🌑 It's the new moon phase and time to sow seasonal seeds and seedlings that you harvest for their above-ground crop. I plant root crops after the full moon when the energy shifts downwards.

If you're sowing beans, try dwarf and climbing varieties. Bush beans sprint out the gate and are quick to produce several harvests of pods, much faster than their climbing cousins, who are marathon runners! 🫘🏃🏻‍♀️ They take their time to put on foliage and vines, but are much heavier croppers for a longer harvest season. 🌱

🫘 I grow both for early and late bean harvests and to maximise space. When they finish, cut the stems off at ground level. This allows their nitrogen-fixing root nodules to provide free fertiliser for the next crop naturally.

🌱 Likewise, if you are removing crops to sow new season favourites, I leave the rootball in the soil and plant around it. Why? 90% of plants have a mutually beneficial relationship with Endomycorrhizal fungi that help feed and protect them from pathogens. These are mostly green, leafy plants + most commercially grown plants; berries except for blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries; all fruit trees; nut trees except pecan, hazelnuts and filberts; flowers; vegetables (except the Brassica or cabbage family) and beets; and shrubs and foliage plants except for rhododendron, azalea, and heath.

⛏️ So, if you remove plant roots, you are diminishing your free fungal family of soil workers and destroying the fungal hyphae (network) they have built like an underground highway to feed your plants. This is a major setback! The rootball also provides a food source for your microbe workforce and will turn into nutrient-rich humus.

🦠🍄‍🟫 I aim to increase the diversity and size of the microbial community in my soil. Working in harmony with nature = win-win. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏻 This, in turn, means more food, moisture and stronger plants. They take care of most soil pathogens, so less disease problems. 😉

This article shares more about ways to build your soil health and feed your beneficial microbe workers. Happy planting! 🌱