Green Tip of the Week

Garden Soil - The key to the successul garden

Here is another awesome green tip of the week from our student leader Andrew!

This week I wanted to focus on soil quality and tips gardeners can use to ensure their soil is nutrient rich to maximize the yield of their crops.

 

1.) Top soil does not always contain organic material. You will need to feed the dirt to get it to gardening standard. Otherwise the soil is just dirt and will be a poor medium for crops, or even weeds to grow in. Ask the seller about the origin of the soil to get more information on the organic material within the top soil.

2.) Even rich soil needs organic material replenished within a year. Within a season or two of gardening the nutrients have been consumed by our plants and thus the soil needs more nutrients added back into the medium. There are various ways this can be done such as a green manure crop cover.

3.) Soil should be light, crumbly and fluffy. If soil is dense and compact then the plant is using more energy on its roots than vegetative growth. Poke the soil to your third knuckle and if your soil fails this test add some peatmoss(which is acidic) to lighten it and add lime to make the pH less acidic.

 

4.) Compost is the best amendment you can give your soil. This adds organic nutrients to make a good soil for best gardening results. The author recommends waiting a few weeks before planting planting the next crop to ensure that none of the compost nutrients are flushed through the soil during rain.

 

5.) Use organic fertilizer over chemical fertilizer. Chemical-based fertilizers do not treat the soil unlike organic fertilizer. The author recommends Canola meal, a fine material which is easy to distribute over the soil and is relatively affordable. Make sure to store the bag well-sealed in a dry, safe place where mice can't get into it.

6.) Phosphate is essential for growth. After a couple years you will need to add a source of phosphorus to show steady, vigorous growth and earlier maturity. Rock phosphate is rich in boron, zinc, nickel and iodine.

These are some simple tips to help your soil be the best that it can be and cause you to spend more time harvesting than weeding or dealing with plant pests and diseases.

 

http://eartheasy.com/blog/2012/01/6-tips-for-building-soil-for-your-raised-garden-beds-and-planters/