I am a gigantic soil nerd. Soil science and all things soily is one of my top 10 loves. (I don’t rate the top 10 because I have a husband, a kid, a boat, and several expensive knives in my life and a ranking of any of these things would be political suicide.) I don’t even know where to start talking about soil in this very first post. No sense talking about everything all at once. How about spring time soil prep?

Southeast Alaska is a but different from the Mediterranean climate of my childhood. Sitka gets more than 100 inches of rain per year. This rain leaches the most mobile, and necessary for plant growth, nutrients out of the soil. Happily, many of these nutrients are found in seaweed. Back in California a buildup of salt can have dire consequences for plant growth because there is not enough precipitation to flush them through. So spring, I toddle down to the shore and fill the back of our truck with herring egg covered seaweed. It smells great.

Herring eggs are the dominant source of nitrogen for my garden soil. Seaweed is a terrific structure builder and source of micronutrients. I turn over all of my beds with a trusty round point shovel and incorporate the seaweed and eggs. I try and get it as fluffy as possible to maintain airflow. Buried herring eggs can quickly purify and go anaerobic if allowd to stagnate away from airflow. Anaerobic conditions can be toxic to plants so it’s best to avoid that problem.

I then turn my beds about once a week to aerate the rotting sea matter. It also helps me get rid of the weeds that cover my fallow beds. I have been remiss in my weeding the past two years. I blame being pregnant and then caring for an infant. Mostly I’m lazy and pulling weeds is only slightly better than picking slugs out of my beds.

At some point I would like to incorporate crushed clam shells into my beds for a long-term source of calcium and magnesium. Maybe I will teach my kid the joys of smashing things with a hammer.

What do you do with your garden? What questions do you have for a soil scientist?