Growing healthy food begins with growing healthy soil. Whether it’s kale or carrots, every superfood starts with super soil. But how do you know if your soil is actually “super”? You don’t need a lab coat to figure it out—just the right tests, terms, and a little know-how. Let’s dig in and build your soil IQ so your garden can grow strong, clean, and nutrient-rich.
3 Key Terms to Know for Soil Success
You’ll hear soil experts talk about texture, structure, and tilth. These three terms help you understand what your soil can do.
• Texture tells you the mix of sand, silt, and clay. Ideal soil—called loam—has a balanced mix and feels crumbly in your hand.
• Structure describes how soil particles bind together. Good structure lets roots grow deep and allows water to drain well.
• Tilth is how workable your soil feels. When tilth is good, soil is soft, rich, and easy to plant in.
Knowing these terms helps you read your soil and respond with the right care.
3 Must-Do Soil Requirements
Even healthy-looking soil can hide problems. Do these three things before planting superfoods:
1. Run a heavy metal test once. It’s a one-time check that makes sure your soil isn’t contaminated with dangerous toxins like lead or arsenic.
2. Get a soil nutrient test. This tells you what your soil has and what it lacks, like nitrogen or potassium—both vital for plant health.
3. Add organic matter. Compost, aged manure, or leaf mold improve nutrient levels and help maintain structure and tilth.
You can’t grow healthy food in poor soil. These steps give you a clear start.
Use the Soil Jar Test
Want a free, fast way to learn your soil type? Use the soil jar test.
Take a handful of your soil, add water, and shake it in a jar. Let it settle overnight. The layers that form show you how much sand, silt, and clay are in your mix. Loam is the ideal—it has roughly 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay. This test gives you a visual read on texture and hints at your soil’s structure.
Learn more about how to test your soil with the soil jar test in our blog here.
Growing in Containers? That’s Not Soil
if you grow in pots or raised beds, you’re using a soil mix, not true soil.
Peat moss or coconut coir holds moisture. Compost adds nutrients. Vermiculite and perlite improve drainage and air flow. You’ll need to manage nutrients more often, since container “soils” don’t have the living systems of real ground soil.
Build Soil, Grow Power
Growing healthy, fresh food needs super soil—and now you know how to create it. Test your soil, learn the texture, improve the structure, and feed it with organic matter. Whether you’re planting in the ground or a pot, what you grow in shapes what you grow. Better soil, better food, better you.
