Today marks the transition from summer to fall planting. After a few days in the mid-90s, the spring peas are coming out and the fall garden is going in. I’m replacing them with beets, radishes, and another round of peas, along with adding fresh mulch to help conserve moisture and feed the soil. Over the next few weeks, once the garlic and potatoes are harvested, I’ll seed the beds with an oats and alfalfa cover crop to keep living roots in the ground and continue building soil for next season. Every harvest is another opportunity to improve the soil for the crop that follows. 🌱

Yesterday I finished the first two rows of the food forest. I’m officially in maintenance mode until late fall, which is a great feeling. It’s not perfect, and not everything rooted, but the system is established and, most importantly, there are roots in the ground. There are still a few small projects left—building borders, weed eating, and continuing to move mulch to create a thick layer that suppresses weeds and feeds the soil. If I end up with a surplus of wood chips, I’ll start laying out future beds now to give them a head start for fall and spring planting. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to start with a manageable plan. It’s far easier to successfully establish a few beds than to spread yourself across ten. Another lesson: grass pressure is no joke. The sooner you address it, the less maintenance you’ll have down the road. Progress in a food forest isn’t measured by perfection. It’s measured by roots in the ground, soil being built, and systems becoming more established each year. 🌱

@Alicia Van Zeeland and I moved a lot of dirt and many hours of making this happen and much to do still but so proud of year one progress of this garden expansion.