compost

I’ve talked in depth about my winter reading consisting of Grow Your Soil and Dirt to Soil. I also talked about ways to improve your soil here. But today, I wanted to talk about the things we are doing this winter to actively build soil for the spring and summer gardens. There’s some repeating information from the posts I did before but I figured it would help to give a step by step, this is the exact thing we are doing, post to help you build soil. Now, please understand, I am no expert! But I know a thing or two.

Building Soil Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

In fact, there are really just three principles to building healthy soil. 1) Organic material 2) No till 3) Cover Crops

Done! Blog post over! But if you’re anything like me, figuring out when to add material, or what exactly no till is, or what in the world are cover crops, you’ve come to the right place. First, I want to give you an overview of how these things help your gardens and how you can use them. If you are looking for what we do in our gardens, jump down to Our Step By Step System.

Using Organic Material To Build Soil

The reason organic material is number one is because it’s the most important. We have Georgia red clay on 99% of our land. Sure, we have areas where no one has dug, tilled or scrapped. But the vast majority of our land is clay or rock. So what do you do with that kind of soil? Add more organic material to it!

To limit confusion, let’s talk about what organic material is. Organic material is any material that is natural. Some examples would be plant cuttings, leaves, sticks, mulch (not dyed), pine needles or shavings, and other material that you would find in nature. This can include dirt, rock, etc but because we are talking about building soil, we probably don’t want many, if any rocks.

No Till Helps To Build Soil

I think there is a ton of us that were taught that in order to have light, fluffy soil, you had to till it all the time. Or to get rid of weeds, the only thing is to till them under. And both of these things couldn’t be further from the truth.

Soil needs the bacteria, fungi, and other microbes to help build healthy soil. Every time we till, we are ripping the soil apart. We are killing all the good things, including bugs, to help with weeds? And I have yet to see tilled soil that doesn’t turn hard and compacted by middle of the season.

I’m not saying that there is no place for tilling in the garden. Because I think in certain situations it can be hugely beneficial. But I think the vast majority of the time, you shouldn’t need to till at all.

Using Cover Crops To Build Soil

Using cover crops when you are looking to build soil is huge! Mother Nature does not want to be naked and she will cover herself with weeds. But if we plant cover crops, her dirt will be covered. The other really amazing thing about cover crops is the ability to fix the soil. Depending on your soil’s deficiencies, you can plant to help correct them.

Usually, you are going to be deficient in nitrogen in the garden. Especially in the tomato, potato, corn or melon beds. One of the ways you can fix this is by planting clover, field peas, and other legumes.

Cover crops can be difficult to figure out. The most common question is when do you plant them? Too late in the season and they won’t sprout till spring. Too early and they are getting scorched.

How We Build Soil

I don’t really have a great answer for you. But I’ll tell you what I do, and you can figure out if it would work for you.

First, we are in zone 7b/8a. Even with the new updated maps, I am still going to garden like I live in 7b to help minimize heartache. At least for the next couple years. Second, this is what we do and what works for our land. You should experiment and play with your garden to see what really works well for you.

To give you a glimpse into our garden, we have two gardens. The first is my kitchen garden (yes, mine) and it is about 500 sq ft of space. I’ve got 14 4×8 raised beds and then a bunch of planters, in ground plants, etc. Second, is our big garden and it is approximately 1,250 sq ft of garden space. Right now, the garden was a hodge podge of various spaces with trellising.

The plan for next years garden is: 80ftx120ft area with a chicken run, orchard, 16 4x20ft raised beds, 20 2x18ft in ground beds, and then spaces along the fence for plants. I’m going to take you along planning that space in another blog post as well as the podcast to follow.

When it comes to putting the three principles of building soil to use, I am going to give a couple examples at the end of this post. So feel free to skip towards the bottom if that’s all your interested in. I hope it clears up a lot of this information because I know it’s a lot.

Adding Organic Materials To Build Soil

During the winter, we will blow leaves into the gardens and use the leaves as mulch. We will also fill all of our beds with leaves, sticks, mulch, and pine needles. Since our pine shavings are being used as bedding, that part isn’t something we add until spring.

Usually, by end of November, most of our gardens are toast or getting that way. We will have some fall stuff like brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc that will over winter. The beds that are still active with plants is mulched well with leaves and sticks. But the beds that are going to bed will have all of the plants cut at soil level and laid in the bed to act as mulch.

No Tilling In The Gardens

I’m not saying tilling is bad but I am saying we use tilling sparingly. For the most part, we don’t till our gardens at all. The big garden is getting a massive overhaul this winter and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve got a blog post coming about it so stay tuned.

The hardest compacted areas are going to have raised beds placed over it. At this point, it’s going to take years and years to fix that soil. The next best option is to just put raised beds in. The other problem is that in that area, we deal with a lot of soil erosion because it’s on a slope. So raised beds are the best option.

One of the big reasons we chose no till is because of what just organic material can do for the soil. To give you an example, in the spring of 2023, we were forced to till just to get our tomatoes planted. The ground was like concrete. After getting the tomatoes and other plants in. We mulched heavily. Now, (winter of 2023) the ground is so soft and fluffy, you almost can’t walk on it because it shifts so easily.

Cover Crops Really Do Build Soil

On the of the biggest issues I see in gardens is bare earth, especially over winter. That soil is so dry and damaged, little is going to grow out of it. But if we throw down some seed, cover it with soil or leaves? We can have green in that area! And the green we want will suppress all the weeds!

We use a couple of different mixes, plus left over seeds to get a cover crop in the ground.

• Garden Cover Crop- True Leaf Market- I like this blend a lot and have very few issues with it. I love the fact that I can put it in raised beds, the big gardens and even the yard to get some nom noms for the animals.
• Brassica Cover Crop– True Leaf Market- This is one of my favorite blends for third reasons. First, I don’t have to worry about it “overgrowing” because it usually dies off in winter. Second, some brassicas have long taproots that will help bring nutrients from further down in the soil, up to the plants. Third, there are two root vegetable seed in this mix. That means that I don’t have to worry as much about compaction.
• Dryland Pasture Cover Crop– True Leaf Market- Every grass in this mix is safe for my goats to eat. Since my goats free range, I like to allow them into the gardens whenever we are done with them. I want to make sure they have good, healthy food to eat. This is also what we plant in our orchard/ chicken so that they have something to eat.

Our Step By Step System For Building Soil

I told you I would give you a step by step guide, so here it is.

Bed is being put to bed

When we have a bed that is being put to bed for the winter, we want to prepare it as much as possible for spring planting.

1. Cut all of the plants that are still in the bed at soil level and put in a pile outside of the bed.
2. Broadcast a cover crop mix based on that beds needs and next years plans.
   • Example: In a tomato bed, we would plant a legume heavy mix.
   • We would also make sure that whatever mix we planted would have a winter kill if we plan to use the bed next year.
3. Water well and, if possible, allow several days for germination.
4. Once sprouted, or not if seed will go dormant, take all the cut plants and place in beds.
5. Cover with more leaves or other organic materials as needed throughout winter.
6. At planting time, cut all plants to soil level, and plant transplants.
   • If planting seed in that bed, you may need to cover with tarps to kill the cover crop first.

Bed is in use over fall/ winter

This would be a bed full of brassicas, root vegetables or other cold hardy plants. Obviously, we aren’t going to cut plants to soil level, though we could.

1. No need for a cover crop in these beds!
2. Mulch WELL around the plants without damaging them. We don’t want to smother them.
   • I use leaf litter the most in active beds because it helps insulate and breaks down slower.
3. Once plants die, I cut whatever is left of the plant at soil level and use it as mulch.
4. Usually, since our winters are so mild, I don’t need to worry about cover crops because my fall crops act as cover crops.
5. At planting time, I will clear out the beds of anything that hasn’t broken down fully, put it in the compost bin, and then plant.
   • Depending on the soil level of the bed, I will just add more soil or compost on top of the mulch. It really depends on what that bed looks like come planting time.
6. Once new plants are established, mulch.

How do you build soil in your gardens?

I would love to hear about what you are doing to build soil in your gardens!

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