October 21, 2025 - Resources from Net

Download Grid-Down Soil Prep Checklist: HERE

Topic: Prepping the Soil for a Grid-Down Garden or Farm

When the power goes out and the trucks stop rolling, the health of your soil becomes the real measure of wealth. In this episode of The Hornet’s Nest, George Lee dives into how to prepare your garden or farm soil for long-term food security — even if the grid goes down. This isn’t about panic; it’s about practical preparation. With the right mindset and a bit of elbow grease, your soil can become your most valuable asset.

Why It Matters

“Grid-down” doesn’t have to mean hopeless — it means ready.
Your soil is your long-term food insurance. When you nurture it, it keeps producing no matter what happens above ground.

Healthy soil is alive — a microscopic city of bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms working 24/7 to turn waste into nutrients. If that underground ecosystem is strong, your garden can survive power outages, fertilizer shortages, and supply-chain hiccups.

The Mindset Shift: Soil Is Alive

Real gardening starts below the surface.
Soil isn’t just dirt; it’s a living system. Every handful of healthy soil holds billions of organisms that recycle nutrients, store carbon, and retain moisture. Feed them, and they’ll feed your plants for years.

You’re not just growing plants — you’re farming microbes. Treat them like livestock: feed them, protect them, and they’ll reward you in abundance.

Assess What You’ve Got

Before you can fix your soil, you’ve got to understand it. Skipping this step is like baking without measuring — you might get lucky once, but it won’t be consistent.

Jar Test – Discover Your Soil Texture

Mix samples from several garden spots.
Fill a mason jar halfway with soil, top with water and a drop of dish soap.
Shake well; let settle 24 hours.
Sand sinks first.
Silt forms the middle layer.
Clay settles last.

Reading it:

Mostly sand → good drainage, poor moisture.
Mostly clay → rich but tight; loosen with compost.
Roughly one-third each → loam, the ideal balance.

Vinegar & Baking Soda pH Check

Place dry soil on a plate; pour vinegar → fizz = alkaline.
Mix soil and water; sprinkle baking soda → fizz = acidic.
No fizz → neutral (≈ 6.5–7).
Adjust with ash or limestone (to raise) or compost/coffee/pine needles (to lower).

Worm Count – Life Beneath the Surface

Dig one cubic-foot section and count:

5 + worms: thriving.
1–4: fair; needs more organic matter.
0: lifeless; add compost and mulch.
Worms are your living soil-test kit — their presence proves biology is active and healthy.

Breaking Ground & Site Preparation

This is the missing link between testing and feeding — the hands-on work of choosing, clearing, and shaping your future garden.

Choosing the Spot

Sun: 6–8 hours of direct light; morning sun helps dry dew and fight mildew.
Wind: Use trees, fences, or sheds as natural windbreaks.
Drainage: Dig a hole, fill with water; if it drains within 4 hours, you’re good.
Access: Keep it near your home or barn so daily care is realistic.

Clearing & First Turn

Mow or scythe tall grass to ground level. Lay down cardboard or thick newspaper to smother roots.
If using machinery, make one shallow till or broad-fork pass—don’t over-till; that destroys structure and microbes.
Hand tools: spade, mattock, broadfork. The goal is 8–12 inches of loosened soil, not fine powder.

Dealing with Sod

For pasture or lawn conversions:

Mow tight and tarp 4–6 weeks (solarize).
Rake out dead grass for compost.
Add 2–3 inches of compost or aged manure before planting.
Solarizing uses sun heat to kill roots and weed seeds, letting you start clean without chemicals.

Borders & Beds

Frame plots with logs, timbers, or rocks — they define space and hold mulch.
Raised beds (8–12 inches high) drain faster and warm earlier in spring.
For larger systems, use 30-inch beds with 18-inch paths — the most efficient layout for hand tools.

Fixing Compaction

A broadfork is your friend: it lifts and cracks compacted soil without flipping layers.
Add coarse compost, leaf mold, or rotted wood chips to keep it loose.
Designate permanent walking paths to protect structure.

Amending Structure

Sandy → add compost or coir for water retention.

Clay → add coarse sand, compost, and leaf mold for airflow.
Rocky → screen top 6 inches or build raised beds.
These materials rebuild soil texture naturally, avoiding store-bought conditioners.

First Water Test

Water deeply once after prepping to settle air pockets. Wait two days; check for puddling or crusting.
If it puddles, you need more organic matter or slope correction; if it drains instantly, add mulch to hold moisture.

Rest & Cover Crop

If you’re prepping in fall, seed rye, clover, or vetch to cover bare soil. In spring, lay straw mulch or sow quick-growing daikon radish to break compaction. Cover crops act like living mulch. Their roots feed soil microbes by releasing sugars (root exudates) that attract bacteria and fungi. When they die back, those roots decompose into organic matter, improving structure and preventing erosion by holding soil in place through winter rains.

Feed the Soil Now

Healthy soil takes time to build, so start early.

Add compost, manure, leaves, grass clippings, and biochar.
Try lasagna layering, deep mulch, or hugelkultur beds using rotting logs to store moisture.
Do it now and by spring you’ll have dark, crumbly soil bursting with life.

Composting for Independence

Compost is your fertilizer factory — and you already covered it last week, so this can be a short refresher. Keep a mix of 3 parts browns to 1 part greens, damp but not soggy, and turn it every few weeks.By spring, you’ll have a steady supply of natural plant food. Compost isn’t just nutrients; it’s inoculation. It introduces beneficial microbes that jump-start soil life wherever you spread it.

(See expanded notes from 10/14 Net below where we covered composting in depth)

Water & Erosion Control

In a grid-down world, every drop matters.

-Mulch deeply to cut evaporation.

-Shape swales and trenches to catch runoff.

-Use raised barrels for gravity-fed irrigation.

-Practice with hand pumps or graywater systems before you need them.
-Mulch and swales mimic nature’s forest floor — they slow rain, let it soak in, and reduce topsoil loss. The result: less watering, less erosion, more resilience.

Fertility Without the Store

Nature provides all the fertilizer you need:

- Wood ash: potassium for strong roots (use sparingly).

-Eggshells: calcium for sturdy stems.

-Epsom salt: magnesium to help chlorophyll.

-Comfrey or nettle tea: nitrogen and trace minerals.

These natural amendments feed soil organisms first. When microbes digest them, they release nutrients slowly and evenly—no chemical shock, no runoff.

Tools & Seeds That Last

When the power’s out, hand tools shine.
Keep: a broadfork, hoe, spade, trowel, wheelbarrow, buckets, and heirloom seeds.
Hybrid seeds may give one good crop but won’t breed true. Save open-pollinated varieties and join local swaps to keep diversity alive.

Putting It All Together

Healthy soil equals independence. Start small—one 10×10 plot can feed a family when managed well.
Feed your soil year-round, mulch, compost, save seeds, and let nature handle the heavy lifting.

Explain: Regenerative soil care builds year-to-year momentum. Each season’s roots, leaves, and microbes create richer, darker soil — which holds more water, resists drought, and grows more food with less work.

The Takeaway “You can’t grow food in dead dirt. Feed the soil now, and it’ll feed you when it counts.”
— George Lee, W4GYL