Local flowers and healthy soil

I chose to grow flowers for 2 reasons. First, having fresh flowers in the house from April to October is an absolute joy. I don’t want to support the global cut flower industry because of the chemical and fuel usage. Also, the varieties that ship and store well are limited – grocery store flowers feel kind of like Red Delicious apples. Talking with friends, I realized others felt the same – they want flowers, just not those flowers.

My other reason for growing flowers is soil health. Environmental toxicology is kind of my thing. (Back in 2013, I did my masters research on different factors affecting plant uptake of heavy metals in urban soils.) Like many urban farmers, I use a barrier such as landscape fabric or cardboard, top with wood chips, and add about 6 inches of finished compost for my growing beds. This provides organic matter that temporarily binds to heavy metals while leaving the potentially contaminated soil undisturbed. Plants prefer to spread their roots in the good stuff on top. Adding more wood chips and compost over time allows a new humus layer to form on the soil horizon. By establishing healthy perennial gardens, we can build and stabilize soil over time.