That word gets used a lot, and it can mean different things depending on where someone is standing. For me, regenerative starts with one question, "Is this system gaining life over time?" Is the soil becoming more alive? Is water soaking in better? Are roots going deeper? Are worms, fungi, insects, and birds showing up? Is the garden becoming less dependent on constant rescue? In a backyard, regenerative does not have to mean a perfect system. It may start with one covered bed, one compost pile, one perennial plant, one pollinator patch, or one family learning to observe before reacting. When you hear the word “regenerative,” what comes to mind first?

I recently received a load of arbor wood chips for $20. What many people consider waste is actually one of nature’s favorite building materials. Every chip is stored carbon, minerals pulled from deep in the soil, and future food for fungi, microbes, insects, and earthworms. Spread over gardens, pathways, orchards, or food forests, wood chips can help:• retain moisture• suppress weeds• moderate soil temperatures• build organic matter• feed soil biology• slowly return nutrients to the earth Forests have been using this system for thousands of years. Trees grow, leaves and branches fall, and everything eventually becomes soil again. Sometimes building fertility doesn’t start with buying inputs. Sometimes it starts with accepting a truckload of what someone else thought was waste. 🍂

I've been interested in planting some of the things that long ago people used to grow, such as: Skirret, Good King Henry, Sea kale, Turkish rocket, Sorrel, etc... Have you looked into any of these? Are you growing any of them?

Last week I wrote about watering the soil system, not just the plant. The next step is learning to check what the soil is doing before adding more water. A watering schedule can be useful, although the garden does not live by the calendar alone. Heat can pull moisture out faster. Wind can dry the surface even when the lower soil still has water. Mulch can slow evaporation and protect the soil. Larger plants need more water because they are moving more moisture through their leaves. Soil texture changes how water moves and holds. Organic matter helps the bed act more like a sponge. Rain may count toward the weekly need, but only if it soaks into the root zone. Root depth matters because shallow roots dry out faster. Shade can lower stress and slow water loss although also slows photosynthesis. The top of the soil may look dry while the layer underneath is still holding moisture. The surface may also look fine while the root zone is getting too dry. That is why we check before we water. Pull the mulch back so you can see what is happening below the surface, not just what the sun and wind have dried on top. Feel the soil below the surface because your hand will often tell you more than the calendar. Watch how fast water soaks in because slow soaking usually means the bed is receiving water well. Notice if water runs off because that often means the soil surface is sealed, sloped, compacted, or being watered too quickly. Notice if water puddles because the bed may already be saturated or may not have enough air movement through the soil. Notice if water disappears too quickly because dry soil, sandy soil, or unfinished organic matter may not be holding moisture yet. Look at the plants in the morning, not only during the hottest part of the day. Morning tells us more about the actual moisture condition. Afternoon wilt can happen during heat stress even when there is still moisture in the soil, especially with young plants, shallow roots, or sudden hot weather. The goal is not to keep the surface wet all the time.

Does anyone have garden experiments going this year? Every year I try a few new plants, in a few new areas, and set an observation for the season. This year I planted birdsfoot trefoil and lacy phacelia with my sunflowers to see how well they grow in second-season hardwood mulch over a clay base. Most of my experiments revolve around families that have limited time to invest, although they still want to build family time in the yard. I am always asking what can be simple, useful, and worth repeating. My main experiment this year is measured water. I plan to water one row of tomatoes less than another row during the hot summer so I can watch for differences in growth, plant stress, and yield. For some families, water is sparse or expensive, so understanding actual water need may help them decide whether it is cheaper and more practical to grow certain crops at home or purchase them from local farms (better alternative to the grocery store). My pre-research found general recommendations of about 1/4 inch to 1 inch of water per week. For my tomato beds, that works out to roughly 10 to 40 gallons per row each week. One bed will receive about 10 gallons, and the other will receive about 40 gallons. Without counting rain or rainwater retention, this will cost me about $0.15 to $0.60 per watering, or roughly $3 to $12 for the season in a 60-square-foot garden bed. I will use a soil moisture meter to decide whether to give the water all at once or split it between two days each week. My goal is to moisten the sponge layer, not push water past the active root zone and down into the clay base. I will be watching soil moisture, leaf stress, fruit set, and yield. I am also wondering about a brief morning mist on hotter weeks. I know that adds another variable, although I am curious whether it helps reduce heat stress, affects leaf condition, or changes pest pressure. Florida often gets morning showers and gardens can flourish, although I also understand there is a difference between a brief 15 minute mist and keeping plants constantly wet. This will add another 5 gallons per bed when misted. Might be best to mist in coordination with the ground watering. Deep watering is better than constant shallow watering because roots need to stretch.