Soil - your garden superstar

Healthy soil = happy fruit and vegetables. Ever wondered why some veggie gardens absolutely thrive while others struggle? The reason is simple: it’s all about the soil. Healthy soil isn’t just lifeless ‘dirt’, it’s a thriving ecosystem full of life, nutrients and balance. When the soil is thriving, your plants can grow strong, resilient and packed with all the good stuff that makes your food nutrient-dense and delicious.

The best part? Looking after your soil doesn’t just mean better food for your plate - it’s also a way that you can help the earth. Healthy soil stores more carbon, holds onto water, and supports all the little critters (worms, bugs and fungi) that keep ecosystems thriving. That means less reliance on chemicals, healthier waterways, and a garden that works with nature, not against it.

So how can you help make sure your soil is healthy and in top shape? Here are a few easy ways:

• Feed the soil with organic matter: add compost, leaf litter and well-rotted mature regularly. think of it as giving your soil a good meal

• Mulch, mulch, mulch: keeps moisture in, feeds the soil as it breaks down, and helps protect all the life beneath the surface. Bare soil dries out and erodes quickly.

• Grow a mix of plants: diversity above the ground encourages diversity below the ground. Herbs, flowers and veggies all bring different benefits to the soil

• Go easy on the digging: minimise the amount of digging and disturbance to the soil - too much turning disrupts the delicate web of microbes and fungi. Lightly loosen instead of deep digging when you can

• Let the worms do the work: encourage earthworms with organic matter and mulch; their tunnels aerate and their poo fertilise your soil naturally

When you nurture your soil, you’re not just growing food - you’re growing a little ecosystem that supports both your family’s health and the planet’s. Think of it as gardening from the ground up