How could soil management changes improve the OCCUH?

Soil management is becoming increasingly important as the human population grows, and can always be improved to fit the purpose.  In lecture we discussed good soil management as having low bulk density, stable aggregates, and lots of macropores. Cody said that in order to make more of the soil at the OCCUH ready for gardening, more organic matter is needed. Organic matter provides plants with carbon, energy, lowers the bulk density, and helps facilitate nutrient exchange. 

The center is already has some great management practices in place, such as using cover crops to increase organic matter and reduce soil erosion.

In the main outdoor garden, there may be a need to reduce the amount of organic matter put into the soil each year in order to keep the pH at around 6.5. This pH will allow the microbes to thrive, and produce maximum nutrient availability. Other things that may help the center include taking soil samples to check pH, cation exchange capacity, bulk density, texture, and amount of organic matter.

If this were a larger operation with use of tractors, it would be recommended that they use traffic control to prevent the field from becoming compacted. Overall, the reason soil management is important is to increase crop yields in a sustainable way so the fields are productive each year.