A couple of weeks ago we saw Sandra Fields in the Little Sprouts garden, clearing it out for a new crop. It takes more than water and sun to grow a garden and creating healthy soil is an art in itself. The same principles of building a house applies to gardening. You have to start with a good foundation. In gardening, that foundation is the soil.
Getting your soil ready takes more than just weeding and turning it over. Every home gardening store boasts shelves and shelves of soil enhancers, vitamin sprays and nutrient sticks but those are just bandaids. In organic gardening, you learn to feed the soil and let the soil feed your plants. But how exactly do you feed your soil?
In this video with Sandra Fields, she tells us that she added sand to the Little Sprouts garden beds. Sand is added to soil to help with drainage and texture; giving your soil a soft feel while preventing your soil from clumping which can suffocate root growth. How much sand should you use depends on your soil structure or how your soil clumps together. Good soil crumbles and allows roots to expand while allowing in both air and water, all necessary for a healthy plant. Have you ever kept watering and watering a plant but it still turned brown and dried out like you never watered it at all? The soil of that plant was probably too loose and the water just drained right out, not giving your a plant a chance to absorb moisture.
Texture is only one of the key components to a healthy soil. Stay tuned for more soil tips!