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Green Manure
“Green manure” is the name given to cover crops that are planted for the purpose of adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil. These plants can be as effective as animal manure in producing humus, thereby increasing soil fertility and structure. Cover crops are inexpensive to plant, and serve multiple purposes. Best of all, they can be put to work during times of the year when growing food crops is not feasible.
A central concept of organic gardening is the notion of feeding the soil. We literally add organic matter to the soil to provide food for the organisms that live in the soil. They break down organic matter and minerals (and other elements) into forms that our crops are able to take up as nutrients. We want them to be able to do their work efficiently an
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What is manure?
Broadly speaking, manure is organic matter. Animal manure is the feces of animals—primarily of livestock like horses, cows, and chickens. It may be “pure,” but it often includes bedding or litter materials like straw or sawdust, in which case it will also contain animal urine. Depending on the source, manure is very high in organic matter as well as nutrients essential to plant growth. As animals digest the plants and other food they eat, they are broken down by anaerobic bacterial action in their stomachs. Manure is, in some ways, like compost that has been broken down at high speed by the animals that have produced it.
Why use it?
Farmers and gardeners have been using manure for centuries to add organic matter to their soil. Over time, as organic matter breaks down in soil, it becomes depleted. The mineral soil that is left over becomes less able to support
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The changing seasons, and the longer daylight hours in summer are a result of the angle of the Earth’s axis in relation to the sun. It’s easy to forget how these changes can affect the growth of plants, and in particular, vegetables. Soil temperature plays a very important role in the success or failure of the vegetable garden. Beet seeds, for instance, do not require particularly warm soil to germinate, and they will produce nice leafy tops if sown in early spring, but if the soil is too cold at planting time, they may not produce well-developed roots. By contrast, spinach planted when the soil is too warm may “bolt,” or pass to its flowering stage without producing any leaves.
Leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, mustards, arugula, sorrel, pac choi, and cress prefer growing in cooler soils, so we focus on them in spring and again in the fall and, with some protection, in winter. For this group of plants, warm soil represents a stress that sign
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Anything that we add to soil to improve its texture, structure, fertility, porosity, or other qualities, is considered a soil amendment. The use of soil amendments is an ancient art, and the basic premise is that by employing them, pretty much any piece of land can be made fertile. The type of amendment to choose depends entirely on how the soil needs to be changed.
One of the first things to consider is the pH of the soil. If your soil is too acidic or too alkaline, plants will not be able to take up the nutrients that are present. Adding fertilizer or other amendments to soil with an extreme pH will not help – you have to address the pH issue first, and it’s a relatively simple process.
Lime
Agricultural lime is a pulverized rock powder made from chalk or limestone that is high i
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In the cool, damp, and dark season from late fall to early spring, not a lot is growing outside. Even the plants you may have under cloche protection or in the greenhouse will be growing slowly, struggling to turn the low light levels into useful energy for vegetative growth. This is the right time of year to think about how you can improve your garden soil before new seeds are sown or transplants go out in the spring.
There are four central issues that offer a better understanding of garden soil and how it can be improved: Soil structure, soil components, soil life, and soil pH. Gardeners (and farmers) will benefit from contemplating these four factors on their own and in harmony with one another.
Soil Structure
This refers to the ratio of particles that make up the soil itself, and they may be s
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