The following is a list of 10 easy and effective approaches to improving your soil. We have also noted the benefits that each technique provides and included a description of why each one is important.
- Adjust the soil pH to optimal levels (6-7)- general (nutrient availability) – The pH of soil dictates the ability of plants to absorb nutrients. Many plants thrive with a pH between 6 and 7 but acid loving plants, many of which are part of the Ericaeae family, prefer a pH of less than 6. A soil sample can help you identify your current soil pH. Adding lime (to raise the pH) or sulfur (to lower the pH) prior to any planting will make it more effective and easier to adjust the pH.
- Applying compost/aged manure- nitrogen, carbon, moisture, soil biota (bacteria/fungi), general (structure/nutrients) – Compost is an all around great soil amendment. It is decomposed plant and animal materials that have reached a more stable form. Compost adds carbon to the soil to help feed soil life while introducing living microbes of its own. Your soil sample can also help you get an idea of what your current levels of organic matter are. Compost provides a useful place to dispose of yard waste and food scraps while creating an extremely valuable resource. Just remember to mix your greens and browns or just give our friends at Steel City Soils a call!
- Natural mineral fertilizers- general (minerals/nutrients) – Plant, animal, and rock-based amendments can be helpful in adjusting the major soil nutrients in addition to adding micro-nutrients. Rock phosphate, potash, bone meal, blood meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, guano, and greensand are some of the options. The amount of adjustment needed will also be determined by the soil test. The different types of amendments provide different major and minor nutrients and it is usually necessary to mix a few. Some of these are mined or a coproduct of the meat industry; keep this in mind so that your gardening practices stay in line with your ethics. A good supplier of these products is Planet Natural.
- After initial incorporation of amendments, no tillage or compaction- general (structure), moisture, soil biota – Initial tilling to incorporate our previously mentioned approaches to soil building and to breakup hard, compacted ground may be necessary, but after that it should be avoided. Tilling can produce a number of negative effects including soil compaction under the tines, excess breakdown of soil carbon, the destruction of soil life (worms and fungus in particular), and the disruption of the soil structure/profile. Compaction of the soil due to stepping on it can also negatively impacts soil health. If tilling is needed to create a nice seedbed, make sure you vary the depth of the tilling year after year and never till when the soil is very wet or very dry.
- Actively aerated compost tea- soil biota (bacteria/fungi) – AACT is an excellent way of introducing a wide variety of microbes and temporarily boosting the overall life of your soil. You can tailor your compost tea to the particular needs of your soil. Compost teas can cause additional depletion of soil carbon by increasing the population of microbes which eat the carbon to grow and reproduce. I would not recommend treating your soil with compost tea more than a couple times a year for this reason, but as an approach to increasing the initial biodiversity of your soil, it is great. Click to read more about AACT and how to make your own brewer or contact our friends at Octopus Organics.
- Deep mulching- carbon, moisture, soil biota (fungi) – Deep mulching is easy and very forgiving. A thick layer of mulch, 3-6″, maintains soil moisture by limiting evaporation and helps to keep the ground relatively cool in the summer and warm in the winter. As the mulch breaks down, carbon and nutrients are released into the soil, just the same as fallen leaves in the forest. The layer of carbon rich mulch also provides a home to fungi which are a critical part of soil development and plant health. Heavy bark or hardwood mulches may be suffocating if they are put on too deep, but rotted hay, straw and leaves all make nice deep mulches.
- Living mulches, Cover-cropping with legumes/deep-rooted plants- nitrogen, carbon, moisture – Living mulches and cover crops help to protect the soil from the drying sun and the pounding rain. They can keep the soil cool and some can help cycle nutrients that would otherwise be locked up in the ground or lost to erosion. Legumes, like peas, beans and clovers, are host to bacteria that collect nitrogen from the air. These can be used in conjunction with your main crops or as a of crop cycling regimen. Deep-rooted plants like some clovers and radishes can help breakup tough clay and rot deep in the ground, adding soil carbon. Some good cover crops include buckwheat, red clover, rye, and hairy vetch. Options for living mulches include nasturtium, white clover and sweet potato vine.
- Biotic innoculants- soil biota (bacteria/fungi), general (structure) – Innoculants is an overarching category which includes compost and compost tea, but this section focuses on commercially available innoculants. Generally purchased as powders or liquids, these formulas provide added diversity to your soil. Innoculants can be bacterial, fungal or both. Often, if planting legumes for the first time, it is important to add the corresponding innoculant so that they may fix nitrogen properly. It should not be necessary to add innoculants on a regular basis so long as you are feeding the soil life. One innoculant we often use is Espoma Bio-Tone Starter Plus.
- Vermicomposting- nitrogen, carbon, soil biota (bacteria) – Worm composting provides an easy, stink-free way of composting indoors. You can easily keep worms under your sink or in the basement, which is especially helpful in winter when outdoor composting becomes much more difficult. Worm poop, called castings, is biologically active, well decomposed organic material. Worm castings are useful for making compost tea, adding to potting mixes or watering down to spread in the garden. They create a very fine material which will help your soil very much like other composts. A worm bin is easy to make and care for. Click here to read about making a stackable worm bin of your own.
- Biochar- carbon, soil biota, general (structure) – For those of you looking for a cutting edge technique, biochar may be your answer. Well, not so cutting edge, biochar was likely used by native peoples of the Amazon several thousand years ago to create extremely rich soils. The “terra preta” created by these cultures was a product of incorporating charcoal and organic matter into the soil. Doing so created good soil structures, increased surface area for microbes, and a high nutrient holding capacity. Natural lump charcoal is probably the most convenient and widely available form we can get today. It is helpful to smash it up into smaller pieces. Biochar can be used as a light mulch or incorporated into the soil, but it is important to first soak the charcoal in a nutrient rich solution such as manure or compost leachate (watered down compost) so the carbon doesn’t pull nutrients out of your soil (this is the same stuff water filters are made of after all). Now pat yourself on the back because you just helped sequester some carbon.
Well, thats it! Go out there and grow some soil and, as always, feel free to comment below.
-Troy
