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Covering Idle Garden Soil Is the Single Most Valuable Habit
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Bare soil is not resting. It's losing biology, drying out, and building next season's weed problem. Jean-Martin Fortier, who brought silage tarps into standard market-garden practice, makes the case that covering idle beds with black UV-treated tarps, burlap, or plain cardboard for two to three weeks does more for soil health than any amendment: weeds get shaded out, debris breaks down, and you pull the cover to find a clean, biologically active surface ready to plant. For home gardeners, cardboard costs almost nothing and works the same way, and it replaces the rototilling habit that Fortier argues destroys soil structure and compounds compaction season after season.
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Jean-Martin Fortier says the one habit he would most urgently give every home gardener is to keep soil covered at all times. Exposed soil loses biological activity, dries out, and invites weeds. For beds that are resting between crops or awaiting planting, he recommends covering them with silage tarps (UV-treated black agricultural tarps), burlap, or cardboard for two to three weeks. When the cover is removed, weeds and plant debris have been shaded out and partially digested back into the soil, leaving a clean, biologically active surface ready to plant.
Fortier credits himself with introducing silage tarps to market gardening; he says black tarps are now standard on most market farms worldwide. For home gardeners with smaller beds, he notes that cardboard or burlap works equally well and costs little. The approach doubles as a no-till weed-clearing method — replacing repeated rototilling, which he argues destroys soil structure and leads to compaction over time by breaking apart soil aggregates.
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