Making Soil

I've been trying to make organic soil. The particles which make up soil are usually divided into sand, silt, and clay; silt being an in-between found mostly near rivers. These classifications are pretty obvious, if you have a bunch dirt in your hands.

We got a bunch of dirt from the lakeside in my local park, and cut it with compost. This was mixed thoroughly and then (due to neglect) rained on several times.

wheelbarrel mud

Pouring out the rainwater, the mud smelled strongly of swamp-smell, so I moved it to a tupperware bin to dry out.

tupperware mud

After a few days of sun-drying (and more neglect and rainwater, sqeezing out, and then more drying), I have successfully broken it up to a loose soil-like consistency. Hurray! It's very soft and I added come worm castings as well. It doesn't smell of swamp anymore, but is hopefully brewing with microorganisms.

final yummy dirt on left, chilli plant on right (not organic soil)

organic wheatgrass in organic soil in recycled container- success!