Green Manures, Garden Compost

How to turn heavy, hard clay and lifeless sandy soils into a garden like mine with green manure crops

My garden soil didn’t start out the way it looks in pictures. It was poor and gravelly and didn’t have much organic matter in it. Rain and fertilizer just washed down through it and seedbeds dried out very quickly. The soil needed lots and lots of organic matter. And I provided it by growing green manure crops and turning them under.

I’ve always believed that you can garden in any soil and I believe you can improve any soil, too. You can’t do it overnight, of course, because nature doesn’t work that way. Mixing one huge pile of organic matter into your soil might help a bit in the short run, but it won’t last.

Organic matter is the key to creating a rich soil, but you must realize that it is always temporary. From the moment you mix organic matter in the soil, you start to lose it. Earthworms and countless other soil creatures start breaking it down into usable plant food and soil-improving humus. In warm weather they’ll work through organic matter in no time, and if you don’t have another helping ready for them, they’ll die or leave your garden in search of food elsewhere. Once you’ve got a big crew of earthworms and bustling soil life working in your soil, don’t lay them off. Feed your soil and soil life with a series of green manure crops.

Organic matter feeds the soil. Part of my garden is always growing a patch of nutrient-rich green manure.

I have a small test plot of clover. This is an excellent green manure crop, but because it’s slow to establish itself and needs a full season or two for best results, I don’t recommend it for most home gardens.

Like clover, alfalfa takes a season or two to get established. A small, permanent area is good for growing some of your own mulch.

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