An Advanced Guide to Building Soil from Scratch

Dig a little deeper in learning how to amend your soil

What you'll learn
How to turn your lawn into a thriving garden or small farm ecosystem by amending your soil
How to use your soil as a "solar panel"
How to test your soil
How to read a soil test report
How to make a soil health plan
How to balance soil pH making nutrients available
How to increase organic matter faster
Learn cation exchange capacity and how it affects your soil health plan
Understand primary nutrients, secondary nutrients, and trace minerals and how they affect plants
Learn the 4 R's of amending soil. The Right Amendment, Right Amount, Right Time and Right Place
Learn how to break virgin ground
Learn how to calculate amendments you need
Learn how to make and use compost tea to improve soil microbial activity as part of your regular soil building practice
Learn how to use organic fertilizers to improve plant health
Requirements
A small plot of land at least 6 ft x 6 ft
A few basic gardening tools
A list of amendments depending on your soil type
Description
Out of all the components that go into gardening and farming, soil is by far the most important and yet is often the most overlooked. Soil is the critical foundation on which everything you wish to grow is built. Without the right balance of nutrients and minerals, your plants will face a variety of issues from a lack of healthy leaves that are spotted or discolored to stems that are always short to plants that won’t even grow at all!

Early on in my gardening and flower farming days, I never gave much thought to soil and I was continually frustrated with my results at the end of the growing season. I thought if I just composted, that would be enough. It wasn’t until I discovered Soil Testing that my gardens and fields really took off!

But the whole process of getting your soil tested can be intimidating in itself. The first time I got my soil test back I didn’t know how to interpret the results but I slowly but surely learned to read those charts just like reading a recipe and that’s what I want to share with you. That when you learn to balance your soil, much like measuring out the ingredients to baking a cake, there’s no limit to the kind of garden you can grow!

Who this course is for:
Beginning Gardeners
Aspiring Flower Farmers
Intermediate Gardeners who want better yields