My Living Soil Garden
Stop digging. Let the earthworms build your soil.
My Living Soil Garden shows you how to prepare your garden this fall, without tilling, so it’s loose, weed-free and ready to plant in spring.
Instant PDF download · 35 pages
More work every spring. Smaller harvests every year.
Every spring you dig, weed, add bagged soil and fertilizer. The first years go well. Then the soil gets harder, the vegetables weaker, and diseases show up more often.
Meanwhile, a hedgerow a few yards away thrives with no one tending it. Its secret is simple: nobody turns its soil, and something new falls on it every year.
This guide shows you how to garden the same way: feed the soil, keep it covered, and let soil life do the heavy work.
Three modules: understand, test, then act.
01
What living soil is, and why earthworms matter
- How earthworms build the soil’s structure
- Why tilling wears your soil out
- 3 tests to find your soil profile, with a checkup sheet
02
How to build living soil in your garden
- Which materials feed the soil best, and how much
- Why you water the soil first, the plants second
- Mulch and black tarps: which to use, and when
03
Your fall action plan for a spring-ready garden
- How to plant and sow in spring without digging
- Mistakes to avoid: nitrogen tie-up, slugs
- A garden log to track your progress
Three soil profiles. Three fall recipes.
Start in the fall, cover the soil for the winter, pull back the tarp in spring and plant.
Meadow or tall lawn
Mow, water, tarp. The grass and its roots feed the soil over winter.
An old garden dug for years
4 inches of chopped straw, water, tarp. About 8 to 10 wheelbarrows for 100 sq ft.
Fill dirt or compacted ground
Straw plus manure or grass clippings, mixed in one last time, then tarped.
Prepare your soil now. Plant in spring.
The organic matter you lay down before winter has months to break down under the tarp. That’s what keeps your spring seedlings from turning yellow.
My Living Soil Garden
$29