Peat moss: rescues organic gardening and community sustainable agriculture

Peat moss has to be the organic gardener's best friend and the backbone of Community Sustainable Agriculture, CSA. Organic materials decay and become humus in the soil. It is so vital to good soil health, but when many urban gardens are born, precious little is around and that's when peat moss can come to your rescue.

The soil around subdivisions has been so torn-up by machinery, basement digs; backfilling foundations that most city gardens need organic material to build good soil. Compost is the very best way to add fiber to your soil, but until you get settled into a home, most organic gardeners just don't have a compost pile started or yielding much yet. So peat moss is a fast economic way to turn the hardest poorest soil into something more palatable.

It won't add a lot of nutrients like compost, but it will give you more till ability. There are many kinds of peat moss and peat bogs can be found in many states, but most of the Sphagnum peat comes from Canada today.

Its wiry texture creates space between the sand and clay particles in soil and that helps create a little fluff that helps water filter through the soil. The peat will also act as a spong – keeping water close to rootlets rather than draining rapidly through sandy soil or being baked out of clay.

I highly recommend organic gardeners have at least one brick of peat around at all times. It can even help your compost pile as you work toward building good soil in your little patch of urban nirvana.

For more info: catch my next article on another quick fix to turn crappy dirt into black gold