How to improve your soil
Soil health is the foundation of the garden. Without healthy soil, you won’t have healthy plants. For way too long I spent so much time thinking that it was some how a water, sunlight, or a me issue when plants would get sick half way through the season.
“I don’t have a green thumb.” Sound familiar? It’s been said way too many times. However, it’s not a green thumb issue, it’s a lack of experience. Anyone’s thumb will turn green after enough time experimenting in the garden.
It’s probably not your green thumb, or lack of, its probably your soil. No worries, today we are going to break down how to figure out the problem and how to improve soil for long term use.
Today’s post we will start at the bottom (haha see what I did there…). The SOIL!!!
Today’s post will include:
- Soil PH
- Till and amend
- No till methods
- Composting
- Companion planting
Soil PH
Soil has a PH balance. Some plants, like blueberries, love acidic soil level and some plants love neutral soil. Knowing your soil and getting your hands dirty will help your plants. You can buy simple soil testing kits and follow the directions, there are some home ways to test your soil as well by using baking soda. Amending your soil based on your results will help you.
Tilling and amending to improve difficult soil conditions
There are many no till methods that are effective but in some areas that is not always the case. If you have clay soil it will hold on to the water well but it can’t move nutrients effectively or oxygen well which results in some sad plants that are struggling. In clay soil tilling the soil first can make a big difference.
First, till down about 8-12 inches into the soil. Remove the loose soil into a pile. Then till down another 8-12 inches into the soil.
Then, fill the hole with ¾ compost and ¼ coconut coir or peatmoss.
Next, rake the top clay soil back into the hole.
Finally, till through it one more time to help mix the clay soil with the amendments.
I like to give it a nice little watering afterwards and then squeeze the soil.
The reason you are adding the compost is because it adds a lot of wonderful nutrients that the clay soil is currently missing. The coconut coir/peat moss will help with the transferring oxygen through the clay soil. Your clay soil will now feel like great soil and be ready for a great growing season.
No till method Maintenace
No till methods are awesome because well it’s less work. Plus if you have healthy soil then you don’t fix something that’s not broken. But a garden season takes it’s toll on the soil. So here are some tips so that you can garden without tilling.
Cover crops: Planting cover crops whenever you are done with the garden bed will help put back essential nutrients that the previous plants took from the soil. You can purchase cover crop seeds mixes and sprinkle and grow. These are plants that will release nitrogen throughout their grow cycles and help keep the clay from getting compact again. Some of these plants are things like clover, buckwheat, peas. Etc.
When your season is nearing or when you are a couple weeks out from replanting, you want to kill the cover crop.
You can do this by stomping them down, crunching them down with a piece of wood, or covering them with a tarp (my favorite and easiest way to kill off the cover crop. The biggest point is that you want the plants to stop growing and die off. Once the plants have died they will turn yellow and into a natural mulch.
When ready to plant just move a little aside and plant directly into the mulch and dirt. This will give you a nice mulch that will also be slowly feeding the soil. Later on if you need to feed the plants just add some compost on top. This will keep your soil nice and healthy for easy planting year after year.
Composting for improving soil health
Creating your own compost right in the ground can also help improve soil. The tilling method mentioned above is great if you are wanting to plant immediately into the garden bed. Creating a composting area will help create garden beds for the future use.
You can till down about 12 inches and remove the loose dirt into a pile. Now add what you would compost into this hole. Adding veggie and fruit scraps to the pile, yard clippings, undyed cardboards, manure and worms to this pile. Cover the loose dirt back into the pile when it is full. Water when you water the rest of the garden. Using a pitchfork or shovel turn the dirt once in a while to make sure it is breaking down, if you still see any food scraps it’s not ready yet. In a few months this garden bed will be ready for use to plant directly in.
Companion planting for improving soil health
During the growing season use companion planting to help keep the health of your soil. Companion planting will help because you are putting plants that produce nitrogen next to plants that need nitrogen. This helps keep a healthy balance between plants and soil. Other plants deter pests that would otherwise get into your soil and hurt the plants roots.
No green thumb no problem.
Having difficult soil does not mean you can not grow on a large scale. It does mean there are some extra steps you can take in the beginning to improve the soil. Then you can take several steps to maintain the healthy soil. Turning difficult soil into great soil to grow in for many years to come. No green thumb no problem, just fix the soil and the rest will come.
