Feed your soil, not your plants!
Lately, I’ve been recommending to clients to test their soil. It’s been years since I tested my own soils, so I recently conducted a soil test of various growing spaces on my property. This recent test has given me insights into what different areas of my garden need, so I can address each area with targeted amendments.
The results were not very surprising given the nature of our sandy soils here in Alameda, California. Nitrogen is highly mobile and easily leeched from sandy soil, and this was definitely the case in my yard. Nitrogen levels are probably even lower since I tested as a result of the massive rain fall we’ve seen this winter season (after years of drought).
Most of the other macro and micro nutrients tested at pretty high levels, and I was delighted to see that my organic matter was 6.2% — that’s pretty good! These results reflect how hard I’ve worked over the last 12+ years to increase organic matter by continuously keeping roots in the ground, applying compost regularly and disturbing the soil as little as possible.
TEST YOUR SOIL
I recommend sampling multiple areas of your growing space, because different areas can have significantly different nutrient profiles, and I recommend sending the sample in to a lab to be tested. In my experience, the testing kits you can buy don’t provide thorough results, or you end up needing to by more than one kit to test different things (like macro, micro or pH).
I’ve had a great experience using Simply Soil Testing because they make it super simple! Just collect the soil sample, send it in, and you get easy to understand results. Peaceful Valley has a great video that explains how to take a good soil sample.
If you need any help collecting soil samples or understanding your soil results, I’m happy to help!
Schedule a consultation here.
STEPS TO ADDRESS DIFICIENCIES
KEEP ROOTS IN THE GROUND
Apply cover crops between plantings
We are lucky in the Bay Area, because we can grow mostly year round. However, I sometimes will still rest a bed — by planting a cover crop. One of my main growing areas in my front yard came up particularly low in Nitrogen on my soil test, so I decided to plant fava beans this winter. These legumes actually pull nitrogen from the air and store it in their roots. Once the plant starts to produce fruit, just after flowering, the plant starts using the stored nitrogen to produce the delicious sweet beans. The key to harnessing the stored nitrogen is to cut the plant at soil level just before they start producing beans. When cut, the nitrogen will stay stored in the plant roots. The roots will then feed the soil-dwelling organisms, and the organisms will decompose the roots and convert the nitrogen into a form accessible to the next crop.
INCREASE ORGANIC MATTER
Top-dress with compost
Applying these Nitrogen rich organic fertilizers will help replace the Nitrogen that has been depleted by plants and other environmental factors, such as rain, over the winter & early spring season.
Once the rains slow, I will top dress all my garden beds with 1-2” of compost and amend with blood meal for an extra boost of nitrogen. Blood meal is made from dried chicken blood, a byproduct of the chicken industry, and it is very high in Nitrogen. (If you are vegan and don’t want this type of product used on your land, you can choose organic alfalfa pellets instead.)
FEED YOUR SOIL
Apply targeted nutrients regularly
After testing, you will know the micro and macro nutrient breakdown of your soil to be able to apply targeted nutrients. It’s really important that you purchase a good quality organic fertilizer. Because my soil is mostly balanced with the exception of Nitrogen, I use a seasonal application of Organic Blood meal with a monthly application of a balanced fertilizer to any annual vegetables beds. For flower beds and fruit trees, I select fruit-specific fertilizer (such as acidic fertilizer for citrus, etc).
Here are organic fertilizers I recommend:
