9 Proven Ways to Boost Your Soil Health

As a kid I never thought one of my adult problems would be not having enough compost.

I should really appreciate you guys sticking up to basics and providing what’s really soil needed instead of selling some snake oil. That’s why you guys are one of favourites 🙏🏽

My soil is so full of clay I once sculpted a little bunny out of it 😂

Texas here – Can NOT grow ANYTHING without MULCH over here. I prefer two layers of woodchips. The 1st layer I soak in water for a day. Then spread the wet chips over the ground. The 2nd layer are the dry woodchips. That's because anything on the top will automatically dry out pretty fast from the hot sun. I also make leaf mould. From all my huge live oak trees. It takes several YEARS for those to break down! And I even chop them into tiny pieces 1st. AND add liquid sea weed at the beginning. (They NEED nitrogen!) But, that's all bcuz they are super thick leaves. However, After they are broken down into true leaf mould, THAT material is like Black Gold!!

6:46 steal those leaves 🗿🤌🔥

My annual leaf mulch routine. In the FallI run my mower over the leaves in my yard. Then I add the bag to my mower and collect the chopped leaves. This is the put in large black garbage bags along with some water to begin decomposing over the winter. In the Spring this material is used to mulch my veggies. And in the Fall the mulch in turned into the soil before planting my Fall crops. Rinse and repeat Along with organic fertilizer this keeps my soil alive and healthy 😅

Good info. The other thing about leaves is that even if they're not broken down into leaf mold, using dead leaves as mulch over the winter encourages insect life that breaks the leaves down. Fungal and bacteria life is certainly important but there are also various good bugs in the soil

One thing you didnt mention is the practice of cutting at the soil level plants that no longer produce. Leaving the roots in the soil allows them to break down and contribute to soil health. When planting time comes, the roots are decomposed.

I built a chicken coop with composting in mind, it has about a 2' tall skirt around it. I basically fill it with leaves, weeds, scraps, etc. throughout the year. The chickens shred and mix everything for several months, add their own manure, then i shovel it out and add to the garden in early spring. Works excellent and fairly low effort

Thanks for not shilling soil tests, and referring people to their local extension service! Strong work, Jaques Strappe. 💪