The Scoop On Dirt

As I mentioned in my original post, we live in the Georgia Piedmont, which makes gardening a challenge. Our soil is rocky clay filled with quartz, feldspar, sand, and is highly erosive. Trying to plant in this soil is tough. While clay is loaded with nutrients, it's locked up within the clay and not readily available to hungry plants.

To increase the level of difficulty, we live on a steep slope, which means water runs right down the hill. However, planting on a hill allows my plants to have greater sun exposure since they fight less with their neighbors for every drop of sunshine, which in turn allows me to plant more compactly in my beds.

To address the soil quality, I have several techniques that have produced incredible results, some I will address here and a couple of others that need their own dedicated pages.

First, I must say I have been blessed with 4 horses that produce copious amounts of a wonderful manure. Horses are the only producers of garden manure that do not harbor animal to human pathogens, unlike chickens, pigs, or cattle. To prevent a lot of grass weed, which is usually what comes up in horse manure, just be sure to keep your compost pile really hot by keeping it moist and covering it with black plastic, and give it at least 6 months to decompose. You'll have literal "black gold" if you do it right.

To start preping new beds I dig down into the clay at least 6 inches to level out each bed and to create a well to hold rain water at the plants' root base. Clay drains slowly, so digging a shallow pit for each of my beds allows rain water to collect and be absorbed up into the garden soil rather than running down the hill.

To keep the soil from being washed downhill during heavy rains, I abut the downhill side of each bed with bales of straw. This is a neat way to expand your growing area since you can grow a lot of veggies directly in these bales. This is also great for beds where you want to grow vining plants like squash or melons. The vines LOVE hay bales and it keeps the fruit up off the ground and easier to harvest. At the end of the season, the bales can be turned into the beds for the following season or used as a mulch cover, or burned.

(See "Terra Preta" for some great info on burning and charring.)

Once my beds have a water basin in place, I then build up each bed with a tall base layer of horse manure, sand, straw and shavings. I raise the new beds up to about 2 1/2 - 3 feet above the soil line. This may seem high, but as the manure and straw decomposes it will collapse. For the end result I want a bed that is at least 6 inches above the soil line. Additionally, you need enough material in a new bed, which is essentially a long compost pile, to generate heat and retain moisture so that it composts properly.

Once the piles have been built, I burn pine cones, small branches, agricultural refuse, and garden clippings right on top of the piles. This adds bio-available carbon to this soon to be garden soil. Then I incorporate leaves from the woods and lots of kitchen extras via my compost feeding stations.  

(See "Tea Anyone?" for a cool and simple compost/manure tea system you can make for free.)

When all the basic ingredients are incorporated, I cover the bed with black plastic or cloth (you can get a biodegradable corn derived garden cloth from most garden centers) and let it go to work for about 6 months. When you're ready to use the bed, leave the cover in place and just plant through the cloth. This will help with weed suppression as well as keep the soil warm and moist and encourage the worms to bring their castings all the way to the surface. You will know when you've got a good dirt recipe when the dirt is black and crumbly and soft to the touch.