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How to Start An Organic Garden: Feed Your Soil

organic garden tomatoes, peppers, basil. garlic.

If you’re starting an organic garden, the first rule you need to learn is: feed the soil and you’ll feed the plant. That’s a pretty logical statement, a guideline used by gardeners and farmers for thousands of years before the mid-twentieth century. But it’s been practically marketed out of existence by a chemical industry intent on selling artificial fertilizers. When you understand what your soil needs, how to tell bad soil from good, the route to optimum soil, and how to watch your plants for signs of vitality or struggle, life in the organic garden gets much simpler.

How do you know what condition your garden soil is in?

Take a shovel or spade, turn it over, pick up a handful and look at it closely. Is it red? Is it deep brown? Is it sandy? Does it look mossy? Was it like cement when you dug into it or was it soft (pliable)?  It could be any one of these or a combination of them.

Every soil has different qualities, texture and pH, largely based on where you live and how the soil has been treated. While certain plants will grow in most any kind of soil (daffodils and daylilies come to mind), you must create the most favorable soil conditions for plant health. If you want to know the details about your garden soil, get it tested at a local soil testing lab.

Feed your soil

Plants need organic material to thrive. Add large amounts of compost to your soil, which will eventually break down into humus, the end product of biological activity on the compost. Rich compost and humus also attract beneficial insects, which are absolutely necessary for soil and plant health. Compost is best made on site in a compost bin from kitchen scraps, shredded newspaper, grass clippings, tree leaves, yard waste, and similar materials. If you don’t have the space or energy to make your own compost, buying it bagged from a garden center or municipal site will do.

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Compost reduces the need for fertilizers

When you get enough compost worked into your soil and get the soil healthy (this will take a few seasons), your need for organic fertilizers should become non-existent, or close to it. As the compost breaks down, it releases nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK), and additional elements that plants require. These additional elements may or may not be present in chemical fertilizers but are vitally necessary to your organic garden soil’s health. But you’ll have no idea if your soil needs any of these elements unless you get it tested.

Think of the soil like you think of your body – the better you feed your body, and the healthier your food sources, the more in balance it is, and the better it is at resisting illness. The same holds true for plants – if they’re healthy, they’re more likely to survive garden pests, plant disease, drought, or extreme weather.

Test your soil before adding fertilizer

As mentioned above, I highly recommend sending your soil to a local lab to have it tested so you can find out if it’s too alkaline, too acid, or if it’s deficient in any minerals. For a simple pH test (measure of acidity or alkalinity), you can buy an inexpensive test kit online.

If your soil pH is too acidic or too alkaline, your crop yields may be low, growth may be inhibited, crops may be stressed, or the plants may be unhealthy in other ways. The test kit is very simple to use, takes only a few minutes and lets you know exactly where you stand, pH-wise. As far as nutrients go, after a few seasons of composting, and regular feedings of compost, your plant’s nutrition needs should be met.

Composted manure is an excellent soil amendment

I buy LOTS of composted manure each spring (in addition to making yard waste compost), and work it into the soil at least 1 month before planting, and again in the fall. The combination of yard waste compost and composted manure feeds the soil and plants far better than any fertilizer.

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Note: Beware of fresh horse manure from farms. Manure that hasn’t been properly composted is notorious for being loaded with weed seeds and also poses the risk of “burning” plants, due to its high nitrogen level. When composted properly, however, it’s magnificent plant food. Never use fresh cow manure in your organic garden, as it may be loaded with pathogens.

2 thoughts on “How to Start An Organic Garden: Feed Your Soil”

  1. I have a lot of algae and I want to know if I can use it as a nutrient in a garden.

    1. Karen:
      Yes algae skims lots of nutrients from water and as a result is loaded with nitrogen and potassium. However, don’t use it if it’s from a swimming pool, as it may also contain pool chemicals. I would mix the algae with the rest of my compost.

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