The Goal: Dark, Rich Soil

The soil of East Texas is mostly sandy, which is both good and bad. It's great for growing root crops like sweet potatoes and carrots, because the soil easily makes way for the growing root.  Sandy soil is easy to work in- a garden fork will most often do the trick.  Sandy soil is a pain however, because it drains quickly- which sounds good, but that means any moisture or nutrients you add the soil wash away as well.   With Texas forecasted to be in a severe drought for several more years(!), it is vitally important that I build up my garden soil so that it can hold moisture and nutrients longer.

A trailer load of manure for the garden- YAY!

 In the past,  I've been a bit sporadic about amending the soil.  No more. My garden goal for 2012 is to amend the soil at least every two to three months.  The caveat is that I need to do it for as little cash as possible.  This year's garden budget is pretty much $0.  As a result, I've been trying to flex my creative muscle with inexpensive options.  So far so good.   A friend with horses is letting us clear an old paddock that full of 2 year old composted manure.  He also has old, trampled hay that we can regularly collect for garden mulch/compost.   Each week I rake up multiple wheelbarrow loads of oak leaves from around our property to put in the chicken coop and pen as bedding.   The chickens shred the leaves with their scratching and compost it for me.  In warmer months, I'll use grass clippings as bedding with the same end result.  I'm not even gonna let the wood ash from our fireplace go to waste!   The wood ash gets layered into the compost bin with food and garden scraps, and also dug (moderately) into the garden where I am NOT going to plant potatoes or acid-loving plants.  I will also take any nitrogen fixing plants  like English peas or Field peas that I grow and chop them up finely when they are finished growing and add them back into the soil. With a bit of research, I can hopefully come up with a few more ideas to rotate through so that the soil is always getting something new and helpful.   The  goal: dark, rich soil!