Soil is important: the most important aspect of starting to grow food is in the diligent care we invest in improving our soil’s health. Simply put, without a good home (soil), your plants will be unable to put down solid roots and absorb any of the sun, water, or nutrients you help provide.
In urban environments, the landscape is often battle scarred with wounds that either are or aren’t obvious to the naked eye. Seasoned urban growers conduct soil tests in order to identify whether their soil is contaminated with one of the main culprits of heavy urban industry: lead. Results from soil testing are the urban agriculturist’s compass, directing us toward knowing what remediation our soil needs. Knowing if there’s lead in our soil tells us if it’s possible to plant directly in the ground or if we should build raised beds instead.
Healthy soil, like healthy people, should have a balanced combination of elements. Each of these elements plays an important role in the various processes of your plant; Iron, for example, is the ignition for your plants production of chlorophyll and is essential to photosynthesis. Sometimes, you can determine chemical imbalances by noticeable symptoms in your plant; if its leaves turn yellow, for example, an iron deficiency may be to blame. For those of you who want to know faster what nutrients are already in the soil for your plants to use, and to prevent potential nutrition deficiencies, a soil test is critical.
The more you know about soil, the healthier your plants will be; you’ll know what nutrients need replenishing and you’ll protect your crops from bugs and disease.
The first step to healthy soil is in performing a soil test. All of Southside Community Land Trust’s gardens test their soil before any food is grown.
Many times, city soils will show high levels of contaminants. If this is the case, it’s best to build a raised bed and purchase healthy soil.
Additionally, you can add nutrients to the soil through planting cover crop and adding compost.
Glossary
Nutrients – chemicals necessary for feeding organisms and allowing them to thrive. Adding nutrients to your soil is like taking vitamins. Plants need all of the same nutrients that people do, but in different quantities. Soil is the capsule for these nutrients that plants feed off of in order to grow.
Soil Test - coming soon!
Remediation – poor soil needs a remedy, and the process of fixing any problems your soil has is known as Remediation.
Raised Bed – structures that contain and raise healthy soil from the ground. These structures are a sound alternative to directly planting vegetable seeds or starts in the ground, especially if it’s discovered that your urban garden is contaminated by lead. They’re the safest way to ensure that your food isn’t absorbing whatever gross mess was leftover from previous tenants on the land you’re working with. Raised bed structures can be made with anything, from large rocks to found wood scraps:
