My vegetable garden soil is balanced, crumbly, rich in humus, earthworms and other wiggly creatures.

I enjoy digging in the dirt and watching things grow. For me, it is a form of meditation. Like yoga, a good way to de-stress. Tilling the soil is as physically demanding as an intense workout in the gym.

I have introduced our 2-year-old son to gardening and he is intrigued with gardening tools and planting. He has tried our fresh lettuce and spinach. As best he can, he helps me in the garden as I'm building structures, spreading mulch and planting flowers.

I planted my first garden when I was in graduate school and my roommate and I always grew the largest vegetable plants in the neighborhood. I find myself meditating often as I work in my garden year-round. This is my fourth year building my garden soil and it is just about where I want it.   

A tasty sampling of my spring garden with spinach, Swiss chard, beets, and two types of Bibb lettuce. Also noticeable are two types of heirloom tomatoes, English mint, and basil that are ready for transplanting.

The essence of establishing a healthy, pest and disease-free, bountiful vegetable garden begins in the soil. Build the soil and you will reap rewards for yourself and your family for years to come. Most of us have less than perfect soil to begin with. If your soil is too clayey, too sandy, too stony or too acidic, don't despair. Turning poor soil into plant-friendly soil is not difficult to do once you understand the components of healthy soil.

Soil is composed of weathered rock and organic matter, water and air. But the magic in healthy soil is the organisms-small animals, worms, insects and most importantly, microbes-that flourish when the other five important soil elements are in balance.

Minerals: Roughly half of the soil in your garden consists of small bits of weathered rock that has gradually been broken down by the forces of wind, rain, freezing, thawing and other chemical and biological processes.

Organic Matter: Organic matter is the partially decomposed remains of soil organisms and plant life.  Although it only makes up a small fraction of the soil (5 to 10 percent), organic matter is absolutely essential. It binds together soil particles into porous crumbs or granules that allow air and water to move through the soil. Organic matter also retains moisture (humus holds up to 90 percent of its weight in water) and is able to absorb and store nutrients. Most importantly, organic matter is food for microorganisms and other forms of soil life.

You can increase the amount of organic matter in your soil by adding compost, aged animal manures, cover crops, mulches or peat moss. My favorite soil amendment is mushroom compost, which can be bought in bags at your favorite home supply store. An inexpensive way to purchase compost is to purchase it by the cubic yard from a local landscape supply vendor. Because most soil life and plant roots are located in the top six inches of soil, concentrate organic matter on this upper layer.

Soil life: Soil organisms include the bacteria and fungi, protozoa and nematodes, mites, earthworms and other tiny creatures found in healthy soil. These organisms are essential for plant growth. They help to convert organic matter and soil minerals into the vitamins, hormones, disease-suppressing compounds and nutrients that plants need to grow.

Their excretions also help to bind soil particles into the small aggregates that make soil loose and crumbly. As a gardener, your job is to create ideal conditions for these soil organisms to do their work.  This means providing them with an abundant source of food (the carbohydrates in organic matter), oxygen (present in well-aerated soil) and water.

Air: A healthy soil is about 25 percent air. Earthworms and other living organisms require this much air to live and thrive. Whether you have clayey or sandy soil, to ensure there is a balanced supply of air, add plenty of organic matter and avoid stepping in the growing beds or compacting the soil with heavy equipment. Never work the soil when it is very wet.

Water: A healthy soil will also contain about 25 percent water. Water, like air, is held in the pore spaces between particles. Large pore spaces allow rain and irrigation to move down to the root zone and into the subsoil. In sandy soils, the spaces between the soil particles are so large that gravity causes water to drain down and out very quickly.

Small pore spaces in clayey soil permit water to migrate back upwards through capillary action. In water logged soils, water has completely filled the pore spaces, forcing all the air out. This suffocates soil organisms as well as plant roots.

Ideally, your soil should have a combination of large and small pore spaces. Again, organic matter is the key, because it encourages the formation of aggregate, crumbly soil. Organic matter also absorbs water and retains it until it is needed by plant roots.

If you follow these simple but important steps in building your garden soil, you will have a healthy and bountiful vegetable garden to enjoy as you reap the great herbs, spices, fruits, and vegetables you have sown. Additionally, your body will thank you as you bathe in health from growing and eating natural organic foods.

-Story by Frank Sanchez, REHS, Environmental Health Section, DPH