SOIL Blog

For organic farmers, healthy soil is the basis of everything.

In order to understand the soil here in the Saanich Peninsula you have to know a few basic things.

1) We are on an island (Vancouver Island)

2) Not all islands are made up of volcanic rock, but this one is!

3) During the last glaciation (25000-10000 years ago), when this soil was being formed from volcanic rock, the retreating glaciers left behind marine deposits of deep silt and clay.

4) Soils formed with marine deposits are very fertile. Think about the most fertile agricultural lands in the world (Mediterannean, California). Most of them had contact with sea water at some point or another. Many important plant nutrients like phosphorus and potassium are marine in origin, and these fertilizers are usually mined from marine deposits.

5) Clay soils have very small particles which means they compact easily. The reason why people have used clay for pots for thousands of years is because when clay is dried it becomes hardened and water does not drain through it. These are not the types of qualities that plants are looking for in good soil. Plant roots need soil with good air circulation, drainage and space to grow.

There are some good things about clay soil. It is negatively charged, which means it can attract, hold onto, and absorb postively charged elements (like potassium, calcium, magnesium – some of the important plant nutrients). Clay soils can be improved by adding organic materials, like compost or manure. The larger particles in these materials provide space in the soil for air and water to circulate better, give plant roots more room to grow and stop the soil from being compacted so easily.

6) The soil here generally has a low pH, which means it is relatively acidic. One of the contributing factors of the soil acidity is the coniferous forest. Over time, needles dropped from conifer trees decompose and make the soil more acidic. Farmers will often add lime to make their soil less acidic.