Gardening: How To Get Good Soil

It seems like compost piles became all the rage to getting good soil for your garden. Well I tried that a few years back and have to say it's a real pain in the butt. You have odors, bugs, and need to stir it. Not only that but it takes up valuable planting space. So as we head into planting season I thought I would share the good old fashioned way that resulted in my good garden soil.

Basically it's an old fashioned way of composting. It's slow. Probably even slower than regular composting. It doesn't really take up any space long term though. Only for a few days to a week. So how do you do it? Well apparently the first step is to find a grand kid that likes to dig holes. That's how I learned this from my Grandmother. I was the child labor. I swear I wold have dug to China if they would have left me with the shovel long enough. That's not what you want though. A hole 2 to 3 feet is plenty deep. Usually went down until I hit clay and then another 6 to 12 inches. Pull out any big rocks you hit. So how big? Well that depends on 2 things: How much room you have and how much stuff you have to put in it.

So now that you have a hole dug what do you do with it? Well you fill it up with any organic yard waste you have. Flower clippings, weeds, leaves, even grass clippings. Stay away from bigger shrub clippings and sticks as those take way too long to break down. What you have will vary with the time of the year. Fill that hole to the top. Stamp it down and fill it again. When you have it decently packed the next step is to fill the hole with water. Do this about 2 times then start covering it back up with the dirt you dug out. Yes you will have more dirt than seems to fit and that is a good thing. Just pile what you can on top, let it soak in, rinse, repeat. Whatever extra dirt is left mound up around and spread extra to low spots around the garden. The pile of dirt will sink into the hole as the material breaks down. It will go down pretty fast in the first couple of weeks.

That's all there is to it. Basically you are composting but under ground. No smell, no extra bugs flying around, no pile, and except for the time the hole is open no wasted space. If you want to fill it up over time just toss a thin layer of dirt over the material each time you add more. When you are done just remember where you did it and do another spot in the garden next time. You will have stuff breaking down and fertilizing your garden for years if not decades to come.