How to create healthy soil for gardening

In just one teaspoon of soil there may be millions of bacteria, several hundred thousand fungal cells (a kilometre of fungal strands) and hundreds or thousands of single celled organisms.

It is this diversity beneath our feet that helps to keep the planet and our plants healthy, so appreciating and working with the complex biology of the soil is the first principle of organic gardening and living a healthy life.

Fortunately for us, soil is a renewable resource, and gardening is the ultimate renewable energy industry – driven by the sun.

What are the key ingredients for healthy soil?

• A really healthy ‘living’ soil smells sweet and is moist, loose, friable, well-drained and rich in organic matter.
• The individual particles are aggregated into crumbs with plenty of air spaces. Air and water move freely through a healthy soil in a range of air spaces of different sizes, which exists between and around the aggregated soil particles.
• Most living plants and animals need oxygen from air to survive. Healthy soil will have about 25% air, 25% water, 45% minerals, 4 or 5% organic matter, and up to 1% living organisms.
• Soil in this condition will provide an ideal environment for plant roots and soil organisms. It is more likely to have a favourable pH and nutrients will be more readily available than in a soil of similar origin, with low organic matter levels.