Getting Started
Soil--This section should probably be called "growing medium." Potting soils do not contain any dirt. Most indoor potting soils are a mix of peat moss and vermiculite, while most outdoor potting soil uses coco fibers (coir) or composted wood chips as the base. Some so-called "garden soils" are composted forest or landscaping bi-products. In container growing, native soils tend to compact; they drain poorly; and they don't absorb water very well once they dry out.
For raised beds, bagged soils offer a better control of moisture and nutrients than native soil, and don't contain weed seeds like native soil does.
Other alternatives to growing in-ground are hugelkultur, straw bale growing and planting directly in bags of soil, not to mention hydroponics and aquaponics. Right now, my focus is native soil.
One gardening expert wrote that soil can't really be improved more than temporarily and, unless you have rich, black, river delta loam, you should seriously consider raised beds. I would agree that heavy clay or very rocky soil is tough to improve. I've known people who had to haul in tons of top soil in order to get sod to grow around newly constructed houses. In cases like that, raised beds are definitely a simpler solution for vegetable gardening.
The soil in my garden plot is very sandy, so it at least had good drainage going for it. This is what it looked like last year after tilling. It contained some organic material, but more would be better.
Let me stop right here to say this: before starting an in-ground garden, a soil test is a very good idea. Soil test kits are available at garden centers, but I would suggest you call your County Extension Office and ask about available testing. By the time I had my garden area picked out, I was too impatient to wait for test results.
Tilling
The first time a piece of ground is used, tilling is probably unavoidable.
Soil forms in layers from the top down, with new layers of material settling on the surface and breaking down, while being covered by newer layers. Different layers contain different organisms, ranging from mycelium to earthworms. A rich, living soil is best for in-ground gardening.
Last year, when I started laying out my garden, the soil was hard packed, with a structure that was unsuitable for growing healthy garden plants. It also contained a network of tree roots that needed to come out. Tilling was my best option and I certainly had nothing to lose by it.
I tilled twice, north/south, then east/west. A thousand square feet is a lot of area to rake by hand, but it was necessary for removing the roots and leveling out the ruts. It could have used a lot more raking, but I thought I would do that as needed. I didn't, but I thought I would.
Two passes with a front tine tiller loosened and turned the soil about eighteen inches deep. An alternative I use in smaller areas is double digging, that is, digging over the area a shovel deep and setting the soil and sod aside. Next, I dig down another shovel deep and set that dirt on the other side. The first scoops go back into the hole, sod side down and then I back fill with the second pile of dirt. After raking a couple of times, the area is basically ready to plant and the sod adds organic material.
Amending
The most widely recommended amendment for any garden soil is compost. Good compost is easy to make from readily available materials, which I will cover later on. No matter what your soil might need in the way of nutrients, compost is good for it. You might say, compost covers a lot of sins.
The Alberta Urban Gardener, on YouTube, says there are fifteen total nutrients (or micro nutrients) necessary for healthy, nutritional vegetables. The average homemade compost contains at least twelve of those (as a general rule, I don't like to watch videos, because it takes so much longer to get the basic information, but I find that the Alberta Urban Gardener gets right to the point).
Almost all plant foods and fertilizers contain N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), because these are the framework elements and they are all quickly used up by growing plants. As for other elements, most plants only need trace amounts, but they still need them. Chemical fertilizers only contain N-P-K, while most organic fertilizers and plant foods contain additional nutrients and soil cultures that help build the best possible soil environment for both plants and soil-building organisms such as earthworms.
Most of the time, I practice "rule-of-thumb" gardening and that works very well for me. Corn needs lots of nitrogen and tomatoes need phosphorus and calcium. If I grow corn, I mix composted cow manure into the soil. If I grow tomatoes, I add bone meal (and tomato food, because it isn't cheating if it works).
I'll talk about mulch when I talk about watering, but let me point out that good mulch will break down and add much-needed nutrients to the soil. Many people prefer to use compost as their mulch, but I can never produce enough compost to do everything
The pH of the soil is particularly important for some plants. I originally used a simple DIY home pH test using several soil samples with vinegar and baking soda to determine that my soil was neutral to slightly alkaline. That method is too cumbersome for testing multiple areas around the garden. For Christmas I got a decent pH meter, which makes it a fairly simple matter to do a test.
For soil pH that is too low, dolomite will help by adding calcium, just like in stomach antacids. For soil pH that is too high many people use peat moss, which is very acidic. I've been told that peat moss breaks down quickly and does a temporary and uneven job of lowering pH, but azalea growers swear by it. A more long term adjustment can be made with agricultural sulfur, which is available at most garden centers.
After the first year, I suggest using no till practices in order to preserve the newly formed soil systems. When I tilled last year, I didn't find a single earthworm. This year, when I dug holes for transplants, I found quite a few. Not only are earthworms a sign of healthy soil, their castings (poops) are among the best amendments available. You can buy worm castings, but they are very expensive and you can have them for free by promoting healthy soil.
Coming up next: Watering.
Stephen
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