Toil to improve the soil

FEED the soil not the plant is at the core of organic growing and it encompasses a holistic approach to soil cultivation, underlined by the knowledge that a healthy soil produces healthy plants which in turn produces healthy people. However for most home growers, obtaining sufficient organic matter to feed the soil is often the most difficult aspect of organic gardening but some potential soil food (soil amendments) include:

* GARDEN COMPOST: Homemade compost is one of the best soil amendments as it recycles the nutrients from our kitchen and garden and returns them back to the earth. Composting is an essential life skill for urban and rural dwellers and there are some great initiatives around the country such as Lifetime Lab in Cork that provide composting demonstration areas. As there are many different types of composting systems (eg Tumblers, Piles, Worms, Green Cone, Pallet Bin, etc), it can be difficult to figure out which one is best for you and how to use it properly. The Lifetime Lab composting demonstration area, developed as a partnership between the EPA Stop Food Waste Programme and Cork City Council, aims to show people how different composting systems work. For further information on reducing food waste and composting see www.stopfoodwaste.ie. That said, no matter how successful your compost heap is, it can be difficult to have enough compost to supply all your soils needs. Thankfully there are now a number of waste-recycling companies around the country, including Local Authority initiatives, that shred, compost and bag garden waste and sell it as a soil conditioner at a better price than bagged compost alternatives. Check out CRÉ, The Composting Association of Ireland (www.cre.ie) to locate the waste-recycling site most convenient to you.

* FARM YARD MANURE: Traditionally, families in Ireland lived on small-holdings with a mixed range of stock supplying food supplies for the kitchen and a valuable mix of manure for field fertility. Times have changed and now well-rotted manure is like gold dust and for urban and stock-free gardeners, it pays to make friends with a local farmer. Manure should be composted for at least three months before incorporation into the soil. Be warned, it can be difficult to work in by hand over a large area with lots of extra wellie required to break up clods.