Cheap and Easy Ways to Build Healthy Soil (with video)
Get Shady
When you're prepping a new garden spot, you probably aren't starting with freshly tractored ground. More likely, you're looking at a lawn or patch of grass and weeds. Removing this existing groundcover is the first step in transforming unproductive space into a garden. The first step of any project is usually the hardest, and here's no exception. Digging out a turf of grass sod is a tough task.
Some people enjoy the catharsis of hard work, but there is an easier way that's also better for the soil: USE SHADE.
Using a rototiller breaks up soil structure and creates compaction. Using a spade or shovel breaks your back and adds to the myth that gardening is hard. But by using shade, you can get rid of grass and weeds simply by depriving them of sunlight.
Here’s how to remove the grass and weeds without digging, tilling, or herbicide--no chemicals, no heavy machinery, no aching back.
STEP 1. Cut the grass and weeds very short. Don't rake them up, just leave the cut greenery on the ground to entice worms and other soil critters to tunnel up to the surface and open up the tight soil. If you have any veggie scraps from the kitchen, you can toss them here too.
STEP 2. Right on top of the cut grass, place the shade.
Sheets of cardboard, flattened boxes, or thick sections of newspaper are ideal. You can also use old carpets or sheets as long as they are a natural fabric like wool or cotton. Overlap all the materials so not a blade of grass is exposed to the light. Weigh it down with rocks or patio furniture or whatever is available to you.
Here I use an old tent tarp to shade out a patch of stubbon grass. Now this space is pineapple patch!
Now you have two options for how to proceed:
Method 1:
Make black gold (rich fertile soil) by amending your existing soil with organic materials. Wait several weeks for the groundcover to die. Then, create an in-ground garden by enriching the existing soil with charcoal, compost and aged manure.
OR
Method 2:
Make a sheet mulch. Start right away and build an above-ground bed with bulk organic materials.
Each method has advantages and drawbacks based on your access to materials and your inclination. Some folks like to dig down and get in the dirt, others prefer to build a pile. Just like some kids at the beach dig holes, some make castles. Remembering which kid you were might help you decide what type of garden suits your temperament.
Let's look at the digging down method first.
Method 1: How to Make Black Gold
STEP 1: Remove the shade material.
Peek under the cardboard or tarp you put down to shade out the grass and weeds. If there is still a lot of green color, leave it for another week or two. Once the groundcover you are trying to kill is mostly dead and brown, you can remove the materials.* The ground will be noticeably softer and more workable.
Tip: Make a border around your new bed with the shade materials about one foot wide, like a frame. This will prevent the surrounding groundcover from creeping in until you get a weed-blocking border of plants established.
STEP 2: Open up the Ground
With a spade or mattock, open up the surface (just the top 4-5 inches) of your chosen spot. Remove any remaining grass sod stubborn weeds that didn't get shaded out completely (pull out the roots too!). Patches of clover, violets, and wildflowers don't need to be removed, just cleave into the soil with your tool to unearth them a bit. They'll rebound, not to worry. Don't pulverize the dirt into powder. Leave the soil full of clods (aggregates) to hold nutrients and house earthworms.
STEP 3: Add Compost & Manure
If you don't have a compost pile of your own yet, contact your local government via their webpage. Many towns and cities have a leaf composting facility where you can pick it up in bulk. If you don't have that resource available, check with local nurseries, arborists, and landscapers. As a last resort, there's the big box store (like Lowe's or Home Depot), but you'll pay more.
For unbeatable long term benefits and cost-saving, you can make you own compost Believe me, it's easier than you think.
For a quick natural soil boost, you can't top manure. If your town or city has mounted police, it's very likely you can get stable bedding for free. Aged manure mixed with straw won't have a bad smell, just an earthy horsey scent. Also, a little goes a long way. Two large sacks of stable bedding is enough to fertilize a good 100 sq feet.
Gently fold the compost and manure into the opened soil surface, not too deeply. The roots of most cultivated plants (excepting some mature perennials) are rather shallow and best access nutrients in the top 4-5 inches of soil.
STEP 4: Add chunks of biochar
“Biochar"—chunks of charred wood or all natural charcoal— boosts long-term soil fertility because it binds with soluble nutrients that otherwise wash out of soil before organisms can get them.
If you have nosy neighbors or an HOA, make your own home-scale biochar, you will need a wood burning grill, or a fire pit to make biochar. You need to make a low, smoldering fire to get the blackened chunks of wood you need. If you are going to burn materials in place (like I do in this video), PLEASE make sure that your fire cannot get out of control.
Once the fire has smoldered out, add the blackened chunks of wood into the compost and manure enriched bed. You can also add the ashes as a soil booster.
Lastly, push the tines of a pitchfork into your bed and rock it back and forth a bit. This will aerate the subsoil and create drainage. Then rake the surface of your bed.
If your soil is particularly clay-ey and difficult to garden with, try building up instyead of digging down.
Method 2: Make a Sheet Mulch
Also known as a "no dig" or "no till" garden bed, sheet mulch is like a big multi-layered lasagna of organic materials, topped with a spread of compost-enriched soil. You simply pile up the layers and let nature do the rest. Over time, the bulkier matter in the layers of the pile break down by composting in place into a rich, fertile growing medium.
Benefits of sheet mulch
Cultivates long-term soil fertility
Smothers and suppresses weeds
Shelters beneficial insects over the winter
Provides an ideal medium for microbes to flourish
No digging or soil turning required
Easier on the body. Organic materials, while bulky, are light and easy to pile up and mix
The ideal time to start a sheet mulch bed is in the fall so the microbes in the pile can work on the bulky matter over the winter. Also, dry leaves--one of the best materials to add in bulk to the pile--are readily available as bags of raked leaves sprout from sidewalk curbs (No, you're not "stealing" if you claim the "yard waste" for your mulch pile).
However, it's still very possible and beneficial to start a sheet mulch at any time. But you will need to source the materials from a bit farther away than your own curbside. They are still readily available--and often free. Also, since it takes time for bulky materials to break down, you will also need a top dressing of compost enriched soil to plant seeds and starters.
Intrigued? Ready to give it a go? Here's how.
STEP 1: Source the organic materials.
Search your local resources and find out where you can get bulk materials inexpensively or for free. Many services, like landscape companies, will deliver various cuttings and clippings right to your door.
For leaves & shredded bark, check the website of your local government. Many cities and towns have free piles where you can pick up as much as you can take with you. If you don't have a vehicle, consider borrowing or renting one to make the trip. Or, offer to pay or trade with a willing neighbor.
Note: For sheet mulch, make sure you get shredded bark and not the large wood chips. Larger chips are good for walking paths, but take a very long time to compost down in a pile.
For Stable bedding (straw & manure), a horse stable is the obvious, but also check with the local police.
If your city has a department mounted police, those horses have to sleep somewhere! Check for pick-up hours, you can usually take as much as you're willing to shovel. This combination of brown and green material is ideal for sheet mulching and well worth the effort. If you have kids, they can help!
For tree cuttings, grass clippings & other "yard waste", call any local arborist or landscape company. They will deliver sacks of future black gold to your door for a modest fee.
STEP 2. Get your materials in roughly the right proportions.
See the diagram below for an approximation of what you will need. The pile will work best with approximately 70-80% dry "brown" materials like leaves or straw and 20-30% fresh "green" materials like manure or grass clippings. Don't worry about being very precise. Nature is flexible and you can always make adjustments when needed.
Be sure to err on the side of excess when ordering or picking up material. It takes quite a bit to make a 1 foot pile!
STEP 3: Return to the spot where you are shading out the grass.
Leave the materials (cardboard, newspaper etc) right where they are! They will continue to decompose in place. You can pile your materials right on top.
Using the diagram below as a guide, build up your sheet mulch. Wet down each layer so it stays in place and kicks off the composting process. A well-stacked sheet mulch will hold its shape. Be creative with the shape. Why be square? Ovals, circles, and serpentine patterns all work and make for a nature-inspired garden.
More Soil Builders
Now, whether you choose to make black gold or pile up a sheet mulch, there's a few more simple things you can do to keep your garden productive and healthy for the long haul without store-bought fertilizers, chemical or organic. It's easier, far cheaper, and infinitely more sustainable to make your own by feeding life in the soil
Keep Adding Fresh Organic Matter aka Compost and Mulch
Add more compost to your garden at the beginning and end of each growing season for continuous fertility. Again, gently fold it into the top 4-5 inches of soil.
On top, add mulch (shredded bark, straw, or leaf fall). Thick mulch is good for suppressing weeds. A generous layer of organic mulch also provides food and cover for crucial soil critters. Worms tunnel up to the surface to chomp on moist bark chips, straw, or leaves, creating aerated spaces in the soil and leaving their nutrient dense casings for your plants. Fungi and bacteria dine on the remains, boosting fertility even more.
Mulch also protects your soil from wind erosion and prevents nutrients from being washed out by hard rain. Remember, bare soil is bad soil.
Note: If you are relying mainly on shredded bark for mulch, mix it 80/20 with grass clippings or other "green" material to balance the carbon with nitrogen.
Chop and Drop
Soil organisms are opportunistic scavengers and will eat anything in the garden you don't. Not all the nutrients plants take from soil goes into the parts we eat. The stems, foliage, and root hairs are all excellent food for soil life.
When you harvest vegetables, don't "clean" the "debris"--the carrot tops, squash leaves, or cucumber vines. Sure, you can put it in the compost bin, but it's easier to complete the cycle by chopping it up and leaving it on the soil. Insects and microbes will make short work of chomping it down into digestible nutrients and your remaining plants get a noticeable boost.
Cultivate Diversity
Finally, even the soil scientist types are starting to agree on one important thing: the plants growing in soil matter just as much to soil health as what you add to it. Grow plants of different sizes, root depths, nutrient needs, and types of foliage, fruit, and seeds.
A diversity of plants will work in myriad ways underground to build soil fertility by feeding microbes, interacting via sugars and enzymes, and networking with fungi. Plant for an exuberance of life and yield an abundance of benefits for you and the soil.
At Sueño de Vida we work in a meaningful way to heal land ravaged by deforestation. How meaningful? According to a recent UN Foresight Brief on climate change,
--It is of the utmost importance to stop deforestation and to increase reforestation efforts around the world. Agricultural practices should focus on soil building and the use of agroforestry methods.
That is exactly what we do here at SdV. You can help by helping is do what we do every day: plant healthy forests that nurture soil, people, and local community.
Click HERE to donate directly to our reforestation fund OR make a monthly pledge on our Patreon.
_______________________
Kristen Krash is the co-founder and director of Sueño de Vida, a regenerative cacao farm and reforestation mission in Ecuador. Sueño de Vida works to educate and inspire everyday people about permaculture, sustainable living, environmental activism, and healthy living all in the name of living more in harmony with nature.