The above photo is a handful of my recently sifted compost. It is black gold. A successful garden is all about the soil which is why I have composted for decades in three different gardens.

We now live in the Sunset Cliffs neighborhood in San Diego. Our soil is very sandy—basically sandstone cliffs broken down over time.

This is our native soil. Walking on it is like walking on beach sand. It drains very well but doesn’t hold nutrients or water. Frankly, I’d rather have this than the clay soil in my sister’s Ventura garden. A hand-held pick axe is needed to prepare a planting hole.

After years of composting, this is what my garden soil looks like today. It’s full of microbial life and nutrients that produce bountiful crops. My mantra is “it’s all about the soil.” If you have good soil you’ll have good food.

My next post is How to Compost at Home. Check it out tomorrow for a simple guide on how to get started. And besides, we’ve got stay-at-home orders, so why not?