NEW to organic !!!

[s.nickell]

My garden is 2 years old.
Want to go organic is soil damage
already done?

Thick leave cover in fall will that be enough
food for following spring?

[hit or miss]

I wouldn't be too worried about soil damage unless you have used some really powerful chemicals on it. Leaf mulch is a good start but you'll need to add some compost too. It'll take a while, but you will be able to build some great soil over time. Keep reading on this site, there are some very knowledgeable folks here.

[rainbowgardener]

If you've been using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides etc, then it will be awhile yet before your produce could be certified "organic." But assuming that you are not trying to sell your produce, but gardening for yourself, it will be fine.

You are just in a process of trying to begin gardening more naturally, to build up healthy soil which will feed the plants better, while not damaging your own eco-system or that of others. I applaud your resolve to do this.

As s nickell said, the leaf mulch is a good beginning, but probably not sufficient. Start a compost pile now and by spring you will have plenty of good compost to add when you turn all those leaves under. The leaves are "browns" (read in the Compost Forum about browns an greens), I.e. carbon rich. You will want something more nitrogen rich to put with them. Used coffee grounds are one good source or grass clippings.

[applestar]

One way to "clean up" your soil, since you're thinking about this now, would be to plant a winter cover crop in late summer/early fall that will be used as phyto-remediators. The idea is that the plants would take up some of the chemicals from the soil into their foliage as they grow, and then you can cut and DISCARD the plants along with the chemicals.

You won't have the benefit of putting nutrients back into the soil with this method as you normally would from a winter cover crop (you'll still have their roots that will add organic matter and condition the soil), but if you start your compost pile now and in the fall when there are a lot of material, you can use that to enrich your garden in spring after clearing the phyto-remediators.

I have several links and sources in mind with details of which plants are good for taking up what, but I don't have them on hand right now. I'll post back, but perhaps other folks with more immediate knowledge will contribute before then.

[garden5]

Apps, I had thought that nitrogen fixers did put some nitrogen from the air back into the soil at the root-level. If this is right, then you'd still get a benefit from having a cover-crop even if you remove the vegetation.

Sound right?

[rainbowgardener]

Apps, I had thought that nitrogen fixers did put some nitrogen from the air back into the soil at the root-level. If this is right, then you'd still get a benefit from having a cover-crop even if you remove the vegetation.

Sound right?

Maybe if you cut the plants off at soil level instead of pulling them.

But if you are using them for phyto remediation, to help pull chemicals back out of the soil that you don't want, (which is the point of throwing the plant away), I'm assuming those chemicals would be in the roots as well as the leaves.

[garden5]

Apps, I had thought that nitrogen fixers did put some nitrogen from the air back into the soil at the root-level. If this is right, then you'd still get a benefit from having a cover-crop even if you remove the vegetation.

Sound right?

Maybe if you cut the plants off at soil level instead of pulling them.

But if you are using them for phyto remediation, to help pull chemicals back out of the soil that you don't want, (which is the point of throwing the plant away), I'm assuming those chemicals would be in the roots as well as the leaves.

Hmmm...good point. I guess it's best to just toss the whole plant, the chemicals probably would be in the roots as well.