Improve Garden Soil - Don't Buy Topsoil!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. The first such method to be developed was the Albrecht system and, with just a few refinements from more recent research, it still works well today.
However, Let's begin with a brief description of what soil is and what it does in the garden. We have a page here that describes this in detail. The link to that page opens a new window, so you can read through it and then come back here. 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 soil balancing actually works. It can seem a bit strange, but the balance of just a few important elements has a profound impact on the structure and friability of the soil. Where people get confused is that these elements (Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Sodium) are also plant nutrients. the trick is to remember that once you have the balance right, there should be more than enough of these in the soil to meet the needs of any plant. 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.
What is soil and how does it work?
What soil balance really means
The Mikhail system and how it differes from other soil balance systems
Soil biology
Garden soil testing
Organic soil improvement
Soil health
Organic garden compost
The use of mulch for the vegetable garden.
|
