Discover your soil

This involves observing and touching the soil in your vegetable garden to discover its particularities. These observations will allow you to adapt your cultivation practices, your tools, your amendments (contributions) and especially your crops to your soil, and not the other way around. Do not hesitate to ask your neighbors, farmers or gardeners "what works". The large crops around your home are a good indication: - You are surrounded by many market gardens or horticultural farms: these are therefore sandy soils; - You are generally surrounded by cereal plains: this is therefore surely heavy and fairly rich soil or even "easy" to enrich; - Around your home, are there only sheepfolds and flocks of sheep? Be careful, the soil is probably poor and the thickness of the soil minimal. The soil in my garden Different particles compose it, from the largest (sands) to the finest (clays) including silts in proportions that can differ even within a small plot. Estimating these three elements, even roughly, is a valuable aid: you never work heavy soil when it is wet, any more than you constantly work sandy soil whose structure is fragile. While some particularly clayey soils can withstand late winter plowing (frost crumbles the coarse clods), sandy and loamy soils, which are sensitive to leaching, fear it. Heavy ... If in winter, the soil sticks to tools and boots, if it dries poorly, or even forms pools on the surface, there is no doubt that your soil is heavy and contains a high proportion of clay. If, in addition, it is slippery, the clay is probably mixed with a good proportion of silt. These soils are said to be cold and heavy. Oxygen and water circulate poorly. We then sow and plant late in spring. These soils appreciate autumn plowing or digging: be careful, do not go too deep, 25 cm is enough. But cold and heavy don't mean unsuitable for growing crops: these soils easily retain water and nutrients. Adding amendments in the fall, such as well-rotted manure or compost, can improve their structure and lighten them a little. ... or light? Even in the fall, rains are quickly "digested" and, soon, your vegetable garden is dry. No puddles or surface cracking in the middle of summer. There's no doubt about it, your soil contains a high proportion of sand. It's easy to work, doesn't require deep tillage, and root vegetables will thrive. It warms up quickly: you can grow early in the spring. However, these light soils don't only have advantages. They have difficulty retaining nutrients and require regular additions of amendments: compost, manure, etc. Finally, these soils don't retain water: plan for abundant mulching in the summer. It is important to analyze your soil before starting a vegetable garden. Indeed, growing vegetables in clay soil will be very complicated because they will be asphyxiated, on the other hand, root vegetables will flourish wonderfully in sandy soil and will give you very beautiful harvests. In addition, we advise you to test the pH of your soil using a "pH test kit for your soil" the pH is also important to know to determine the crops to plant. A soil is acidic when its pH is less than 7, neutral if the pH is equal to 7 and calcareous when the pH exceeds 7. Sandy soil Your soil is light, sandy, it is a poor soil that dries out easily to enrich with compost. This type of soil is ideal for growing root vegetables: carrots, beets, celeriac, turnips, salsify, radishes. But also potatoes, garlic, shallots, fennel, crosnes, lamb's lettuce, asparagus, beans, peas, etc. For growing tomatoes, a fertilizer rich in potash or compost will be necessary. Acidic or humus-rich soil Your soil is acidic or humus-rich, black in color and crumbly because it is very rich in humus. This type of soil will be perfect for squash, zucchini, gherkins, melons, eggplants, peppers, chilies. Clayey soil Your soil is sticky and heavy, it is a clayey soil that needs to be worked and amended. Root vegetables should be avoided, but many others will acclimatize very well to this type of soil: artichokes, eggplants, leeks, chicories, cabbages, tomatoes, rhubarb, spinach, beans, peas, etc. Chalky soil Your soil is chalky or basic, it can be recognized by its light color. This type of soil will be perfect for garlic, carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips, beans, peas, lentils, and broad beans. If it's moderately chalky, tomatoes, lettuce, and Jerusalem artichokes will also thrive. One last tip: observing the soil after it rains will help you better understand its nature!