Category: Soil & Fertilizer

In the articles below, discover everything you need to know about soil and fertilizer for a fruit, herb, and vegetable garden.

There are entire books and college classes on the science of soil and fertilizer. At the risk of glossing over the immense amount of work that so many have done to bring us this knowledge, let’s just say that the best all-purpose plant fertilizer has some combination of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, along with smaller amounts of nutrients like zinc, manganese, magnesium, and many others.

If you want to make the most of your efforts, a soil sample test will tell you what you need to balance your soil.

Another good reason for a soil test? Researchers at Brown University in Rhode Island found that “lead-based paint spread more than 400 feet from nearby water towers, and often penetrated more than 12 inches below the soil surface.”

The quality of your soil is important, but the safety of your soil might be even more-so.

Is it contaminated with old lead paint that chipped off your house? Used oil from someone changing their motor oil in the backyard? Perhaps arsenic from the treated wood on your old deck? Maybe the manure runoff from the farm uphill? Chemical waste from the old factory upriver? Leaky septic system? Pesticides? Or maybe your home is newly built on land that was once an industrial site?

In the articles below, we dive into everything you need to know about soil and fertilizer, such as soil safety, improving soil quality, drainage, using fertilizer, making fertilizer, and growing your best, most nutritious garden. And you can learn even more in our How to Grow a Vegetable Garden: 10 Things Every Gardener Needs to Know Before Starting a Food Garden freebie. Enjoy!

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Soil & Fertilizer

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Adding Manure to Garden Beds

adding manure to garden

I might be dating myself here, but anytime I think about adding manure to garden beds, I have a vision of the scene from Back to the Future. You know the one – Marty (played by Michael J. Fox) is on a skateboard and getting chased by the bully Biff and his cronies. Biff is in his convertible car (top down) when Marty makes a quick turn. Biff tries to follow, but the car slams into a dump truck full of… you guessed it: manure. The manure falls out and fills the car. Talk about a smelly situation!

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Soil & Fertilizer

The Best Type of Manure for Vegetable Gardens

My summer cookouts are not for the faint of heart. It’s not that there’s anything scary or bad. But conversations tend to skip the polite weather talk and get straight into things like garden pests, favorite heirloom tomatoes, and the best type of manure for vegetable gardens.

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Build a Raised Bed Over Clay Soil

Ah … the infamous clay soil. The nemesis of gardeners everywhere. When it comes to the loose, well-drained soil that gardens love, clay soil is the opposite. Tender roots have a hard time cutting through it, and water pools in clay soil, leaving you with waterlogged plants. Alas, many of us gardeners have to figure […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

5+ Soil Additives to Improve Drainage in Soggy Gardens

After a rainstorm (or even a heavy watering), does your vegetable garden resemble day three of Woodstock? Soil drainage may be an issue! The good news is that there are soil additives to improve drainage in soggy gardens.

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Use Animal Manure as Fertilizer for Food Gardens

Using manure as fertilizer is not new. Commercial farms have done it for ages. But given that most of us home gardeners don’t have the same space or tools as commercial farms, it can feel a little daunting to determine how to use animal manure as fertilizer.  Should you use it fresh? Does it matter […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

7 Solutions for Improving Garden Drainage in Vegetable Gardens

There’s nothing like walking to your garden and getting your shoe stuck in the mud. That goopy sound it makes (is goopy a sound?) tells you that there’s way too much water in the soil. Your plants don’t like it anymore than you do, either. If this sounds like a regular occurrence, it might be time to think about improving garden drainage. 

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Fill a Raised Garden Bed with Soil Before Planting

There are plenty of interesting ways to create a raised garden bed. In fact, there aren’t really many rules at all. It’s whatever works for you. But then there’s the question of how to fill a raised garden bed.  Even though the design is entirely your call, plants need certain soil mixtures to grow their […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

Should I Add Worms to My Garden?

You know worms can be valuable additions to the soil. You know earthworm poop (excuse me, castings) make excellent nutritional additives to any garden. So it seems pretty clear. Should I add worms to my garden? Yes, of course. Except.  If the answer were that straightforward, this would be a mighty short blog post. But […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Make Easy Kitchen Scrap Fertilizer

If you’ve looked through the Food Gardening Network website, you know we love composting. We’ve written articles about keeping animals out of your compost bins, how to compost indoors, what to do if your compost smells bad, and composting in winter. But composting takes time, which is why it’s good to have some easy kitchen […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

What Do Weeds Tell You About Your Soil?

Dandelion

We gardeners spend a lot of time and energy getting rid of weeds. So it may be a little surprising when I say that weeds aren’t always bad. In fact, they can offer you clues that may help your garden succeed. I know what you’re thinking. What do weeds tell you about your soil? I […]