Herb Garden - How to Prepare Your Soil
The key to a good garden would be the soil you would plant on. In any plant or herb garden, soil should be 50% solid and 50% porous. This is so that there would be enough room for air and water. There should also be some space for the plant roots to grow and expand; it cannot do so if your soil is 100% packed.
Loam is the ideal garden soil. It consists of 40% silt, 20% clay and 40 percent sand. Improving this further can be done with the use of organic matter – material that was once living but is now dead or in the process of decay. (Contrary to the opinion of some so-called “experts”, please do not use dead animals for your compost as it may compromise your harvest with bacteria and infections that only a dead body can give.) Best to make your own compost pile by using cut grass, sawdust, ground corncobs or straw and others similar to them.
It is also recommended to have your soil tested for its nutrient content levels. Your local county office can help you with that. Usually, a soil sample is sent to a laboratory. Tell the lab that the sample came from a vegetable or herb plot.
Fertilizer is one way to produce more high quality herbs. Though there are some gardeners who swear that they don’t use fertilizer but they still get good crops, it is still best to do so for better herbs. Fertilized plants are usually healthier and resist plant-diseases better than plants which are not given fertilizer.
Organic fertilizers are from plants and animals. These take longer though, as the nutrients would be broken down by microorganisms before these can be used for plant development and growth. Manure is also organic; these are better than the first two as this immediately improves the soil’s composition by raising the level of organic matter.
Inorganic fertilizer has nutrients readily available for plant use. A complete fertilizer would show three numbers on it – the first number is its nitrogen content, the second is phosphorus, and potassium is the third.
Whichever fertilizer you use, always remember to never over-fertilize. Make a compost pile so that you can always have it within arms’ reach whenever you need it. Composting converts plants and other organic waste into a peat. This would save you money too, as you need not buy fertilizers should you decide to have this instead. Garden waste is perfect for making compost as it takes less than a year for it to turn into good compost.
Whatever you decide on, always remember to take care of your soil first. If you do so, then the soil will give back and take care of your herbs and plants for a long time.
