The Importance of Soil and Compost

Compost lined trench for asparagus

It's all about soil AND it's all about compost.

After spending several days of working compost into the gardens and around shrubs and trees, as well as spreading mulch, it occurred to me that the topic of soil is such an important one that I should devote some time here solely to soil. So hats off to all gardeners working towards great garden soil.

A friend once asked what the difference was between organic gardening and conventional gardening (why is it called conventional gardening anyway?). She thought organic gardening was about not using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. But really if you examine the heart of organic gardening you realize you are looking at soil. It's all about soil. Let me say that again, a healthy organic garden is all about healthy soil. The time you put into building up your soil is the absolute best investment you can make into your garden. So pick up a handful of soil from your garden and look at it and feel it. What color is it? What does it feel like? Is there anything wiggling in it?

So what about the soil? First, the soil needs to be "alive"! Yes, alive! One of the best debates that occurred in my science class was around the following question that a kid came up with, " Is soil living?" You can't imagine how much thinking went into this heated discussion among my then 7th graders. Yes, 7th graders were arguing, sometimes loudly, about soil. And the funny thing is, that scientists still debate that question. It all comes down to our definition of soil. What do you think of when you hear the word, "soil"? Do you think of dirt? Or do you think of ground rocks, and microbes, and roots, and decomposing material, and worms? Whether you side with "soil is living" or with "soil is nonliving", soil that supports a healthy plant and garden should be home to many living organisms.

Let me give you an example. When we bought our home 10 years ago we used a garden spot that was here and had been used for 40 years. We just assumed it must be amazing soil. Well after the first year of gardening and not seeing a worm anywhere and having quite a bit of trouble getting a tomato or cucumber to grow I got a bit suspicious. So the next year I had a truckload of compost delivered and I worked it into the soil. Still no worms or tomatoes. So the following year another truck load of compost and another year of no worms or tomatoes. I decided something was definitely not right so we moved the spot. The first year in the new spot we got another truckload of compost and worked it into the soil. Worms (and tomatoes) were everywhere! And the worms continue to wiggle their way through our garden soil today. When we cleaned out our garage that very first summer we were here we found things like Sevin and Scotts fertilizer, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. I can only conclude that the farmer who was a post WW II farmer liberally used such things on his garden and killed every living thing in his garden soil. And because he was dealing with such unhealthy soil he needed lots of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

So now that we know we want and need healthy soil how do we get it? The first thing to do is figure out the texture of your soil. Is it clay? Meaning that when watered the water sits on top and can't seep down to get to the roots of plants. Or is it sandy? Meaning that the soil can't hold on to water so it dries out quickly. Believe it or not the remedy for both these soils is the same....you got it - compost! Compost is just magical when it comes to soil. It can loosen clay soil making it easier for roots to spread and grow and it can add texture to sandy soil helping it hold onto water. What exactly is compost? Compost that is made at home is broken down plant based waste such as leaves, grass clippings, plant waste from cooking such as fruit and vegetable scraps, breads, pasta, coffee grounds, egg shells. Do not use meat, bones, cheese...those go into the garbage.

There is also manure, composted manure. Fresh manure will burn your garden plants so the manure needs to be composted. Manure is good 'ole poop that has been composted. It can come from cows, horses, sheep, rabbits, chicken, llamas, alpacas....can you think of anything else?

You can make your own compost with just a little effort or you can buy compost or composted manure from local farmers. You can even buy compost and composted manure from places like WalMart and HomeDepot.

According to University of Maine's, "Home Composting" bulletin, compost is, "...a dark, crumbly and earthy-smelling form of decomposing organic matter." To read this easy to read and informative bulletin to home composting go to:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/1143.htm

So go get some compost and a shovel and spend some time adding compost to all your garden plants.

Oh, and did I mention that it's all about soil and compost!?