It’s March! And even if you’re buried under snow you know that March means spring is almost here. And I know it’s super fun to talk and read about all the seeds we’re starting or plants we’re planting but without good soil, those plants just won’t flourish.
Here’s the thing though, good soil doesn’t just happen. And it doesn’t happen overnight. Good soil is something that takes time and effort. Even if you truck in topsoil and use raised beds, you still have to think about keeping your soil healthy as overtime your plants will deplete the soil of it’s nutrients.
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So, how do we build healthy soil?
1. Accept that what you have right now is fine to start with. Even if you have clay soil or sandy soil, something will probably grow. Know that it will take a few seasons to get your soil how you want it and just be ok with that. That will eliminate a lot of gardening frustration.
2. Bring in some compost. No matter what kind of soil problems you have, good compost can probably fix it. You can buy compost by the bag at your local nursery. We’ve gotten ours from a local mushroom farm in the past. You can also build a compost area (we just used pallets) and start collecting leaves from the neighborhood and used coffee grounds from Starbucks. If you have chickens or other livestock you can use their bedding in your compost. You can also put in any kitchen scraps except meat or fat. Then next year, you’ll have your own compost to use. If you’re interested in seeing how easy composting is, you should read this post by The Homesteading Hippy. The only I would change is that I do put citrus peels in my compost. I use what I can to dehydrate, make extract or cleanser but the extra we put in the compost. I’ve found that they decompose just fine when I add a couple of bags of used coffee grounds on top of them. Here’s a graphic from Survival at Home that lists what to put in a compost pile.
3. Rotate your crops. Rotating crops is not only good for the plants, it’s also good for the soil. Some plants like beans add nitrogen to the soil and other crops like corn use lots of nitrogen from the soil. Here’s a great post from Better Hens and Gardens about crop rotation – there’s even a printable graphic. c
4. Use cover crops or green manure. The idea here is that you don’t let your soil just do nothing, you give it a job. So when it’s not growing your normal garden produce, you plant something like rye grass to add nutrients to it. This is something I need to get better at. We garden year round but there are still some beds that don’t get used in the fall/winter and could use a cover crop. Untrained Housewife has a great post on green cover crops and mulch.
5. Get worms. Worms are amazing for your soil. They tunnel and eat and poop. And that’s all good for the garden. You can buy worms at your local nursery. You can even create your own worm farm like my friend Jo from Homestead Chronicles.
Now, to help you get started on growing healthy soil, I’ve teamed up with a few friends, Holly from Your Gardening Friend and Melissa from Melissa K. Norris to give you the opportunity to win 1 pound of red wigglers, a copy of Melissa’s book Pioneering Today and a $15 Amazon Gift Card (may I suggest using it to buy one of these for your new farm)
a Rafflecopter giveaway