ther authorities.

For country gardeners, the best rotations include several years of
perennial grass-legume-herb mixtures to maintain the openness of the
subsoil followed by a few years of vegetables and then back (see
Newman Turner's book in more reading). I plan my own garden this
way. In October, after a few inches of rain has softened the earth,
I spread 50 pounds of agricultural lime per 1,000 square feet and
break the thick pasture sod covering next year's garden plot by
shallow rotary tilling. Early the next spring I broadcast a
concoction I call "complete organic fertilizer" (see _Growing
Vegetables West of the Cascades_ or the _Territorial Seed Company
Catalog_), till again after the soil dries down a bit, and then use
a spading fork to open the subsoil before making a seedbed. The
first time around, I had to break the century-old plowpan--forking
compacted earth a foot deep is a lot of work. In subsequent
rotations it is much much easier.

For a couple of years, vegetables will grow vigorously on this new
ground supported only with a complete organic fertilizer. But
vegetable gardening makes humus levels decline rapidly. So every few
years I start a new garden on another plot and replant the old
garden to green manures. I never remove vegetation during the long
rebuilding under green manures, but merely mow it once or twice a
year and allow the organic matter content of the soil to redevelop.
If there ever were a place where chemical fertilizers might be
appropriate around a garden, it would be to affordably enhance the
growth of biomass during green manuring.

Were I a serious city vegetable gardener, I'd consider growing
vegetables in the front yard for a few years and then switching to
the back yard. Having lots of space, as I do now, I keep three or
four garden plots available, one in vegetables and the others
restoring their organic matter content under grass.

Mulching

Gardening under a permanent thick mulch of crude organic matter is
recommended by Ruth Stout (see the listing for her book in More
Reading) and her disciples as a surefire way to drought-proof
gardens while eliminating virtually any need for tillage, weeding,
and fertilizing. I have attempted the method in both Southern
California and western Oregon--with disastrous results in both
locations. What follows in this section is addressed to gardeners
who have already read glowing reports about mulching.

Permanent mulching with ve