Amending my soil
My vegetable garden is not thriving. We’ve had a lot of rain and I don’t think that is helping, but I actually think the problem is with the soil. What is the first thing I should do to help amend the soil? As you can see, I am new and learning and find all of this so exciting . Thank you for your help!
Top answer
the best way to start is by getting the microbes in the ground, JMS to get the the microbes deep in the soil, IMO4 (just under the mulch layer) for surface microbes and treat with Soil Prep Formula ...Some other things we can do ...treat with KNF Soil Prep Formula ...plant cover crops for natural tillage and green manure ...compost treated with LIMO and other KNF Solutions is a great soil amendment ...KNF treated Bio Char is among one of the best things we can add to any soil ...worm castings is another great soil additive ...composted animal manure (from a good source) ...if we are dealing with really heavy clay soil adding some compost along with a bit of coco coir and/or peat moss and some dolomite lime, giving a light till to the soil just 1 time to help get it all mixed up and break up the clay ...its all about getting that organic materiel in the soil so the microbes have a place to live and food to eat (if you build it they will come)
May the Force be with You along your Journey
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
·
Sep 2026
·
5 sources
Drake recommends you stop tilling. Tilling resets the microbes' progress each season, and the library calls that out of the question (KNF Demystified, p. 14). Each pass destroys the progress Nature has made building soil (KNF Demystified, p. 8).
Keep the soil covered, and remove weeds only when beneficial plants can replace them (KNF Demystified, p. 12).
- Apply IMO4 and soil formula one week before planting if the last crop was good (Office Hours Ep. 57, 1:03:19).
- Apply them two weeks before, plus an extra liquid feeding, if you had successive cropping disorder (Office Hours Ep. 57, 1:03:19).
- Redo IMO4 any time you disturb the soil. After two or three seasons, healthy soil may not need it (Office Hours Ep. 14, 11:58).
The library says nothing about heavy rain or how to tell what is wrong with your garden.
Sources
- 1:03:19 Office Hours Ep. 57 (Nov 2022) — Sea Salt Minerals, FPJ Alcohol Smell, IMO3 to IMO4 · “One week before planting if the last crop was good, or two weeks before plus an extra liquid feeding if you had successive cropping disorder.”
- 11:58 Office Hours Ep. 14 (Jan 2022) — JADAM Sulfur, Humic Acid From Compost, C90 Seawater Ratio · “Do IMO4 soil foundation any time you disturb the soil; after two or three seasons of natural farming, healthy soil may not need it anymore.”
- p. 8 KNF Demystified · “all the progress Nature has made building soil is destroyed”
- p. 14 KNF Demystified · “so tilling and resetting their progress each season is out of the question”
- p. 12 KNF Demystified · “Keeping the soils covered is paramount, so only remove weeds when they can be replaced by beneficial plants.”
Also discussed on Office Hours
Biochar Activation, Fish for FAA, and Fruit Sweetness Formula
- 27:27 …I'm amending into like really poor soil area. Um, and so the biochar went down with the dolomite…
- 1:00:36 …week, like not pre-amending your soil with extra compost, but after week one, week two, depending…
- 1:00:54 …that compost. So I recommend not over-amending your soil too much in the very beginning,…
