Last Minute Tips to Improve Garden Soil

If your vegetable garden didn't meet your expectations this year, you still have time to do something about it before the really cold weather sets in. We'll cover the fastest way to improve your soil and hopefully increase your yields next season.

Before we get into improving soil let's say a few things up front. Even if you have the best soil on the planet there are criteria that must be met. These things have to do with the garden site itself. Successful gardeners know that plants need sun, at least eight hours a day. The best soil in the world won't make up for lack of sunlight. This means that any trees or shrubs that are blocking sunlight must be removed, or the garden itself must be moved. Keep in mind that not only are the trees and shrubs competing with your garden for sunlight, they are also stealing valuable nutrients and our next subject, water. Again, the best soil in the world won't make up for lack of water. The difficult part about a lack of water is that obtaining more is a bigger challenge. It will also involve some creative thinking on your part. A few suggestions would be; rainwater collection, greywater collection and finally a new well point.

The one item that is pure gold for amending garden soil is compost. Now, compost is no secret, but the method suggested here might be foreign to you. Compost is available for purchase, but commercial compost also includes the very real danger of being laced with poisonous herbicide. And as such it would not be prudent for us to apply something to our garden that has the potential to kill the whole thing. Compost at it's core is nothing more than decomposed organic matter. I know what you're thinking, "I don't have a compost pile". Well how about this time with Winter soon closing in we skip a step? How about we gently till that fresh organic matter directly into the garden before Winter? Crazy you say? There is likely an old timer in your area that has been doing it this way for years. Odds are, it's the same old timer whose garden you envy every time you see it. It would be a good idea to limit the amount of woody material so we don't tie up the nitrogen come spring, but otherwise it's free game. Leaves? Check. Grass clippings? Check, as long as they are chemical free. Straw? Check. The partial list is as follows;

Coffee grounds

Grass clippings

Hedge trimmings

Livestock manure

Shredded newspaper

Pine needles

Straw

Leaves

Vegetable scraps

You will likely see a few volunteers next spring, but the rewards should outweigh that by a long shot. Next year you may decide to skip the compost pile altogether and till the scraps right into the garden instead, after all, that is what most old timers have been doing for years.

If there is one negative that stands out in not using a compost bin, it's that you're missing out on garden liquid gold, compost tea. But with Winter fast approaching, we'll have to worry about that next year, if at all.