Ever heard the saying “Oh, I was treated like dirt!” Well, really it should be a compliment! If you treat your soil the way it is supposed to be treated - like a living organism - you would treat it with care, love, and respect.
A good soil is alive, thriving, and teaming with bacteria, fungi animals, and a good dose of nutrients. As humans, we always think if some does some good, then more must do more good. If you think of it like a yoghurt culture, you will not be far from the truth - a little of the starter culture will go a long way.
First thing to do is know your starting point. Winter is a good time to get garden soil analyzed. Testing your soil now will help let you know what nutrients your soil needs, allowing a plan to your fertilizer program. A soil test can be done by several places in the Lower Mainland, or you can buy an inexpensive test kit from you local garden centre. This test will help solve many of the common garden problems - yellowing plants, poor growth, or poor fruit set to name a few. The soil sample can be taken any time of year, as long as fertilizer has not been applied recently, and testing should be done on a regular basis (maybe every three to five years depending on what you are growing).
There are a couple of things the home gardener can do to head in the right direction:
- Colour is everything. Look at the colour or shade of your soil. Is your soil dark brown or light grey? Soils with adequate organic matter content will be dark in colour.
- Look for standing water. Soils rich in organic matter content and with good airflow (or oxygen content) allow water to seep below the surface.
- Rub some soil between your fingers. A good soil should have the same texture as freshly blended butter and flour - crumbly, fluffy, and full of different sized particles.
- Use your nose. If it smells like soil or manure, it's dead. A good soil should have no smell, no mustiness, no alcoholic or off-smells. Soils with adequate content of organic matter will have the rich smell of earth.
Adding organic matter to your garden soil helps improve the ability of the soil to accept and store water. Organic matter increases the activity and the number of soil organisms. Over time, a well-amended soil will supply more of the nutrients your plants require, thereby reducing fertilizer requirements.
Adding 2 - 5 cm of compost each year helps build a productive garden soil. It acts like a starter mix that you would use for a good wine or sourdough. Sift the mix into the top 4 -10 cm of soil. One thing everyone forgets is that any living organism or ecosystem needs oxygen to help keep the processes alive. Use light circular strokes with a garden hoe to increase the oxygen content. Think like a fine chef making meringue. In that case, you want the air in the egg whites to make it light and fluffy. Use this theory in the garden beds and you will have no problems incorporating the amendments. Usually one cubic metre of amendment covers about 25 square metres, 2.5 cm deep. It is best to apply compost in the spring, 4 - 6 weeks before planting. This allows activation of the culture by fungi and bacteria. You also can apply amendments in the fall, but some of the nutrients may be lost during the winter, especially in areas of high rain fall such as North Vancouver (well, practically all of Vancouver for that matter).
Above all, if you treat your soil the way it is supposed to be treated, your garden will grow into that fine wine - worth enjoying at all times.
Dr. Alan Reid
Instructor, Department of Biology
The University of the Fraser Valley
