Preparing your soil in the spring

Soil is literally the foundation of your garden. A great foundation to your garden will bring a great harvest. The key to good garden soil is deep, loose, fertile and well-draining soil.

How do you obtain this, you ask? Well, no matter the kind of soil, clay, sand the very best thing you can do for your soil is to add lots and lots of organic matter every year. Organic matter is anything that is no longer alive( accept meet and dog and cat feces carry too much disease). So things like leaves in the fall and small wood shavings and anything that was green at one time counts as organic matter. That includes steer manure and composted plants.

If you are starting a new bed for your garden in the spring, then make sure you add lots of organic matter, and every year thereafter. You can buy bags of steer manure and peat moss to mix into the soil if you do not want to make your own compost. Things like wood chips are considered organic matter, but they take such a long time to break down that they are not the best option to add to your garden soil. After the plants are planted in the early summer, we add a nice compost as a dressing on top of the soil and around the plants to help keep moisture in the soil and cool the roots of the vegetables. We do not gather this up, but rather leave it and add more next year. This would count as adding organic matter. They we add chopped up leaves with the lawn mower in the fall with a little nitrogen fertilizer to break it down. Free excellent organic matter- it cant get better than that. 

Here is a picture of leaf mold which is leaves just broken down from a few years ago. This makes an excellent amendment to the soil.

Getting started in your garden

It is a perfect time to start planning and preparing your garden for next year. As the saying goes "Gardens are not made by singing Oh how beautiful, and sitting in the shade". So here are some helpful tips on what you can do now to prepare.

If you are starting from scratch begin with choosing the right location. This means looking for the spot where your plants will get 8 hours of direct sun, have easy access to water, and fertile soil to sink their roots into.

If space is a problem you can effectively grow vegetables and herbs in containers. Just find a spot with full sun. Your containers need to be large enough for plants to grow to full size. You can also inter plant vegetables in your perennial beds.

Grow boxes are an excellent solution for yards with bad soil. They also make tending to your plants easier and your garden look sharp. Watch for upcoming posts on grow box gardens.

Fall is the best time to prepare your soil as Mother Nature provides you with an abundant source of free compost, leaves. Simply chop and turn fallen leaves into the soil. Sprinkling a little nitrogen fertilizer on top to help the leaves break down, then let the worms to do the rest of the work.

Add other forms of organic material now to your garden for rich, fertile soil in the spring. Other than leaves, steer manure and other compost products from your local garden centers make excellent organic additives.

Now may be a good time to have your soil tested. Soil tests tell you the condition of your soil nutrient levels. Knowing if you have an excess or deficiency of nutrients is important and gives you the information needed to fix any problems. You can purchase soil test kits and do it yourself, but for more accurate information contact your local agricultural extension office to have it tested.

Start planning how you will water your garden because after all, vegetables will not grow without adequate water. Watering by hand can be fun but also very labor intensive. If you don't have the time chances are your plants will suffer. A better option is an automatic watering system. We prefer a drip irrigation system because it saves time and conserves water by delivering the right amount directly to the plant.

Lastly, make a plan of what you want to plant in your garden, and what you will have space for. It is a good idea to start out small and work up to a larger garden. Gardening should be enjoyable and starting small will ensure it stays that way. After all, you can always expand later if you find that you like it as much as I do, and have enough time to properly manage it.

Do you have garden planning ideas?  Please share them with us.  Because the more we know the more we grow.