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Soil Amendments

Nourish your land with natural amendments that build life and resilience beneath your feet.

Earth Care soil amendments:

🌱 Compost & Organic Matter

  • Finished compost

  • Vermicompost (worm castings)

  • Black soldier fly frass (must be cured)

  • Leaf mold

  • Aged manure (herbivore sources)

  • Green manure

  • Compost tea

  • Aerated compost tea

These primarily add:

  • Organic matter

  • Beneficial microbes

  • Slow-release nutrients

🌳 Carbon-Rich Amendments

  • Biochar

  • Wood chips

  • Shredded leaves

  • Pine needles

  • Sawdust (untreated)

  • Bark fines

  • Straw

  • Hay (weed-free)

These help:

  • Build soil structure

  • Feed fungi

  • Increase water retention

🪨 Mineral Amendments

  • Rock dust, Basalt dust, Granite dust, Glacial rock dust, Azomite & Greensand

These supply:

  • Trace minerals

  • Long-term soil remineralization

⚡ Calcium Sources

  • Agricultural lime

  • Dolomitic lime

  • Gypsum

  • Crushed eggshells

  • Oyster shell flour

Used for:

  • Calcium deficiencies

  • Soil structure improvement

  • pH management

🌊 Marine-Based Amendments

  • Kelp meal

  • Seaweed meal

  • Fish hydrolysate

  • Fish emulsion

  • Crustacean meal

Benefits:

  • Trace minerals

  • Plant growth stimulants

  • Microbial support

🌾 Nitrogen Sources

  • Alfalfa meal

  • Soybean meal

  • Clover cover crops

  • Legume residues

  • Composted poultry manure

Used to support:

  • Vegetative growth

  • Soil biology

🌻 Cover Crops (Living Soil Amendments)

  • Clover

  • Hairy vetch

  • Rye

  • Buckwheat

  • Oat

Benefits:

  • Add organic matter

  • Fix nitrogen

  • Prevent erosion

  • Break up compaction

🐛 Biological Amendments

  • Worm castings

  • Mycorrhizal fungi

  • Beneficial bacteria inoculants

  • Indigenous microorganism cultures (IMO)

  • Compost extracts

These help:

  • Improve nutrient cycling

  • Build soil food webs

🍂 Free Local Resources

These are often the most Earth Care-friendly:

  • Arborist wood chips

  • Fallen leaves

  • Grass clippings

  • Garden trimmings

  • Coffee grounds

  • Spent brewery grains

  • Food scraps (composted)

Grow Earth Care Philosophy

Step 1: Protect the Soil

  • Mulch

  • Cover crops

Step 2: Feed the Soil

  • Compost

  • Organic matter

Step 3: Mineralize the Soil

  • Rock dusts

  • Calcium sources

Step 4: Build Soil Biology

  • Worm castings

  • Compost teas

  • Mycorrhizae

Step 5: Keep Living Roots in the Ground

  • Cover crops

  • Food forests

  • Diverse plantings

Healthy soil isn't created by a single product—it's built by supporting the physical, chemical, and biological systems that make soil alive.

How to use mulches:

Around fruit trees, food forests, and perennials

✅ Wood chips (especially arborist chips)

In annual vegetable beds

✅ Compost, leaves, straw, or aged wood chips

Building poor soil

✅ Wood chips are one of the most effective low-cost tools because they mimic how nature builds soil on a forest floor.

Soil is never left bare in nature:

Nature mulches itself. Fallen leaves, branches, and organic matter protect and feed the soil. Our goal is to mimic that process rather than leave soil exposed.

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email: connect@earthcarenetwork.org

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