Winter is a telling time in your soil health journey – from now through early spring you get to see your drainage in action. Those of you at the basemap phase of gathering info and learning your land – perk your ears on up! How wet are your soils?
Drainage is absolutely key for plant health. Our edible gardens must have oxygenated soil to be at peak performance. Water displaces air, you see, so if your soil is soggy, it is also airless. It’ll feel heavy, sticky, be pale or grey-ish in colour and most likely be sour smelling. Soil life thumbs it’s nose at conditions such as these, and herein lies the deep reason for the drainage – without soil life, there cannot be above ground abundance.
There are, of course, degrees of wetness. From vegie patches that are underwater for long periods – a loud cry for drainage to be resolved, to soil that’s simply a heavy clay – awaiting transformation to a delicious vegie-growing loam.
Start by doing this simple drainage test. It’s great to do this when soils are at their wettest so you can understand your worst case scenario and shape your land to cope with it.
If your drainage gets the gold star, but your soil is heavy and wet at this time of year – take heart!, its simpler than you think to transform it. You will, one winter not too far away, be able to plant and sow.
Meantime, sticky clay should be left well alone – like a grouchy teenager, playing with it in this state only makes it worse. Cover it with lots of mulch for now and grow your crops elsewhere in containers.
Once the soil’s dried out (no puddles, no sound effects)
When using bought compost, my go to first crop is always a greencrop, to settle the compost in. Nothing calls out to microbes like a bunch of roots – sugar exchange a go! Then before planting out the first vegies, you could if you have it on hand, saturate the soil in a biological brew or good old seaweed or fish.
The reason your clay holds water so, is that it is made up of very small particles. There’s no room for air down there – perfect for hanging onto water! By regularly adding organic matter, you’ll alter this tiny particle situation, joining them together bringing space and in this space along comes biology, and humus – the glue of life.
You’ll notice there is no digging in my list, nor the addition of sand. Go on top, and leave the rest of it to the soil life.
Little and often, keep at it – and as your soil improves, you’ll need to add less and less. Stay in touch with your soil regularly to keep up with the changes. This habit is at the heart of being an awesome gardener.
Soon you’ll see a change in colour and an increase in earthworms, you’ll feel a loosening of the texture, smell a sweeter smell and for the brave, the soil will loose it’s tangy taste. And above ground, all your garden dreams will be coming true cos as above, so below.
Take heart and go the course.