Thank you

10F (-12C) degrees this morning; hoop house about 40F (4.5C) with the little heater on Power 2 out of 10; using about a gallon to gallon and a half of diesel in 24 hours. Soil temp is at 40 (4.5) degrees.

Hello Community, With food being an important part of survival, I looked at the USDA Climate zones for everyone to get an idea when each of us plant and grow in our areas. It appears we have most everyone in winter currently from Alaska to Florida zones 3-10 in US and Canada; UK, Spain and Italy zones 6-10. We also have a few members in Central and Southern Africa and Australia where their winter is June and August US zones 6-10 for comparison and their winters typically carry very heavy rains. Lets discuss your current season and when you plan or if you are planting snap, pole or bush beans?

Midweek is not for rushing, it’s for strengthening roots. Focus on your foundation today, knowing that healthy systems rise from what’s unseen. What we nurture today below, supports everything above.

One of my winter foodscape tasks is preparing new areas for gradual expansion each year. The attached area is one I am preparing now for use as a grow space this coming spring. This ground is heavy clay. During the previous growing season, I intentionally allowed weeds and native medicinal plants to grow without mowing. Repeated lawn cutting limits photosynthesis, which restricts root development and reduces both the depth and quantity of root exudates available to feed soil life. When this happens, biological activity remains concentrated near the surface and does not penetrate deeper into the soil profile. By allowing plants to grow uninterrupted, their roots are able to extend deeper into the clay, fracture compaction, improve rain infiltration, and deliver exudates farther below ground to encourage soil life to follow those roots downward. Allowing this unmanaged growth also gives me the opportunity to observe which plants naturally grow on the site. This helps me better understand where the land sits along an ecological succession from bare mineral bacteria dominated soil to a more mature fugally dominated humus soil; natures path is always decomposing organic matter in an effort to become a forest floor. When land is disturbed, nature’s first response is to protect the soil by covering it with plants. These early pioneer species are deep-rooted and well adapted to challenging conditions such as compacted clay. These plants perform exactly the work nature intends; their roots fracture dense soil, transport carbon below ground through exudates, and support microbial communities. When those roots eventually die and decompose, they become food energy for soil organisms and leave behind channels that improve water infiltration, air exchange, and future root growth.