Since this is an organic gardening podcast on growing the most nutrient-dense food and plants possible, it's definitely necessary that I give this information on how to properly balance nutrients in the garden. To me, this is crucial and it's what's missing in most organic gardening teachings that often focus more on organic matter and perhaps applying a few organic fertilizers, often fertilizers that can make things worse.

Some of the simple soil tests we can do on our own, and the more difficult nutrient testing we leave to a soil lab that can do a much better job than us. The goal of the next two podcasts is to outline a simple process for soil and plant testing for organic gardeners, so simple that many of the steps can be done annually, as the real benefit of testing comes from comparing results from year to year to see if what you're doing is working.

Soil texture is the proportion of sand, silt and clay in the soil, while soil structure is what results when the soil is manipulated by microbes, plants and animals in our organic gardens. The soil texture, structure and organic matter content give us clues as to the soil's ability to deal with water/air, as well as to the soil's inherent fertility, CEC, and nutrient holding capacity.

In what kind of soil does a dandelion reside? To stop these things from being a problem, we need to delve into a topic that most gardening books brush over, even organic gardening books - why they're there in the first place.

Plants love music; Plants have multiple means of protecting themselves; Most plants need dozens and dozens of elements; Native plants and non-native plants are important in our organic gardens.

The "soil food web" is an army of tireless workers - 20,000 to 30,000 different species of organisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil. We call it a web to focus on not only the different creatures living in and on the soil in your organic garden, but - more importantly - on how they relate to each other, how they interact.