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Questions answered

Learn 6 key ways to improve vegetable garden soil preparation



Vegetable garden soil preparation can take a lot of effort and time and yet you can get poor results if you do it wrong and generate much frustration for all your hard work.

Learn the pitfalls plus the best and easiest ways to prepare soil for sowing and improve your vegetable production.

The pitfalls of soil preparation

  • compaction: stops root growth
  • working wet soil: damages/compacts soil
  • for ever digging: breaks down organic matter
  • walking on the soil: compacts and forces more digging
  • no life in the soil: a sad dead soil
  • poor drainage: wet, poor rooting, rotting
  • loss of soil quality/ structure: collapse, compaction
  • wrong particle size: too fine may cap, too coarse = no germination
  • loose soil: dries out, poor rooting, plants fall over

How do you know you've got it wrong?

Compaction
  • seeds and seedlings don't take
  • poor crops
  • small harvest
  • soil is wet and solid
  • forked/ horizontal roots like these:
  • no worms
  • flat plate-like soil structures


6 vital components of excellent soil preparation

  • remove compaction and avoid walking on the soil
  • dig/ cultivate only when it is dry/ moist (never if wet)
  • regularly add organic material especially compost to build the number of garden worms that help your vegetable garden soil preparation
  • dig/ cultivate only what/ when you need to
  • keep the good fine soil on the top and the sub-soil at the bottom
  • always firm the soil with the back of a rake or fork
soil organic matter is important Success is shown by retaining more organic matter thus a darker more crumbly, water retentive, workable and productive soil as shown in the background of the picture.

Compare this to the overworked, cloddy, lower organic content soil in the fore-ground.

This only covers the headlines of this vital topic - much more information is available in the new eBook; "The Secrets of good soil preparation";
  • good soil is the basis of successful cropping
  • become the envy of your neighbours
  • grow great crops from good soil with minimum effort
  • find out the detail in this compact eBook





For more information

To learn more about vegetable garden soil

To return to the home of easy vegetable gardening from vegetable garden soil preparation

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