My grandfather was quite the gardener as well. He was known for leaving baskets of garden vegetables at the end of his driveway for people to take at will.
One of his tricks was, each spring, he would get in a little rowboat on Lac La Nonne and fish up a catfish. He would then rototill into the soil before he started planting his garden.
He was one of the few farmers in his area that was able to protect his farm from drought during the Great Depression.
A friend of mine gets soil from a local lake when it’s low for his garden. I never did, but I put down kelp when I’m planting.
My backyard garden is a bigger than it would need to be, but only because I expect to lose a portion to pests and such. I’ve learned some natural solutions for pests over the years from locals (and online). But a lot of what I do is hands on, not feasible on these huge farms.
I wish more people would grow their own. I’m nearly 60 and I grow enough for hubby and myself and our 2 grown kids. The young couples (early 20s to mid 30s) in a Bible study hubby and I teach are all putting in gardens and raised beds and raising chickens now. I’m getting them started with heirlooms.
It’s almost a lost art. I didn’t even learn it from my mom, but my grandmother