Soil, Soil, Soil

Both my grandfather and my dad were Realtors.  In real estate, they say there are three important aspects to consider when purchasing property.  They are: location, location and location.  In gardening, I’d say that it’s soil, location and water.  But this past week, I focused on soil, soil and soil.

In the past, I have just bought a few bags of potting soil, mixed it in with my existing dirt and planted whatever.  I am finally ready to learn how to do this right.  Last week, I went down to Orange County Farm Supply and talked fertilizers with the guys who work there.

I had read in one of my favorite books about gardening, “52 Weeks in the California Garden” by Robert Smaus, about fertilizing.  I wanted something organic.  Here’s what I bought:

My neighbor across the street (an older guy...wise in the world of gardening), mentioned that after you plant tomatoes (of which I had 15 plants this summer), you’ll need to add calcium back into the soil.  Great.  How do I add calcium back into the soil?

Egg shells!  That’s the answer, so I began saving my egg shells.  (We tend to eat a lot of eggs).  I’ve got it down to a system.  I collect them in a small container like this:

Sometime during the day, when I’m finally cleaning my kitchen from the morning mess, I rinse the egg shells and put them in a tray on my potting bench.

Then, after a week or so, when they are nice and dry, I’ll crush them.  I usually take a piece of newspaper and cover the pile and press down.  Then, I’ll bring the whole  tray in and use my cuisenart mini-prep to further break them down.  This is probably not necessary, but I’m impatient and want it broken down in my soil as quickly as possible.   I then store the shells in a jar till I’m ready to add them to my soil.

Today, I added it right to my soil, added the fertilizer, and mixed it all up and watered it in.

A sprinkling of egg shells and fertilizer before I mixed it in

 Today, I planted onions, garlic and celery in another part of my garden.

New celery plants... 

I have never planted celery until this year... only time will tell!  I just bought plants from OSH, but I have seeds to start as well.  I have found that I use a LOT of celery while cooking... and onions, and garlic and CARROTS!  Yes, carrots are next.