-Ryan Blankenship- The very first step in determining if your soil is ready for planting is to simply dig yourself a small hole where you would like your planting site to be. By digging this small hole, you will be able to determine if you have loose or clay soil. Like many people in our area, we typically have a lot of red clay where we would like to plant. I also like to send a soil sample out to our state agricultural extension program to get tested to understand the NPK … [Read more...] about How to Tell if Your Garden Soil Is Ready for Planting
amendments
Build Your Own Super Soil
-Ryan Blankenship- What exactly is super soil? Super soil is a blend of many different amendments that will feed your plants from seed to harvest. This blend will give your plants all of the essential nutrients they need to lead happy lives and keep them from having any deficiencies. In this blog I will give you a great recipe and explain what each amendment does for your soil. 8 x 1.5 cu.ft. bags of organic soil (Roots Organic or Ocean forest works the best) 30 lb bag of … [Read more...] about Build Your Own Super Soil
Amending and Beyond!
-Mike Weeks- Every year, I find myself getting asked how to amend gardens and raised beds with soil amendments. This can be easy to do, but there are a few steps that should be taken before applying anything. The first thing that should be determined is what your soil type is. What is the percentage of sand, silt, clay, and humus? I like to perform what is called a mason jar soil test to get that information. This is an easy process that will involve mixing a soil sample into a jar and taking … [Read more...] about Amending and Beyond!
Soil Testing: Learn your soil needs
Testing your soil is an important part of growing food- especially in areas with geologically old, nutrient-depleted, acidic soils as are commonly found in the Eastern United States. Fall is the perfect time of year to get your soil tested to see what type and quantity of soil amendments you need to give your plants the nutrients they need without adversely affecting the soil or environment. Application of too much nitrogen and phosphorus, for example, can leech into waterways and cause … [Read more...] about Soil Testing: Learn your soil needs
