Building a solid ecosystem

On Saturday I worked on preparing a new raised bed for my veg garden. For those of you following me, you know that my area of personal development over these next 12 months is fermentation (think kimchee and sauerkraut). We know that fermentation requires microorganisms and so my work on my garden bed ties in to that theme.

I'm creating a foundation with wood in a brand new garden box that was built last month. That wood will act as a growing medium for microorganisms in the soil I've yet to lay down. I learned about hugelkulture and decided to give it a try. As the wood rots, the microorganisms decompose the wood as well as live in the environment. They will build healthy soil. I'll layer in dirt in the spring.

You see, great soil is not just dirt. It's got a complex ecosystem in it that allows life cycles of plants and small creatures to contribute to the common good. After I took that picture, I threw in green and brown matter on top of the wood. The green matter was decomposing veg plants at the end of the season and the brown matter was dried leaves. All of that will decompose through the winter and will continue that process after I add in the dirt next spring.

When the dirt and amendments, like compost and mushroom manure, are added to the bed in early to mid May, the preparation I'm doing now should pay off well in my summer crops. I'll be establishing a thriving ecosystem of fungi, mycelium, and other microbes that are tiny but important. The article on hugelkulture is really helpful to understand this project.

My garden bed prep reminds me of the work we do in our work organizations. Sometimes the big aspects of the way we work take high visibility; those parts of work culture that are analogous to the large branches and the addition of a couple of tons of dirt. We may overlook the very small but important aspects of our work environment because they get overshadowed by the big parts: big project deadlines, high stakes meetings and so forth.

But, ultimately, it's the preparation for the very small things that can make all.the.difference in the output of the effort. My crops will be more abundant because the soil ecosystem will make that so. I would be hard pressed to see all the microorganisms and their work. But I know it's happening.

I got to thinking how much we can learn from nature if we pay attention. In this garden box project, I see nature as the ultimate teacher. It illustrates how thriving ecosystems ought to be built, intentionally and with a long view focus on the small parts that we can't even see.