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Would you rather have perfect weather or perfect soil?

 
gardener
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This one is similar but different to some other questions we have had.

Would you rather have perfect weather or perfect soil?
 
Matt McSpadden
gardener
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I'd rather have perfect soil. It would be easier to deal with the erratic weather if the soil had the perfect blend of organic matter and microbiology.
 
master steward
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Much depends upon how imperfect the weather is, but I will take the soil.
 
pollinator
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Weather. While it’s kinda slow I can create good soil. Weather is what’s actually slowed me down on my soil building. Erratic weather when planting seeds either for cover crops or my permanent pastures has cost me a fortune.

But if my soil was perfect this might not matter haha. This one is hard
 
steward
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I would prefer perfect soil because I live in Texas and there is no such thing as perfect weather.

This is a common saying in Texas:

“If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute.”
 
Steward of piddlers
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I can influence the soil more directly than I can influence the weather.

I'll take one "Perfect Weather" please!
 
steward & manure connoisseur
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Joe Hallmark wrote:Weather. While it’s kinda slow I can create good soil. Weather is what’s actually slowed me down on my soil building. Erratic weather when planting seeds either for cover crops or my permanent pastures has cost me a fortune.


Yes, exactly. My soil is great, but if there's not enough sun there's not much I can do about that, which is exactly my problem this year.
 
pollinator
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Perfect weather.
 
pollinator
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You might think "well I can amend soil, but I can't control the weather" --but weather is pretty regional. The problem with having perfect weather over your head is very quickly going to become everyone else who wants to live with it over their heads too.

I've lived in southern California, where there's perfect weather. Fool me once...

I'll take the soil!
 
pollinator
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Depends on how bad the weather is?  But mostly I am going to say perfect weather because given that, I can perfect the soil over time.  While given bad enough weather the soil doesn't matter as everything will be destroyed every time and nothing can grow.
 
pollinator
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I choose perfect soil - it seems foundational to me when I'm thinking about growing the best quality calories. Weather seems.... transient and changing and unpredictable, even when "perfect". I think, in my imaginary gardens, I am more dependent on the soil quality than I am consistently appropriate weather. Put another way - consistently good soil would have a greater impact on the food I grow than consistently good weather.
This is an interesting question. Also lots of layers here. Lots of different contexts to filter this through.
 
pollinator
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Matt McSpadden wrote:This one is similar but different to some other questions we have had.

Would you rather have perfect weather or perfect soil?



Perfect weather; you can always improve your soil!

Sandy
 
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Perfect soil, when the plants are healthy they can withstand most weather conditions, besides that I like the different seasons.
 
We don't have time for this. We've gotta save the moon! Or check this out:
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