Amending Soil

Okay, so, we know what we are generally aiming for. Airy, moist, rich soil. How do we get there?

Once again, this depends on your local geography, but basically, you just want to slam some amendments in there. You can't go too wrong with this. I've heard you can even grow plants in straight compost, if you really wanted to, though that could be expensive.

My favorite store-bought amendment has always been the G&B Harvest Supreme. It's not very expensive, and works well to break up the red clay soil in my area. Along with that, I would put in a bit of manure (careful not to add too much), and extra compost. I would turn the soil until it's loose 1-2 feet down. I use a pickaxe, mostly the wide part that's not pointy. That's my standard procedure for preparing virgin soil.

This year, I planted corn and sunflowers in a row that I prepared only with sheep poop, and it turned out very well. Old-fashioned, I guess. There are so many ways to prepare soil depending on what you have, even without $.