Recently we looked at how the soil surface gives us clues. Crusting, cracking, stale smells, disappearing mulch, and runoff can all show us what is happening in the garden. Weeds give us another layer of clues. Most of us have been trained to see weeds as something to pull, spray, or get rid of quickly. Sometimes that is the right move. Some weeds crowd young vegetables, spread by roots, or go to seed faster than we can keep up with them. Although before we pull everything, it helps to ask what the plant may be showing us. Plantain, chickweed, dandelion, or dock may point toward compacted, disturbed, or heavy soil. Rushes, sedges, buttercup, and horsetail often show up where soil stays wet. Mullein, yarrow, thistle, and pigweed can handle dry, open, disturbed ground. Nettles and lamb’s quarters often show up where fertility and nitrogen are stronger. One weed does not give us a complete soil report. It is a clue, not a final answer. We still need to use a soil test, a moisture check, a shovel, and common sense. A plant identification app can help. I use PictureThis quite often as a starting point. Apps are not perfect, but they can help us put a possible name to a plant. Before eating, using, or letting a plant spread, it is wise to compare it with another trusted source. In nature, bare soil does not stay bare for long. If we leave ground open, nature will send plants to shade the soil, hold moisture, feed insects, catch minerals, and begin rebuilding cover. For soil regeneration, nature is doing the hard work by planting every inch. Our goal is to manage with understanding. We can leave some flowering weeds on edges, pathways, or wild corners for pollinators, while keeping them away from vegetable rows and young plants. We can chop and drop some weeds before seed heads form, mulch open soil, and plant beds more densely to limit bare ground and reduce opportunistic seed germination. Some weeds are edible or useful herbs, including dandelion, plantain, chickweed, lamb’s quarters, purslane, violet, nettle, and cleavers, although proper identification is important before we eat or use a plant medicinally. We also avoid plants from roadsides, sprayed yards, pet areas, polluted soil, or places we do not know well.

I don’t think it’s about choosing one over the others. They all solve different problems. 🌿 Cover crops build soil over time by adding roots, feeding biology, protecting the surface, and producing biomass. 🐄 Manures and compost add organic matter, biology, and nutrients, but their nutrient content can vary quite a bit. 🪴 Organic fertilizers are the precision tools. They help correct specific deficiencies when your soil doesn’t have enough of a particular nutrient. The biggest mistake I see is applying products before knowing what the soil actually needs. That’s why I believe a soil test should come first. It’s much easier to make informed decisions when you know your pH, organic matter, and nutrient levels. My goal isn’t to replace biology with fertilizer. It’s to build a healthy soil system first, then use amendments only where they make sense. Over time, a biologically active soil can cycle nutrients more efficiently, reducing the need for constant inputs. Healthy soil isn’t built with a single product—it’s built by understanding what your soil needs and giving it the right tools at the right time.

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. 🌱

One thing I’ve learned building my food forest is that plant selection starts with the site—not the plant. For example, I didn’t start with serviceberry and build a row around it. I started with a location: • Moderately moist soil• Good drainage• Pond influence• Native ecosystem fit Then I looked for plants that naturally belong there. The result became a row built around: 🌳 Serviceberry🌿 Bayberry🍂 Spicebush Instead of asking: “What plant do I want?” I try to ask: “What plants want to be here?” I’ve found that question leads to better designs, healthier plants, and fewer future problems.

We have been talking about checking moisture before watering, usually down around 2 to 4 inches. That is a good habit to maintain, although as we move into the strongest sun and longest days of the year (summer solstice), there are also daily surface clues we can notice on our morning garden walks. The soil surface itself can teach us a lot. The surface takes the first hit from heat, hard rain, wind, and foot traffic. If it crusts over, water may start running off instead of soaking in. This tells us the surface structure is closing up. If it cracks open, the bed is telling us it has dried, tightened, and started pulling apart. This is most common in clay soil, especially when bare soil gets wet, then dries hard in the heat. If the soil under the mulch feels heavy, stays wet too long, or smells stale instead of earthy, it may need more air and less moisture. Roots need water, but they also need oxygen. If the mulch is thinning, the soil is slowly becoming more exposed to heat, evaporation, weeds, and pounding rain. At the same time though, if the mulch is disappearing, that can also be a good clue that worms, fungi, insects, and microbes are working it through. As organic matter becomes thin between plants, those open spaces become weak points in the garden bed. They lose moisture faster, heat up quicker, invite more weed pressure, and take the hardest hit when rain comes in fast. These are simple clues, but they teach us a lot about how the bed is functioning. We do not have to diagnose the whole garden at once, although it is important to notice these clues as they begin to appear so small corrections can be made before they become large issues. This week, pick one area and look closely at the surface. Lift the mulch in a few places, smell the soil, and look for crusting, cracks, worms, roots, dry pockets, soggy spots, thinning mulch, or bare patches. Then take one small action. Add a little compost or fresh mulch where the surface looks tired. Keep mulch pulled back from plant stems if the rain pushes it too tight. Gently loosen a sealed surface around the plants cultivating lightly to help water enter and air return.