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Writer's pictureGisa Seeholzer

How To Create Healthy Soil For the Garden You Love

Updated: Nov 11, 2023


 

There are three kinds of soil: dirt, soil, and living soil. Today we are going to talk about how to determine what type of soil or soils you have and how to make that soil healthy with living organisms.


Human Ethics in Relation to Soil

It's important to not disturb the untouched, naturally occurring soils that support unique ecosystems. Moreover, we want to be able to recognize, understand, and respect that soil is a living organism. It's when recognizing damaged soils, that we take the initiative to help repair that soil in a regenerative manner.

Healthy Living Soil

Health Garden Soil

Why test your soil?

When it comes to the design of our home gardens, community gardens, food forests, and farms, there are three things we need to do when it comes to deciding what to do with our current soil. First, we want to carry out a whole-site soil analysis. The site includes all areas that you wish to plant now and in the future. Secondly, after you get the results back from your soil analysis, you want to recognize and repair damaged soil. Finally, to repair the damaged soils you are going to choose and use nutrients strategically.


Soil Type and Quality

You will find that each part of your land, depending on microclimates and use, has different types of soils. Let's conduct a simple analysis of your soil. You may need to test multiple areas, such as the backyard, front yard, areas with shade, and the top or bottom of a sloped piece of land.

Herbal Garden: Soil

Herbal Garden

Simple at-home soil analysis

  1. Get 3 Clear Jars: Collect 3 different soil samples and put one in each jar

  2. Fill the jars to about 25-30% of the jar's capacity and add water to about 80% of the jar volume.

  3. Add about a teaspoon of dishwashing soap

  4. Shake each jar very well. Let it settle for 24 hours then place the jars side by side to look for the following

You'll notice that the loose, unbroken organic material will be floating on top. This indicates that the soil has a nutrient bank to break down. Next, you'll see clear or murky water. Murky water has dissolved or suspended nutrients in it, which are immediately available to the plants, so that is good. You may have a fine silt layer on top of the denser one and maybe some coarse sand or gravel at the bottom. These tell you about your soil particle fractions. A reasonable layer of silt is also good because it is a nutrient. A proportion of sand tells you that your soil will drain well. Lastly, looking at the color of your soil, the closer it is to red or black, the better.

BRINGING YOUR SOIL BACK TO LIFE


The secret to bringing your soil back to life is to supply large quantities of organic matter. The goal is to use all nutrients completely so there is no surplus, no waste, and no pollution. This is achieved by growing a large range of plant species to use all the forms of nutrients. It’s also important to apply nutrients at times when they will be most fully utilized.


Green Manure

This is when crops are planted specifically in order to be cut and returned to the soil as high-quality organic matter. A green manure crop is slashed two or three times while it is growing and before it flowers and seeds. It is then chopped and mixed back into the soil. This method quickly improves soil texture and structure as well as provides nutrients.


Peas and Soil

Legumes

These plants have a bacterium (Rhizobium) living in their roots. The bacteria supply the plant with nitrogen in soluble forms the plant can use, and they excrete surplus nitrogen into the soil around the root zone (the rhizosphere, as it’s called). In return, the bacteria receive energy from the plant. All legumes (peas, beans, trees, and shrubs like acacias and cassia) are nitrogen-fixing if the correct bacterium is present in the soil. You know the bacteria is present if the roots have small white nodules on them and if when you split the nodules, they are pink inside.







Buckwheat and Soil

Cover Crops


Like green manure crops, they carry out the same function to protect the soil and give products as well and are often annuals. Cover crops are not cut because their function is to open up the soil, create a humidity interface, and protect it. Pumpkins and potatoes are good cover crops for hard-packed soils. The root systems of these plants open up the soil for air and water to enter while protecting it from erosion and desiccation. Check out this article by Botanical Interests on using cover crops to build healthy soil: Article: Cover Crops–Growing Soil Health!


Organic mulches

Mulches will cover the soil and moderate summer and winter temperatures by inflating it from extreme heat and cold. They also protect it from erosion by retaining soil moisture and, in addition, act as a weed barrier. When mulches or other organic materials such as hay, grass clippings, straw, newspaper, old woolen under-felt, and so on, they gradually add to the soil's organic matter and function as a nutrient bank while they break down.


Animal manure

Animals are a vital part of the soil nutrient cycle. They carry out many functions including; supplying nutrients in the form of manures:

  1. Such as chickens and pigs, have strong manure (more nitrogen), which requires composting before it is applied to gardens.

  2. Cow and horse manures are weaker (less nitrogen) because they are grass-eaters. It can be placed directly on mourned plants, but it often contains undigested weed seeds.

  3. Poultry grazing in your garden or orchard, at the right stocking rates, keeps it well fertilized.


Compost and Soil

COMPOSTING

Composting means breaking down organic material. There are three kinds: aerobic, anaerobic, and vermicomposting. Each has its pros and cons. Aerobic composting takes place in the presence of gaseous oxygen, while anaerobic composting takes place where no air (no oxygen) is present.


Aerobic Composting

The simplest composting possible, tossing stuff on a pile and waiting, is aerobic, as is quick, hot composting. Unless something goes wrong, open-air composting piles are all aerobic; if the pile runs out of air, the aerobic microbes die out and anaerobic microbes take their place. That’s when the pile begins to smell. One pile that is turned over or the three-bin method works well for an aerobic compost pile. You can also do vermicomposting or worm composting if you have a smaller space to work with. Making compost tea is also another beneficial way of getting nutrients into your soil and protecting your plants.


Anaerobic

An example of anaerobic composting is bokashi. This is a fermented composting method lacking oxygen. This method of anaerobic composting relies on inoculated bran to ferment kitchen waste, including meat and dairy, into a safe soil-building and nutrient-rich tea for your plants.

Hopefully, this gives you a good idea of how to get your garden off to a healthy start. Please feel free to share methods and pictures of your garden with us. We would love to showcase your beautiful abundance with the rest of our readers.

 
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