare areas in our garden for tomatoes or squashes to grow. We don’t want too much of that.
What we want in our garden is living soil. Soil scientists tell us that most of the life in our garden is beneath the surface and needs plant roots in order to thrive. We need to feed those micro-organisms around our plants’ roots by making sure there is little or no bare areas in our gardens.
These little guys include -- but are not limited to -- bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and micro-arthropods as well as earthworms. Most of these soil organisms live near the roots of our plants. As they eat, grow, and poop in the soil, they make it possible to have cleaner water, cleaner air, and healthier plants.
So, what do we do with bare soil that is waiting for our tomatoes and squashes to spread over it? Several things come to mind:
We can plant quick-growing plant seeds like radishes that will cover the ground until our crops fill in the space, preventing weed seeds from finding a home and giving food to the millions of micro-organisms in our soil, or plant flower seeds – both native and domestic – that also attract pollinators to our gardens.
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