October Gardening Tips

October Gardening Article
by Neil DeWitt

This month I will discuss soil quality. For the most part, if your garden plot is in the lower portions of the river valley, you will have a clay soil. If your plot is on the higher portions of our area, you are likely to have sandy soil. Both are fine for growing a vegetable garden as long as you take the necessary steps to improve your soil. Of course we all would like to have a great loamy soil to work with. No matter what cards we have been dealt, we can turn our soil into one that is productive for vegetable gardening.

Sandy soil is the easiest to work. It dries out and warms up quickly and it always drains well. However, these characteristics will cause you to have to water very often as well as fertilize more often because there is nothing to keep the water and nutrients close to the roots of your plants. To improve sandy soil, you need to constantly add organic matter to it. Green manure crops, which were discussed in the last newsletter, will help a great deal. Also, plant residues after the harvest and fall leaves are good sources of organic matter.

Clay soils are more fertile than sandy soils by nature. However, they are heavy, often preventing good drainage, which can spell doom to your plants if water remains in constant contact with your plant’s root system. When clay soil is wet, it is slippery and it sticks to your shoes. The soil becomes slippery because the soil particles in clay are flat and they compress when stepped on and this shuts off the flow of air and water to the plant’s roots. The best way to improve clay soil is once again, to add organic matter such as leaves, old mulches and green manure crops. As this organic matter breaks down, it acts like little wedges that keep the soil particles from sticking together. This creates openings for air, water, and the roots of the plants to better penetrate the soil to take in needed oxygen and water. Adding a whole lot of sand to clay soil does not work well because you will need so much sand it usually is not economically efficient and you are still going to need to add just as much organic matter to the soil anyway. Using raised beds in your garden is also great when working with clay soils as this prevents the soil where you grow your plants from being stepped on and thus becoming compressed. This also allows the clay soil to dry out quicker and warm up earlier in the season.

A loam soil is what should be our goal. Loam soils are usually rich in organic matter and quite fertile. They’re easier to work. They have good drainage, but they still hold enough moisture for plants to thrive. They are certainly the best soils for gardens. And, as you can clearly see, no matter if you have sandy soil or heavy clay soil, you can move towards a loam soil through the use of organic matter. It is important to note that the process of adding organic matter is never complete. It must be a constant process because as soon as you work it into your soil, it begins to break down and in the matter of a short period of time you will be right back where you started with your garden plot in regard to soil composition.

Whenever soils are moist and the temperature is warm, organic matter in the soil will decompose. Organisms such as bacteria, fungi, earthworms, mites and others, attack organic matter. Earthworms are probably the most beneficial workers in your garden. And you need to encourage them to stay in your garden and to multiply by providing them with a constant source of food supply, which is of course, organic matter that you add to your soil. The worms digest the organic matter and deposit casts that are high in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, making these essential nutrients available to your plants.

Doing a soil test on your garden plot can also help you in knowing what you might need to add to your soil to make it more productive. It is suggested that new garden plots be soil tested before you begin and it is also recommended that the soil in an established garden be tested every three or four years. This test can tell you the strengths and weaknesses of your particular soil. The pH of the soil is the primary thing you should be most concerned with. The pH level of the soil regards the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. The pH level is rated on a numbered scale ranging from 0 to 14, with 7 being considered neutral. Most vegetables do best in soil between 6.0 (slightly acidic) to 6.8 (almost neutral). Lime can be added to the soil to raise the pH level while sulfur can be added to lower the pH level of the soil. A quart of lime spread on 100 square feet of garden area will raise the pH level about 1 point, while about ¾ of a pound of sulfur is needed for 100 square feet of soil to lower the pH level about 1 point.

Take your soil sample by digging a six-inch hole and then cut a thin slice of the soil down the side of the hole to its full depth and place this in a plastic bag. Make sure you do not get your soil sample from just the top of the hole because the sample will not be accurate. Now you have a sample ready to send to a soil testing facility or you can use a home gardener’s test kit available from most garden centers.

Remember, our gardens are like our lives here on earth---we must continually seek improvement as the process for enduring to the end.