Preparing the soil

• Soil horizons
• How to get rid of a sod and make the soil loose
  • Soil management for working with grelinette (2 x, one for deep, one for surface)
  • Find instructions for digging with spade
• Water control, irrigation management, too high ground water ....

Why do we have to prepare a soil for a garden?

We wish to give advantage to the crops that we cultivate and not to many other plants that would otherwise grow in our garden. These other plants we usually call 'weeds.' When you start out with a garden that wasn't cultivated before, you generally first must get rid of the sod of grass and other plants that have formed. Another important matter is that you want to bring air into the soil. Aerating a soil is done by delving, digging or cultivating a soil.

Why does a soil need air.

1. The roots of many plants cannot penetrate compacted soils.
2. The roots of plants need oxygen. While the green parts of plants that live above ground do photosynthesize, meaning they form oxygen, the roots cannot do this. However, they are growing and are using energy. To get this energy they use the sugars produced in the leaves. For this process of respiration, oxygen is needed and carbon dioxide released. When a soil becomes water-logged, the deeper roots of plants quickly die.
3. Many micro-organisms and small animals such as worms need oxygen. Not all micro-organisms need oxygen, but those that do without oxygen live in deeper soil layers. All these organisms are needed to decompose organic material such as leaves and animal waste. Plants get many nutrients from this decomposed material.

When a soil isn't loosened, rain water can assemble in soil layers where the roots of your crops need to grow. In a loosened soil excess water can drain down to ground water level, and through the capillary flow <ref> again reaches higher layers in times of dry weather.