| Growing a garden for your own fresh or even | | | | Green Manures are one thing that most gardeners |
| organic fruits and vegetables can save you money | | | | have never heard of, even fewer take advantage of |
| and be fun. But there is one secret that many people | | | | them. Green Manure is planted when a plot in your |
| overlook when starting an organic garden, it's building | | | | organic garden is going to be left bare for a time, |
| the garden soil. There's several ways to effectively | | | | such as over winter. There's approximately a dozen |
| build the soil in an organic garden, from compost to | | | | different plants commonly used as green manure, |
| green manure to soil testing, things can get a little | | | | comprising a wide range of growth habits and life |
| confusing for the novice gardener. This article is going | | | | spans, providing you with a perfect choice for your |
| to provide an explanation of the different ways to | | | | particular need. |
| build your soil and when to use each one. | | | | Soil testing is another secret to a great organic |
| Almost any experienced gardener, especially one with | | | | garden. A quality soil test can provide a considerable |
| an organic garden will praise compost as one of the | | | | amount of valuable information, such as pH, buffer, |
| most valuable materials in their garden, some even | | | | percentage of organic matter, nutrient availability, and |
| going so far as to call it black gold. Sometimes with | | | | recommendations for soil amendments. The best |
| the way people talk about compost it can seem like | | | | place to contact about a soil test is your local |
| you need certain formulas to successfully make your | | | | Cooperative Extension office which can tell you how |
| own. In reality compost is simply decomposed plant | | | | to take a sample and where to send it. After sending |
| material, things like grass clippings, fallen leaves, wood | | | | your soil sample to a lab along with a nominal fee, |
| chips, twigs, potato peels and even newspaper can | | | | wait one to several weeks for your analysis to be |
| be composted. | | | | mailed to you. The soil test analysis will provide |
| One of the most important things needed for | | | | specific information to improve the soil quality in your |
| compost is time, it can take months for all that dead | | | | organic garden. |
| plant material to turn to black gold. Give it the time it | | | | As you might already know, these are only some of |
| needs and you will be well rewarded, compost can be | | | | the ways to build the soil in your organic vegetable |
| turned into a planting bed where it will provide | | | | garden. The three points that this article covered are |
| nutrients and help retain water in sandy soils or help | | | | some of the most important, begin using them and |
| increase the drainage in clay soils. Compost is the | | | | you could have a garden that is the envy of your |
| most effective way to improve your garden soil. | | | | friends and neighbors. |