3 Ways to Build Soil Health💛

Look after your soil and your soil will look after you! Healthy soil means healthy plants and NOW is the time to show your soil some love before winter sets in.

In this week's episode, Ben shows us how to protect, feed and nurture your soil with these three simple techniques. Get ready to get on down and get your hands dirty!

For our video on collecting and using leaves, see:

If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which helps you to plan and design your garden to maximise yields and get more out of your garden all year round.
It's available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
and many more...

[namibianurbangardener]

I live in Namibia. It's super dry here because I litterly live in a Desert and because of that I never tried gardening. But because of your videos I managed to amend my soil. I just started growing some kale and cabbages and carrots and they all seem to be doing really well.

[audi]

This man should have is own BBC garden shown on a Sunday morning. Down to earth and bad ass knowledge and experience that is shared.

[homelife]

I laughed so hard at “this really is the 💩.” I was not expecting that from you 🤣😂🤣

[bethfromohio]

I just have to say THANK YOU Ben for providing me with much-needed therapy! You are cheerful and sweet and just what we need now in this crazy, often mean-spirited, self-absorbed world. If I've had a day full of mean and nasties, I just come home from work and soak in your kindness and warmth. My garden thanks you too for your inspiring ideas.

[Beaguins]

This was my 3rd year on my sandy garden (re-claimed lake bed). Each year I've increased my production of homemade compost and leaf mold, and this year I was able to cover almost all my garden beds with one or the other! It's exciting! The soil had almost no nutrients in 2019, but it's gotten better each year.

[whathandleUtalkabt]

You couldn't have said it better. Give back to soil for ALL that the soil has given us. Amen !

[samueljaramillo]

I take all my table scraps and pulverize them in a blender then pour them into my garden beds.

[Josiahdrews]

Other that adding compost in the spring and summer in the fall after most everything is done. I layer a mixture of leaves, straw, and grass clippings. By the spring there rotted down enough to turn them into the soil and ready for me to plant

[dos-fslady]

Ben -- I am SO HAPPY to hear you spreading the word about composting directly in your planting beds. I have been doing this for years around the entire yard, and everything is thriving beyond my wildest expectations. Cheers from Albuquerque, New Mexico!

[garden_geek]

Great ideas! I used to amend my garden beds mostly with bagged chicken and steer manure because it was the cheapest way to do so when I first got into gardening. Now I have multiple compost bins and a large trash can filled with leaf mold so I don’t have to buy compost very often anymore.

I try to feed my soil from a variety of sources in the hopes of providing many different nutrients for diverse soil life. Home made compost, leaf mold and glass clippings are my most commonly used amendments, and I don’t do any tilling - I just set it on top and let the soil life work it in over time.

[meredith]

My mother buried food scraps all winter in our yard and garden, I'd forgotten about that. Thanks for the reminder, think I'll do that this winter.

[elizabethhayes]

the "lasagna garden" concept really does work .... just layer in grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps, cardboard, wood chips, etc. all winter and by planting time, you'll have lovely, plant-ready soil. I have been throwing a bag or three of commercial soil (bought at Lowe's) on top as extra insurance, but I really don't think I need do that anymore. I'm going to try going without next May. Thank you for another informative and fun video!

[ishandebee]

At last! My heart is warmed 🔥 by someone talking about the importance of the health of soil. It’s our very body, what feeds and grows us. Sequesters carbon dioxide and stores water. If we could all get our governments to truly understand the critical need for healthy soil, our climate and our health would improve 🙏🏼
Yay 🎉for Ben 🫶🏼

[jaymzgaetz]

Raised rows with mulch in the valleys and compost tea will give you more harvest per square foot than you can handle. I was hired to build a garden for a botanist that was responsible for tripling the yield of the community garden and that was how she designed it. Simply and effective. I used the method to grow some outrageous outdoor oregon reefer 😎

[Yaqeen]

I chopped my banana waste and mulch over my vegetables beds and fruit trees. Earthworms love it and you can easily see them everywhere. Many uses even the root balls can be made into liquid fertilizers.

[meimeihechuan]

Amazing. Also, your videos are so well made that they are ready to be shown on any TV. Thanks!

[RCPrepping]

Greeting from central Florida USA! I prepare my garden like this all year round. I grow veggies all year round.

[izzywizzy]

I am trying field beans and peas as green manure this year for the first time. I didn’t realise about not letting them flower or set seed, so thanks for the tip.

[we]

I 10/10 recommend this channel to those who are interested in gardening AND even those who are not. You will learn something about SOMETHING, and get a great healthy laugh from a great loving life guy.

[ColinBFClarke]

Thanks for the help, I should cover my garden with leaves