Improving Your Soil: A Practical Guide to Soil Management for the Serious Home Gardener Kindle Edition

Preface

I'm part of a small minority who finds soil to be endlessly fascinating. Most people have a more prosaic interest in soil and, if they think about it at all, it is as a medium for growing plants. The most typical question about soil I hear is "What can I do to my soil to make my crops grow better?"

Soil scientists have been studying soil since the beginnings of scientific agriculture in the mid-1800's but we have barely begun to understand the intricate interplay between the air, water and minerals that make up soil. Each new discovery seems to create as many questions as answers.

This book is designed to help you manage your soil better so that you can grow a more bountiful garden by putting the right fixes in the right places. Soil does not exist in isolation. Unless it was delivered by a dump truck, the soil in your garden is a product of the parent material that was deposited thousands of years ago interacting with the cycles of rainfall, seasonal freezing and thawing and the plants that grew in soil. Over time, the plants influenced the soil, which in turn modified the environment for the plants.

My goal in writing this book is to demystify soil and offer practical methods that will allow you to grow a better garden. But I also hope this book will open your eyes to the many wonders of what goes on under your feet.

Preface

I'm part of a small minority who finds soil to be endlessly fascinating. Most people have a more prosaic interest in soil and, if they think about it at all, it is as a medium for growing plants. The most typical question about soil I hear is "What can I do to my soil to make my crops grow better?"

Soil scientists have been studying soil since the beginnings of scientific agriculture in the mid-1800's but we have barely begun to understand the intricate interplay between the air, water and minerals that make up soil. Each new discovery seems to create as many questions as answers.

This book is designed to help you manage your soil better so that you can grow a more bountiful garden by putting the right fixes in the right places. Soil does not exist in isolation. Unless it was delivered by a dump truck, the soil in your garden is a product of the parent material that was deposited thousands of years ago interacting with the cycles of rainfall, seasonal freezing and thawing and the plants that grew in soil. Over time, the plants influenced the soil, which in turn modified the environment for the plants.

My goal in writing this book is to demystify soil and offer practical methods that will allow you to grow a better garden. But I also hope this book will open your eyes to the many wonders of what goes on under your feet.