"House built on a weak foundation will not stand, oh no, oh no..."
Soil is the foundation of civilization. Our "civilization" is hard at work destroying its soil, destroying itself. We all take part in that process to one degree or another, but some make up for it, at least in part, sometimes by nothing more than living with the attitude that it is necessary to give in order to receive, and then return some more. That attitude, and action growing out of it, is the key to any hope we have for the future.
Soil is the foundation of the garden. If the soil is right, the garden works; it produces, providing food for the soul and for the stomach. It nourishes and it instructs us as well.
If the soil is not right, the garden produces only ailments: plants that are stunted and sick, subject to attack by any virus, bacteria, fungus or insect that comes along; flowers, fruits and vegetables that are not wholesome, that frustrate our efforts and disappoint our expectations; feelings of annoyance that we have worked so hard for so little reward.
It isn't hard to make the soil right, though it often requires some time. To support healthy plants, our soil must have certain characteristics, must contain certain elements to nourish the plants. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are primary among those, but plants require many others as well, calcium, iron, sulfur, zinc, to name a few, and a host of others, many in only minute amounts.
Soil has to be nutritive, that is, it must contain substances which ensure that the nutrients are in the proper form so that plants can use them, substances that "deliver" those nutrients to the waiting plants. Organic matter, in the form of humus, provides those substances. Soil is more or less nutritive according to how much organic material it contains.
Water is the medium that carries elements to and through the plants. Consequently, the soil has to be of a consistency that holds water and allows it to move around, but it must also allow the water to drain away rather than collect and remain around the plant roots (most roots will rot if they stand too long in water). Here too organic matter is important as it makes for a spongy consistency, which allows water to move through without collecting, while at the same time holding enough moisture to provide for the needs of the plants.
Scientists classify soil into three types: sand, silt and clay. Sand and silt differ mainly in the size of the particles that make them upÑsand is larger and more granular; silt is dustier, with smaller particles. Clay particles are even smaller, but clay differs from sand and silt in another important respect: it contains other elements locked into its structure at a basic, molecular level. All three types benefit from the addition of humus, but as sand and silt contain little of nutritive value, we must add nutrients to them in the form of fertilizer. As clay already contains nutrients, it is enough simply to add humus because substances in the humus perform the task of unlocking the nutritive elements from the basic structure of the clay molecules.
That is, of course, a somewhat oversimplified view. Most of the soil we encounter contains different proportions of at least two, often all three categories, as well as some organic material, usually. But it never hurts to add more humus (in fact, it's hard to add too much humus). But pure humus won't do it; plants won't grow in pure humus; they require some soil.
In nature, soil gets its humus by means of the decomposition of plant material, usually on the soil surface. We can enhance that process by adding such things as grass cuttings, leaves, straw, sawdust and the like, digging them in or simply letting them sit on top of the soil to work their way in gradually, with help from the rain. The latter process is the basis of the "no dig" approaches to gardening. A mulch of sawdust, hay, etc. can soften up your soil and get it ready for planting in a surprisingly short time, sometimes only a few weeks.
Beware the nitrogen drag, though. Highly carboniferous substances, such as those mentioned, make use of the available nitrogen as part of their decomposition process. Once that process is complete, the nitrogen grabbed by the carbon becomes available again, but until that happens, plants in that environment are going to need some supplemental nitrogen.
In my view, compost is the best all-around material for soil improvement. It provides well-decomposed humus and, if done correctly, well-balanced nutrition as well. I recommend making your own, using plant materials, in combination with food waste and manure from herbivorous animals. (A future column will discuss compost and how to make it).
You'll know when your soil is right. Your plants will glow with good, green health; your garden will swell with lush growth and the flowers, fruits and vegetable will thrill you with their appearance, their touch and their taste.
The bird's nest bin, also known as the binless bin, is a naturally constructed compost bin that you build out of the large, coarse plant materials that you have around the yard. Instead of throwing the big stalky stuff, like broccoli and kale plants, prunings from bushes, sunflower stalks, etc., into one pile together with the small, easy-to-degrade stuff like young weeds and kitchen food waste, they are separated so that the heavy-duty materials make up the walls and the finer materials are in the center.
Without so much bulky material mixed in, the finer materials get to break down faster. The bin looks much neater than if everything is thrown together. Reminiscent of a bird's nest, the binless bin blends naturally into the landscape with charm and character. No need to buy plastic bins or build other structures.
It's easy to make a bird's nest bin. Pound four stakes into the ground to make a square four to six feet wide. These will provide all the structural support you need. Around the perimeter, lay down your coarse materials to make walls eight to ten inches thick: big weeds, spent vegetable plants and flowers, trimmings from shrub prunings, edges of sod you've dug up, old hay if you've got an excess of itÑwhatever you've got around that you want to get rid of.
The center of the pile is reserved for the small stuff and the rotten stuff. First, lay a few stalks crisscross on top of each other on the ground. This will allow some air to come through the bottom of the pile and be drawn upward through the pile to enhance breakdown. Then add food waste from the kitchen, the little weeds from the garden, the rotten fruit found under the trees. Always remember to cover up any food waste so as not to invite animals. Try to have a supply on hand at all times of something like leaves, wood chips, or straw, to layer in with your food scraps and cover it up. If you don't have enough leaves of your own, there's a plentiful supply every fall, when people kindly leave these bags full of the precious compost ingredient (and excellent mulching material, but that's another story) on the curb.
Keep the walls higher than the center at all times, so nothing falls out. Once the bin is a few feet high, after a garden season, you can let it sit and start another. After a year or so the interior of the bin left sitting will become dark compost, unrecognizable in origin, ready to enrich your garden. The wall material will have only partially broken down and can be re-used for a new bin.
With thanks to the Master Composter Program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, NY. ©Anne Marie Whelan
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2002
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited