Did you know over 95% of our food comes from the ground beneath our feet? Soil is more than just dirt—it’s the life source of our planet. This year’s World Soil Day theme, “Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage”, is a reminder of just how important it is to keep our soil healthy, happy, and thriving.
To celebrate, we caught up with Sarah Anderson, the green-thumb behind Popes Produce. Their small urban market garden, nestled in their family backyard, is all about growing fresh, seasonal produce while caring for the earth. With years of gardening know-how and a knack for turning food scraps into magic compost, they’ve got soil care down to an art—and they’re sharing their top tips and tricks to help you do the same.
Q&A with Sarah Anderson, Popes Produce
What practices do you use to maintain and improve soil health in your garden?
Compost compost compost! And keep the soil covered with living plants or mulch. I also try not to disturb it much—just a little forking now and again for aeration, no turning.
How do you go about enriching your soil naturally?
Adding compost and rotating crops each season. I don’t have a particular set rhythm for this—just don’t grow the same thing in the same place year after year. I also have a permanent bed layout that I don’t walk on. So, as the soil structure opens up over time through compost, worm, and microbial activity, everything has enough air to do its thing.
What benefits have you noticed in your produce and garden space from doing this?
There’s a lovely rhythm when the system is in its flow. I’ve got the compost system just above the garden, storage for wood shavings to continuously top up the paths with carbon material, and I can see what’s happening where. Over time, the biodiversity has expanded too. There’s a calmness to the space as all these microcycles overlay and do their thing.
How do you address challenges with your soil, like pH imbalance or contamination?
Any challenges like pH imbalance or soil contamination need further information to make sure you’re addressing the actual issue rather than throwing things at it, hoping they’ll work. Something that will benefit one garden may not in the next space. Always start with why. Then ask why again when you come up against an issue.
What tips would you give to other gardeners on building and sustaining healthy, fertile soil?
Make your own compost! It seems really tricky finding a reliable, healthy source locally. To build a happy garden, you’ve got to build happy soil.
Interested in supporting local growers? Find out more about Popes Produce’s produce subscriptions.
