Soil Management

Plowing up the area and beginning to plant right away may betray a certain enthusiasm you have for starting your garden. Unfortunately, doing so will ultimately doom any attempts you make at having your garden produce a single vegetable, much less thriving to the point of giving you enough veggies to brag about.

You need to put a little bit of planning into it before taking spade to soil. One of the first things you have to know before starting is the quality of your soil. You need to know if there are any nutrients there to begin with, what nutrients are missing and what you need to do before you start planting.

You can have your soil tested at a lab, and that is the best way to do it. If you don’t have the funds to pay for such a test, call around to the local feed stores and garden centers. There is a soil testing kit available for sale for less than five dollars.

There are also electric soil testers you can purchase that will help you keep a close eye on changing soil conditions. If you cannot find any of these, contact a few of the local farmers and ask them about the soil. You may need to begin with creating the soil-mix you need to ensure success.

If your soil is more sand than soil, (i.e. Florida, Arizona) you may want to consider a raised garden and starting completely over in regards to soil. If you have a lot of clay, rock, or just poor soil condition in general, a raised garden or a container garden may be the answer for you. If you live in a place where anything grows, consider yourself lucky.

Ideal soil for most garden plants includes nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. To a lesser degree other nutrients that garden plants need include boron chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. If any one of these nutrients is out of balance, it will have an effect on the yield and growth of your garden. Many of these can be supplied with properly blended compost.

In addition to soil nutrients, the pH levels are important. Vegetable plants prefer a pH level of 6.0 to 6.8. If the pH is too low, you can blend in a little limestone. If it is too high you can add sulfur to bring it down.