Soils

It's official, spring is on its way. As you flip through seed catalogues or take stock of your own seed collection and plan this year's garden don't forget the first step in gardening - assuring healthy soil.



Here is a site with a good list of different soil tests you can do to see if your garden is ready Dave's Garden

Ways to improve soil included adding leaf litter (hopefully you did this last fall, and your leaves are all molding and breaking down nicely) - shredding leaves with a lawn mover is also great. Sea weed collected and rinsed to remove salt can add valuable nutrients back into your soil. Again, shredding would be useful. You can add well-rotted compost and/or organic fertilizer before you plant your seedlings out in March (too early and the nutrients will leach out with rain). The jury is still out on Dolomite Lime, with local master gardeners suggesting only adding the amendment if a soil test shows low pH.

Happy preparations!

- marnie