Improving Soil Health

Healthy plants rely on many factors including light, water, temperature and nutrients. Today I will be sharing some information about soil health and the simple ways gardeners can improve the soil that they are working with to give plants the best chance for success.

What is soil?

Soil is comprised of minerals, air, water and organic matter. Sand, silt and clay are the major minerals that determine the texture of your soil. Sand, silt and clay are broken down into 12 “textural classes,” as determined by the USDA, and are not alterable. For example, you may have clay soil, like I do here in the mid-Atlantic. But, don’t fret, because the structure of your soil can be amended, using organic matter (AKA compost or humus), to make your soil a more friendly plants for your plants to grow.

Improving your soil will help you grow beautiful vegetables and flowers.

How do I know what my soil health is?

One task I am embarrassed to admit I have never done is soil testing. Very important, gardeners! If your soil isn’t well balanced with minerals like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, your plants and lawn will struggle and you will get frustrated. In simple terms, you send dirt samples from around your garden to a lab. The results show pH, calcium, phosphate, potassium and magnesium levels and give recommendations on what minerals to add to your soil to improve it. The University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center has a list of labs where you can send your samples and a video on how to collect soil for testing. Or you can contact your local extension for more information about getting your soil tested.

How can I improve my soil?

Adding compost, which is also referred to as organic matter or humus, to your soil has many positive effects:

1.       Improves physical condition

2.       Increases water filtration

3.       Improves soil tilth (physical condition of soil, especially in relation to its suitability for planting or growing a crop, including the stability of aggregated soil particles, moisture content, degree of aeration, rate of water infiltration and drainage.)

4.       Decreases erosion

5.       Supplies nutrients

Read about making compost in a small, urban backyard.

Also, if you decide to do soil testing, the lab results will include recommendations for improving the soil using commercial fertilizers.

Garden Planning Series

You can read Part 1 here where I explain all of the places  I find my garden inspiration. 

Read Part 2 here where I help you determine the sunny and shady areas of your urban garden and how to make the best of those conditions.

Composting for Small, Urban Yard

A few years ago at Rooting DC, a fantastic urban agriculture event in Washington, D.C., I was inspired to start composting. My clay soil really needed help and the organic matter that compost added would help with drainage, aeration and tilth (the soil’s ability to grow plants). And I would be helping to decrease waste added to the county landfill. According to “The Maryland Master Gardener Handbook,” municipal waste is comprised of 13% yard waste, 12% food waste and 34% paper, and those are all things that can be composted. What did I have to lose?

I was familiar with composting but was a little intimidated because I thought it was really complicated. My first interaction with serious composting was during my days in the Newark Street Community Garden in northwest D.C. There was a “compost committee” and strict rules for where to put your garden waste, what to put on the pile, and which ripe compost pile to use on your plot. It was a little intimidating! And before seeing those presenters, I felt like I could not have a successful compost pile in my small urban backyard-where would I put it? wouldn’t it attract mice and rats? doesn’t compost smell bad? I had put it off out of fear.

But that day at Rooting DC I decided I was going to try it. Here’s how I did it.

Step 1-Gather your materials

·         Large storage tub with a secure cover. You can buy one at a big box store or try your local thrift store. Also, your town or county may have free or low cost bins available for residents.

·         Drill with LARGE drill bit.

·         Pitch fork.

Step 2-Choose your location

·         Shady spot

·         Near the door so it’s not a pain in the neck to go outside, especially in the winter, to make a deposit

·         Close proximity to where you will be using the finished compost

·         Somewhat out of the way for aesthetics

Step 3-Drill baby, drill!

·         Compost needs air so drill lots of holes on all sides of the bin, including the bottom and the cover.

Step 4-Start composting

·         Start filling the bin with kitchen scraps (green matter) and yard waste (brown matter).

·         Turn the compost weekly.

·         If conditions are dry, you will need to water your compost occasionally to keep it alive.

Step 5-Spread your compost

How do you know it’s “done”? At some point you will have to stop adding scraps to your bin in order to have finished, useable compost. It will be dark in color, smells like fresh earth (mmmm) and the particles are all broken down and unrecognizable. Repeat Step 4.

What to Compost

Kitchen scraps, dead leaves from houseplants, rotten stuff in the produce drawer, dead plants, orange peels, apple cores. Paper egg cartons, plain (uncoated paper), egg shells, coffee grounds and filter, tea bags. You will get the hang of collecting your compost “food” very quickly. There is so much waste every day that can go in the compost bin.

What NOT to Compost

Dairy, bones, fat, salt, pet waste, cooked foods, meat, peanut butter, oil.

Composting is easy, suitable for a small yard, practically free and your garden will see a tremendous benefit. Don’t put if off any longer, no matter what time of year. I am so glad I broke through my fear and you will be, too! Share your experience or ask questions in the comments below.

Composting Resources

University of Maryland Extension 

EPA

North Carolina State Extension

Put your out-of-place pumpkins to good use

Now that Christmas decorations are up in the house and the light extravaganza is plugged in outside, the pumpkins I bought before Halloween seem out of place in my yard. Remember when you were ready for fall? I was so excited back in early October to find the right size, shape and personality of the pumpkins that I was going use to decorate. Alas, pumpkins and Santa do not mix.

There is a Reddit group for photos of squirrels eating things - thanks for the pic!

Put those pumpkins to good use! I smash them open for the birds and squirrels to eat the seeds. Then you can put the orange carcass in the compost bin or, as I do, just leave it out on one of the flower beds to decompose. By spring it will be completely gone and the soil will have some new organic matter to start the growing season.