Dirt Farming

Many of the gardening books I have read state that the gardener should feed the soil, not the plants. If the soil is right, the plants will be, too.

Above is my dirt, after digging down several inches and digging in a bit of fertilizer. Then I put the leaf mulch back on to smother weeds, and to decay. I saw a RECORD number of earthworms- many, many more than last year, even when digging in consistently warm weather. If they are any indication, the soil is much improved. Maybe they are surviving better because the birds can't dig through the leaves to eat them. I don't know, but I am thankful.