Soil
Soil is not
dirt! Soil is the combination of dirt, nutrients & minerals,
microorganisms, and insects. Soil is what holds our world together one
more ways than one and without it, we and plants would simply float
away.
When soil is healthy, it has a good structure, with spaces for
holding water & nutrients, is pliable for plant roots, has a fairly
neutral pH, and is balanced in minerals and nutrients. For example,
soil that is high in clay content (much of what we have here in
Indiana) compacts with a little rain and needs to be loosened (which
can be done with compost); sandy soil cannot hold water and, again, can
be enriched with compost.
Much of the world’s soils are in danger due to over-farming and
over-grazing; soils under chemical pesticides are unhealthy and cannot
support plant life. Soil is the dinner plate for plants, slowly
releasing a balanced set of nutrients for plant uptake. Soil plays a
much smaller role in conventional growing (i.e. with chemicals);
instead of relying on the soil for its meal, the chemicals are added to
the plant to give the plant directly only what nutrients it may be
lacking.
To find out more about soil in gardening...