To Improve Garden Soil with the Mikhail System is like Chicken Soup for the Soil

The first rule if you want to improve garden soil is that there is no such thing as ‘bad soil’. If the options you are thinking about are either ‘improve garden soil’ or ‘buy top soil’ then don’t waste your money buying so-called “good top soil”. Doing this will only import someone else’s problems. Always, the ‘improve garden soil’ option is by far the best.

What you need is a simple and reliable method of making ‘good top soil’ from whatever is available. Such a system would be one that worked equally well on any garden soil, anywhere in the World and one that – for a truly ‘good top soil’ would say “Do nothing more”. Just like giving Chicken soup to someone with a cold, when they need a pick-me-up it helps, but when they don’t, it does no harm. In this regard, the Mikhail System is like Chicken Soup for the soil.

The Mikhail system was developed from 45 years of research on some of the oldest and most fragile soils in the World and then verified through field application to an extensive range of soils in more than 26 different countries. As a result, there is a lot of information to get through. If you are into all the technical details about soil, you can get this straight from the original source.

However, if you would like a brief and less technical description, then start here first. Of course, if you have always thought of soil as just ‘dirt’, then perhaps you should start by learning what the difference is. Let's begin with a brief description of what soil is and what it does in the garden?

Another concept to clarify is ‘Balance’. These days everything seems to be “balanced”, from Dog Food to Hair Shampoo, but nobody ever seems to really say what that means. What we need is a good description of what soil balance really is. This will lead us to the question of how the Mikhail System actually works. So now let’s look at how the Mikhail System accurately defines soil balance.

Of course, this is only part of the process. We also need to know how our garden soil differs from this ideal condition. So now we should take a moment to look at how to get a good garden soil test and what that can tell us. With the results of a sufficiently detailed soil test in hand, the problem becomes one of what to do to improve the soil. Here is a reliable 5-step process to improve garden soil. So what can you expect to see as you improve garden soil? Let me show you…

Having followed these steps to improve garden soil, you now have to maintain its health and condition. In addition to the monitoring and fine tuning above, there are also a few other strategies you can use to keep your soil healthy and productive.

The first of these is composting. So lets look at the benefits of compost and how to make it. Of course, you can get all the benefits of compost - and even more - without bothering with the composting process at all. This involves green manuring (otherwise known as cover cropping).

Clearly there is a lot to consider before trying to improve garden soil and there are even more links below for still further reading. Additional information will be added as it becomes available, but you can easily keep in touch by subscribing to our Free email newsletter - The Food Gardener.

Further reading and useful links

Methods of cultivating soil and when to use them.
With any cultivation there is a risk of damaging the soil, so they must be used carefully and appropriately2.

What is soil and how does it work?
As a medium for plant growth, soil must provide anchorage, nutrients, air, water and biological interactions if healthy plant growth is to be achieved.

What soil balance really means
The soil components that contribute to balance and how they interact.

The Mikhail system and how it differes from other soil balance systems
The result of 45 years research on some of the oldest and most fragile soils in the World and proven reliable in more than 26 countries, this is the best and most complete soil balance system available.

Soil biology
Research has shown that biological communities in the living soil show parallels with those in our towns and cities.

Garden soil testing
Without a detailed soil test, improving garden soil is a very difficult task indeed.

Organic soil improvement
By applying the Mikhail System, you have a simple 5-step process to improve garden soil.

Soil health
The best way to think about soil health is by exploring the parallels between soil and human health.

Organic garden compost
Everything you need to know about making and using garden compost.

The use of mulch for the vegetable garden.
Garden mulches can be used to improve garden soil in a variety of things, from moisture retention to weed control.