this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Soil Science

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Where do I start with learning about the soil in my backyard? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 11 months ago by auzas_1337@lemmy.zip to c/soilscience
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Long story short - I moved from a country where there’s an abundance of black soil to a country with a dry climate and not much black soil. Not only that, I moved from an apartment to a house with plenty of land. I believe strongly that growing my own produce is the way to go, but sadly I lack a lot of skill.

What I want to do is to plant a few plants, bushes and trees to get started with gardening, but I’m not sure whether the types that I want to plant will take well to the soil.

So the first logical step in my mind is to figure out what kind of a soil I’ve got and what it’s well suited for and can I make it work for some things that it might not be ideal for.

That’s why I was super hyped when I found this community, but it looks like people here are mostly posting articles and the discussions are more on the specialist/scientific side, so I hope my question doesn’t stick out as unwanted.

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[–] kool_newt@lemm.ee 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You'll have to make or buy soil, the latter is very expensive, the former will take a couple years minimum and decent effort.

Start looking into composting and biochar. But don't fall into the trap thinking that you need special compost recipes, just put a variety of (non-toxic, biodegradable) materials in there. If you're able, make biochar.

[–] auzas_1337@lemmy.zip 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No worries about the compost, haha. I haven’t started making it here, but I’ve lived with compost piles my whole life (that I haven’t spent in an apartment). That’s one of the rare things that I know about. Just chug a leftover veggie/fruit in a pile and let it steam. Got that. 🫡

I’m afraid I might need to buy some if it turns out that the one in the backyard isn’t good enough. The specifics of the location don’t really allow for permanent planning.

[–] kool_newt@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

Buying works, I bought stuff to build my soil for sure. My soil is desert silt, I made decent soil for my raised bed by mixing it with lots of compost as well as biochar, perlite, and vermiculite which I bought.