With winter gone, and warmer temperatures on the horizon, you’ll want to get busy in the garden. Hold on though, before preparing vegetable garden soil. You need to make sure that it’s not going to freeze anymore this year, and you definitely want to have all the snow melted and evaporated before putting anything in the ground. You don’t want the roots to get soaked and rot.
If you must do something to keep yourself from going all in, then do a quick soil test – grab a handful of soil, make it into a dirt ball, then release your hand and hold it in your palm. If it has turned to powder, then it’s too dry. If it keeps its round form, then it’s too wet. You want to be in the middle, just right, where it crumbles a bit, but doesn’t turn into a powder. This is also a great time to bring your soil in for analysis. Some community greenhouses or agricultural government departments can do this for you for a reasonable fee. They’ll be able to tell you what your soil lacks, so you can plan to add the right amendments to get your nutrient levels right. Once you know what your soil is going to require this season, you can start laying down a layer of general fertilizer, such as a common 10-10-10 NPK blend. Organic is best, if you can find it. Make sure to till the soil to mix it in evenly and let roots grow more easily. You should also make a round through the garden to pull out any weeds that have cropped up. Next, keep an eye out for any spots in the garden where water is likely to pool. This can easily kill your crops in this area, and at worse let rot or disease spread through the garden. You can put some rocks in before adding the soil, to be sure that the water can drain out. It’s a little work on the front end, but you only have to do it once each year. And the soil of a garden is like a foundation of a house or building, so you know how important this step is. Any care and thought will go a long way to rewarding you with tasty and fresh veggies. For more tips and informaton on gardening click here
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