Class Notes

Garden Soil 101

What is soil?
• A mixture of mineral and organic material that
is capable of supporting plant life.
• Geosphere-Biosphere-Atmosphere interface
Why is soil important?
• Supports plant life
• Cleans water
• Habitat for billions of soil organisms
• Nature’s recycling system
Basic soil properties: (all inter-related)
• Physical
• Chemical
• Biological
Think of soil as a city, with its physical properties of
buildings, forests, roads, rivers, sidewalks, houses,
etc.; chemical properties of air and water quality
and storm water; and biological properties of
diversity of people and wildlife.
The soil’s physical properties affect:
• Which plants/animals can grow/live
• How water moves through it
• How pollutants get processed
• How many nutrients are available
Physical Properties: Texture Comparative sizes of sands, silt and clay
Ratio of Sand, Silt, and Clay—What does it feel like?
Texture refers to the size of the particles that make
up the soil. The terms sand, silt, and clay refer
to relative sizes of the soil particles. Sand, being CLAY
the larger size of particles, feels gritty. Silt, being
moderate in size, has a smooth or floury texture.
Clay, being the smaller size of particles, feels sticky. SILT

The Size of Sand, Silt and Clay

Name Particle Diameter MEDIUM
SAND
Clay below 0.002 millimeters FINE
Silt 0.002 to 0.05 millimeters SAND
Very fine sand 0.05 to 0.10 millimeters
Fine sand 0.10 to 0.25 millimeters
Medium sand 0.25 to 0.5 millimeters
COARSE
Coarse sand 0.5 to 1.0 millimeters SAND
Very coarse sand 1.0 to 2.0 millimeters
Gravel 2.0 to 75.0 millimeters
Rock greater than 75.0 millimeters (~2")

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101

 Class Notes
How Texture Affects Soil Properties
Texture Aeration/ Ease of Water Ability to Hold Water-Holding Ease
Porosity Infiltration Nutrients Capacity of Working
Loam medium medium medium medium medium
Clay poor poor excellent good poor
Silt medium medium medium medium medium
Sand excellent good very poor very poor good

Physical Properties: Structure Organic gardeners can use fertilizers too! But the
Ratio of space used by the components of soil source should be an organic one.
(minerals, air, water, organic matter) Use organic matter to create a "balanced diet" for
Ideal soil for growing crops: 50% pore space, 45% your soil. Just like people shouldn't live on take-out,
mineral and 5% organic matter fertilizers shouldn't be your garden's sole source of
nutrients.
Structure affects soil properties:
• Water holding capacity Role of fertilizers
• Available oxygen to plant roots In our cool wet spring (and sometimes summer!)
the soils are often not warm enough for the soil
• Ability to support the biology (microbes to
microbial community to make available nutrients
mammals)
from stable organic matter, even if we have added
To improve your soil’s structure avoid walking on plenty of compost.
it and add organic matter either by amending with
This is when it’s important to add nutrients in an
compost or manure, mulching or planting cover
available form—fertilizers (**not necessary when
crops.
using TAGRO)
Chemical Properties: Nutrients You can get balanced organic fertilizers that add a
The largest part of a plant’s diet are the major little of everything
nutrients: Or you can get fertilizers that are more specific for
Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium particular nutrients
(Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur (S) • Nitrogen (N)—Bloodmeal, Alfalfa
Plants also need micro nutrients in small amounts: • Phosphorus (P)—Bonemeal
Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn),
• Potassium (K)—Greensand, Kelp, Wood Ash
Boron (B), Methyl bromide (Mb)
Nitrogen is responsible for producing leaf growth Chemical Properties: pH
and green leaves. pH is a balance between OH− and H+ ions in the soil
Phosphorous is important for plant growth, seed (on a scale from 1–14)
and flower development and early root growth. Most vegetables like a pH of between 6–7
Potassium (potash) is important for fruit formation Soil pH affects:
Nutrients must be available for plants to be able • the availability of nutrients for plants
to take up—soil can contain both available and • also affects activity of soil microorganisms
not-available forms. Microbial community is what
converts organic matter into available nutrients. How can we influence pH?
pH will not usually be too high in our climate
Organic matter vs. fertilizer
• Add lime to the soil to raise pH—every 3 or so
Organic matter is food for plants and the microbial
years, in the fall
community, but it is not always readily available.
Fertilizers are in a form that is readily available for • Add organic matter, which acts as a buffer
plants
Organic fertilizers vs. conventional—the source is
different but they act similarly in the soil.

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101

 Class Notes
Why is it important to add organic matter?
• Improves soil’s ability to absorb water and
prevents erosion by reducing runoff
• Improves soil’s water holding capacity
• Provides food and habitat for beneficial
organisms like earthworms
• Buffers soil pH at neutral
• Supplies well-balanced slow-release nutrients
• Supplies micronutrients that are not available in
most commercial fertilizers
• Prevents leaching of nutrients by providing sites
where nutrients can bind, but still be available
for plant uptake
• Reduces the need to buy expensive commercial
fertilizer
• Aerates the soil, increasing pore space for good
air and water flow
• Improves structure and drainage of soils
(especially clay soils)
• Improves sandy soils by increasing water and
nutrient holding capacity
• Helps to keep soil cooler in the summer and
warmer in the winter by insulating it—this can
prolong the growing season!

Chemical Properties: Colloids

• The smallest of soil particles—exist in clay and
humus
• Electrically charged and highly reactive
• Colloids determine soil’s ability to clean water
and hold nutrients for plants
Add organic matter to increase the amount of soil
colloids (nutrient holding capacity).
Biological Properties: Biology
The living components of soil (Bacteria, fungi,
nematodes, worms, arthropods, mammals)
The living microbes and animals transform
nutrients from unavailable to available and improve
soil structure.
Add organic matter to increase the amount of life in
the soil

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101

 Class Notes
What does this mean for your garden? Biosolids (treated sewage)
Tacoma's TAGRO is an amazing product
Starting out: In ground vs. raised bed
• A little about the process—dual digestion
In Ground
• Class A vs. Class B—highly regulated
Pros Cons
• Totally safe for vegetable gardening
• Affordable • Too much water in the
• Uses available ground! • Different products—potting soil vs. mix
resources (the soil in • Harder to improve • Tagro Mix: Soil amendment—mix it in with
your yard) challenging soil your existing soil
• Greater water holding • Soil contamination • Tagro Potting Soil: Designed to be used
capacity could be a concern alone—fill raised beds with it
Raised Beds Compost
Pros Cons Buy it:
• Control over the soil • Must bring in soil Cascade Compost is the composted yard waste from
• Better drainage • Construction Pierce County and City of Tacoma residents
• Easier to work in and materials can be • Add to your raised bed
around costly
• Topdress in the fall
• Easier to rotate plants • Soil dries out faster
Make it:
and isolate problems
• Size of pile—about a cubic yard
• No soil contamination
• Attractive • Water—as damp as a wrung out sponge
• Air—need good oxygen to get the ‘right bacteria’
Raised bed construction priorities?
• Feedstocks (correct ratio of browns/greens)
• Cost
• Durability Manure
• Aesthetics • Use aged or composted animal manure
• Available resources • Horse manure can be very weedy because horses
only digest about 1/4 of all the grass and grains
Common materials:
they consume.
• Fir/Hemlock lumber
• Cows have 4 stomachs so their manure is more
• Cedar digested, and has less weed seeds in it.
• Trex
Cover crops
• Treated lumber
Plants that you grow for the purpose of adding
• Stone
organic matter—often nitrogen fixing plants (they
• Scavenged materials take nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil).
Filling your raised beds: What to choose? • Grow them in the winter or when you would
The topsoil you buy is often not really topsoil but otherwise have bare soil.
a mineral–based soil you can use as starting point • Just sow seeds, let the plants grow, and then till
(sand/silt/clay). under a couple weeks before planting.
You can improve it but you will need to add lots of • Good cover crops include: fava bean, vetch,
organic matter. buckwheat (for summer), rye, clover
Organic matter (which kind?) Mulch
• Biosolids (Tagro) Enriches and protects soil, helping provide a better
• Compost (make your own or buy it) growing environment.
• Manure • One of the simplest and most beneficial
practices you can use in the garden.
• Worm castings
• Leaves • Mulch is simply a protective layer of a material
that is spread on top of the soil.
• Cover crops
• Mulches can either be organic (grass clippings,

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101

 Class Notes
straw and bark chips), or inorganic (stones, brick growing season. If you are concerned about seeds
chips and plastic). or diseases, put those plants in the hot composting
Both organic and inorganic mulches have numerous holding cages) Think the same “brown” and “green”
benefits. mix used for hot composting, approximately 50-50.
The more variety in materials the better.
• Protects the soil from erosion
• Reduces compaction from the impact of heavy What are some examples of “Browns”?
rains Leaves are easily obtained in the fall. Dried
cornstalks. Straw is a good brown; even better if it is
• Conserves moisture, reducing the need for
rotted. You can also add rotted burlap, cotton dryer
frequent waterings
lint, shredded paper, and season with a few pine
• Maintains a more even soil temperature needles. Woody material should be limited to rotted
• Prevents weed growth material that you can smoosh between your fingers.
Mulch—Interbay Method What about “greens”?
As an over-winter method for building humus-rich Practically anything that doesn’t burn when you
soil, it would be difficult to improve on the “Interbay put a match to it. Garden debris, green corn stalks,
Mulch” (named after the community garden in fresh grass clippings, coffee grounds (leave a bucket
Seattle where it was developed) for effectiveness. at your favorite espresso cart), juice bar pulp, spent
Interbay-mulched soil, according to lab tests, is grain and hops, seaweed, grape pressings, apple
“uniquely active.” Over a winter, an Interbay Mulch pomace, tea, and so on. Any kind of organic manure
will give you a large volume of humus as well as a is good.
rich diversity of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, beneficial
Should I add compost?
nematodes, microarthropods, beetles, millipedes
and worms. Living soil is key to successful organic Using compost as part of the mix is a great way to
gardening. Grow lush healthy disease and weed free get the system jumpstarted. One wheelbarrowfull of
gardens after just one winter. rough compost per hundred square feet is sufficient
to get things going. Using burlap that was used last
Interbay Mulch is basically various organic matter
year is also a good way to inoculate your mulch.
culled from the urban waste stream piled on top of
The used sacks are full of dormant organisms just
your soil and covered with damp burlap. And it’s
waiting to go to work.
all free! We have found organic matter decomposes
faster on top of the soil than it does if you till it in as How much material should I use?
long as it is covered and kept moist. Depending on your soil needs, the mulch will be 6
to 18 inches deep. Make sure all materials are damp
Why the burlap?
before covering with burlap.
Covering organic matter with burlap fools
nocturnal, light-avoiding organisms into working Do I just walk away and leave it for the winter
for you 24 hours a day. Burlap will diffuse and soak after covering with burlap?
up rain preventing it from driving into the mulch; it Check for moisture during the winter. If materials
also inhibits evaporation, keeping organic materials dry out decomposition comes to a halt. You can also
uniformly moist. Birds are unable to forage in the feed your mulch during the winter like a worm bin.
mulch so worms and other organisms flourish and Adding materials once the mulch is active makes
multiply. Burlap covers the mulch but is also part of it work even better. You will have fun checking
the habitat cultivating a rich variety of fungi and your mulch through the winter. The biology is
providing a home for beetles, spiders worms and the fascinating. You will have given birth to billions of
like. Burlap permeability allows needed oxygen to trillions of organisms. Some you can even see! When
reach all parts of the mulch. can I plant in the spring? If you start your mulch in
October you should have rich humus to plant into
What do I use for mulch under the burlap?
by March. If you started with 12” of mulch you will
First and foremost the debris from your garden.
end up with 2-3 inches of soil-energizing humus.
Chop up your corn, bean and squash plants. Tomato
Do I till it in or just plant into it? Gardeners do both
plants, etc. (Many of us don’t even worry about seeds
successfully.
because of ongoing top dressing mulches during the

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101

 Class Notes
Soil Texture Triangle
The Soil Texture Triangle gives names associated with various combinations of sand, silt and clay. A coarse-
textured or sandy soil is one comprised primarily of medium to coarse size sand particles. A fine-textured
or clayey soil is one dominated by tiny clay particles. Due to the strong physical properties of clay, a soil
with only 20% clay particles behaves as sticky, gummy clayey soil. The term loam refers to a soil with a
combination of sand, silt, and clay sized particles. For example, a soil with 30% clay, 50% sand, and 20% silt
is called a sandy clay loam.

100 →

0
←1
90 →

0
←2
80 →

0
←3
70 →
CLAY

0
←4

PE
AY

60 →
CL

RC
EN
T

0
EN

←5

T
50 →
RC

SIL
SILTY
PE

T
CLAY

0
←6
40 → SANDY
CLAY
SILTY

0
CLAY LOAM
←7
30 → CLAY LOAM
SANDY
CLAY LOAM
0
←8
20 →
LOAM
0
SILT LOAM
←9

10 → SANDY LOAM
LOAMY SILT
00
SAND SAND
←1
←1

←9

←8

←7

←6

←5

←4

←3

←2

←1
00

0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0

PERCENT SAND

Edible Gardens Workshop Series Garden Soil 101