Bountiful organic gardens (grown without synthetic chemicals) start withnutrient-rich, organic soil.
But there’s hope for other gardens, too.
Maybe it’s lacking nutrients.
(Find out with asimple soil test.)
Or the soil could be compacted from being trampled by people, animals, or heavy equipment.
That’s why soil health is vital when growing an organic garden.
The most obvious clue that your garden soil is unhealthy is that plants grow poorly.
But you’ve got the option to also investigate soil pop in yourself by examining its texture.
Pick up a trowel’s worth and put it in your hands.
Does it feel gritty?
Is it harsh when dry and sticky when wet?
The combination of these three typesand in which specific proportionsdetermines the texture of your garden soil.
That texture affects drainage and controls the availability of nutrients.
You wantorganic gardensoil that’s dark, crumbly, and literally full of life.
Take sandy soils, for instance.
They’re made up of large soil particles, so water and nutrients run through gaps relatively quickly.
Clay soils are just the opposite.
you’re able to buy compost in convenient bags or in bulk by the truckload.
you might alsomake it yourself.
Add other forms of organic matter to the garden to feed earthworms, which in turn aerate and fertilize.
But the sand can bond with the clay to form a virtual concrete.
Using the all-natural mineral gypsum (aka calcium sulfate) is better.
Water the gypsum into the garden soil with alawn sprinklerorhose.
Use Compost to Improve Garden Soil
A soil profile shows how soil is layered.
The thin top layer is dark brown to black and consists of decomposed and semi-decomposed organic matter.
Below that is the subsoil, a clay-like base with minerals but few nutrients.
Organic Soil for Vegetable Gardens
What’s the best organic soil mix for vegetable gardens?
Determine the soil pH before adding any amendments to your vegetable garden.
Fall is best for testing.
Adding crushed limestone helps makeacidic soil(below 7.0) more alkaline.
Adding peat moss helps make alkaline soil (above 7.0) more acidic.
Check with your state’s Extension Service for more information on the best soil amendments for organic vegetable gardens.
Top dress the surface with 1 to 2 inches of compost, then a couple of inches of mulch.
A cover crop is aquick-growing annual, such asbuckwheat, rye, barley, orclover.
Keep in mind that cover crops are relatively low-maintenance, but they still need to bewateredduring times of drought.
Try this cover crop rotation to improve poor soil in a vegetable garden.
Plow that crop under in spring.
Then wait two to three weeks beforeplanting vegetablesbecause decomposing plant matter ties up valuable nitrogen.
Start by excavating a row at the end of a garden bed.
(If you have to remove sod, set it aside for now.
Dig about a foot deep, saving the excavated soil on a tarp.
Don’t turn the soil over.
Add an inch ofcompost, then refill the trench with soil you remove from the next row.
Continue excavating row after row until you reach the end of the bed.
Use the soil you placed on the tarp to fill the last trench.
Level the soil, then top the bed with a couple of inches of compost.
