Soil is one of the most ubiquitous and yet most difficult things to manage in the garden.It's that thing in the garden that's almost never seen, but which affects every part of growing food.
Is the acidity of the soil correct? Are there sufficient nutrients to grow vegies? What about trace elements that many plants use to finish off their crop? And where, oh where, can we get good soil in our urban spaces?
Did you know Australian soil is among the least nutrient-rich in the world? Our soils lack many trace elements that are abundant in other soils around the world and so vegetables that prosper easily in other countries don't always grow so well here.
The most important thing in soil is that it should have a lot of organic matter in it as possible, and as few toxic chemicals as possible.
Organic matter is pretty easy - leaves, food scraps, your neighbour's lawn clippings, coffee grounds from the cafe...
Toxic chemicals? Those are much harder to avoid. So many things these days are grown in a chemical haze of poisons that kill off the weeds that aren't wanted in commercial crops, but which can often remain in the soil long after they've been used. And we can be unaware of what's in the crops until there are consequences.
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