If you are giving more than lip service to being prepared (assuming you have a decent yard), then you almost certainly have planted a nice garden to supplement your family’s supply of vegetables and fruits. A garden has so many things going for it, not only can it reduce your food bills, you can preserve your harvest for food storage, it gets the kids out from in front of the TV and in the sunlight, and I have yet to meet the person who thinks that store bought veggies and fruits have anywhere near the flavor of garden fresh.
But if you look at the soil surrounding newly constructed homes, you wonder how it ever grows anything but tumbleweeds. Part of the process of home construction involves scraping off all that nice rich topsoil down to hard dirt that can support concrete foundations. If…IF the soil is replaced, it’s mixed in with nearly sterile hardpan excavated for the foundation, along with a generous helping of construction debris. Any improvements to the soil that are made are likely to be so that a nice front lawn can be grown to increase the curb appeal.
So unless you are buying a home from a long time gardener, or can bribe the contractor to slather a foot of his best black dirt scraped from your neighbors lot into the corner where your garden is going to go, you need to get that dirt into fighting shape before it will yield all those overflowing baskets of produce you want. And in any case, keeping your soil in top shape is an ongoing effort, not a one-and-done proposition. The way to keep your soil, and thus your garden, in tip-top shape, is adding compost on a regular basis.
If you are short on time or just don’t want the hassle of a compost pile, you can buy bags of it at any home improvement store or nursery, though you might be surprised how much compost it takes to cover a decent sized garden plot. Just plop down the bags, cut them open, spread the material around as evenly as possible, and till or work it into the existing soil. Repeat annually. Yeah, after a while, the expense starts to pile up. That’s why I recommend, if at all possible, your own compost. It’s just as good for the dirt, and after a small-or nonexistent-outlay for setup, it used materials that you would have thrown out otherwise. And all you need is a 3 foot square area, or you can purchase composting barrels that take even less space and save you the effort of mixing your pile with a pitchfork every week or so.
Rather than go over the nuts and bolts in this article, here are a couple of good guides. Take your pick:
http://www.plowhearth.com/neighborhood/HT_composting_for_beginners.asp
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/composting-101
Don’t be too worried if your Green/Brown ratios aren’t exact, as long as you are in the ballpark and turn the pile on a regular basis, you should see good results in a couple of months using the “Hot Composting” method. Cold composting is easier, but takes longer.
One other method that can over time, dramatically improve your soil is what is called “Green Manure”. Best used if you have enough land to leave 20-25% of your garden unplanted, or fallow, each season, it involves planting a cover crop, often a legume like buckwheat, which you then till into the soil rather than harvest. It’s easy to do, and turns your big garden into a small organic farm. More details here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/green-manure-cover-crop-zmaz00amzgoe.aspx
But whether you just dump your banana peels and potato skins into a barrel, hit up the neighbors for their autumn leaves, or go all out with cover crops, a little time and effort will not only make you the ultimate recycler, but ensure that you have a garden that will make your neighbors jealous and your family fed with tasty, nutritious, and inexpensive vegetables and fruits.