Soil Preparation is Building a Foundation
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Welcome back Gardeners,
Today we will talk about a crucial topic when it comes to gardening. Soil is likely the most important factor in a new gardeners success or failure. It can be easily overlooked and the results will soon become very apparent as the outcome is dismal if not attended to initially. Needless to say some people are blessed with amazing soil and little has to be done each year to get it ready, but for the rest of us we often have to create our own growing soil!
As in architecture or any sort of life endeavor, every mindful person understands that a strong foundation is the place to root great success.
#1 First look at your soil and the area you would like to plant. Is it hard and rocky? Sandy? Clay? Black Dirt? I like to keep things simple so once you've made the observation of what type of soil you have then answer the second question.
#2 Is anything currently growing in this piece of ground or does it look completely devoid of life? If completely devoid of life this may not be good soil or a great area to have a garden... or maybe it hasn't been watered in a while.
#3 The biggest determination now is; can your soil be helped with the addition of some soil amendments or should you bring in new soil all together. If you have hard clay and rocky soil you may want to just bring in compost or dirt from a landscaping company to start your foundation. If your soil is more sandy or tillable then you may want to add some amendments like steer or chicken manure, Peat Moss and compost. This will help increase the organic composition of your soil adding more nutrients to the soil. These materials will also help moisture retention in the soil, so it doesn't dry out as fast leading to poor root development.
#4 If adding Manure spread only about 1/2 to 1 inch over your garden. Putting too much may be harmful. Also spread your peat moss and compost on top. You may also want to add some rock dust or other fertilizers to add minerals and trace elements back to the soil.
#5 Till or mix the soil additives with your native soil.
Now that you have done all these steps it is likely that your soil is ready for planting and will grow a mighty fine garden! If you are having trouble growing then you may want to run some pH tests on your soil to buffer it appropriately if it is too acidic or alkaline depending on where you live.
Interesting enough, Jesus in the Bible even told a story about a gardener sowing seed on different soils and the outcome is found in Luke 8:4-8.
"As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.
I'll soon post another blog on planting to help with what you should do with that amazing soil to improve your seeds chance of turning into an awesome crop of vegetables.
Check out my YouTube video on Soil Preparation for a personal demonstration on How to Get your soil ready for planting!
Luke 8:9-15
#2 Is anything currently growing in this piece of ground or does it look completely devoid of life? If completely devoid of life this may not be good soil or a great area to have a garden... or maybe it hasn't been watered in a while.
#3 The biggest determination now is; can your soil be helped with the addition of some soil amendments or should you bring in new soil all together. If you have hard clay and rocky soil you may want to just bring in compost or dirt from a landscaping company to start your foundation. If your soil is more sandy or tillable then you may want to add some amendments like steer or chicken manure, Peat Moss and compost. This will help increase the organic composition of your soil adding more nutrients to the soil. These materials will also help moisture retention in the soil, so it doesn't dry out as fast leading to poor root development.
#4 If adding Manure spread only about 1/2 to 1 inch over your garden. Putting too much may be harmful. Also spread your peat moss and compost on top. You may also want to add some rock dust or other fertilizers to add minerals and trace elements back to the soil.
#5 Till or mix the soil additives with your native soil.
Now that you have done all these steps it is likely that your soil is ready for planting and will grow a mighty fine garden! If you are having trouble growing then you may want to run some pH tests on your soil to buffer it appropriately if it is too acidic or alkaline depending on where you live.
Interesting enough, Jesus in the Bible even told a story about a gardener sowing seed on different soils and the outcome is found in Luke 8:4-8.
"As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.
“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
I'll soon post another blog on planting to help with what you should do with that amazing soil to improve your seeds chance of turning into an awesome crop of vegetables.
Check out my YouTube video on Soil Preparation for a personal demonstration on How to Get your soil ready for planting!
If you're interested the parable had more to it then just gardening. Jesus explained his parable when the Disciples asked.
Luke 8:9-15
His disciples asked, “Why did you tell this story?”
He said, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren’t going to get it:
Their eyes are open but don’t see a thing,
Their ears are open but don’t hear a thing.
Their ears are open but don’t hear a thing.
“This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won’t believe and be saved.
“The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.
“And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.
“But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.
God Bless your gardening and you!
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