Managing the soil on your farm is just like stocking a grocery cupboard – so before you set off to buy fertilisers, you should know what your soil already contains. Otherwise, you could use the incorrect fertiliser which will lead to poor crops and could cost you a lot of…
Anybody can grow vegetables organically, says grower Jane Griffiths, but it’s important to start out right. We asked her why soil preparation is so important. Good soil preparation and soil health are the foundation of successful organic farming. “A crop is a mirror of the soil it grows in,” says…
Organic crop production is about using natural materials to improve soil fertility, mainly of humus and micro-organisms that break down the organic material so plants can use it. Humus (an end product of compost) and globulin (produced by micorisa fungi) are particularly important. Humus retains up to 80% of water;…
Question: What can be done to improve the water-holding capacity of sandy soil? The water-holding capacity of a soil is controlled by the soil texture and the organic matter content. Soils with a high percentage of silt and clay particles usually have a higher water-holding capacity than soils that have…
