Maximize Soil Cover
One of the four soil health principles is to keep the soil covered as much as possible. Mulches, cover crops, and even the vegetation of the crops themselves can [...]
Wildergarden – A Local Resource
A perspective on Wildergarden in Broad Ripple and its relationship with the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District Guest blog by Julia Wilder of [...]
Indiana Cover Crop Tool for Small Farms and Gardens
The Indiana Cover Crop Tool for Small Farms and Gardens is an excel workbook to help small farmers, gardeners, and conservation planners make cover crop decisions and determine seeding [...]
Indiana Growers Trip to Rough Draft Farmstead
On May 23, 2023, thirty Indiana urban and small-scale vegetable farmers took a bus ride to Kentucky, where farmer Jesse Frost gave a tour of his soil health-centric Rough [...]
Soil Surveys
The USDA-NRCS National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) Web Soil Survey is a free, powerful online tool that allows us to draw a polygon around an area on a map and [...]
Soil, Where Food Begins
World Soil Day, celebrated annually on Dec. 5, chose “Soil, Where Food Begins” as this year’s theme. Soil is a precious resource, and it will take a team effort to [...]
Boost Your Soils Productivity
by Jerry Raynor, NRCS State Conservationist Have you ever seen white crusts on soil in Indiana? Yes, it is what you think. Soils can be salty. That’s because salts [...]
Making Compost Tea
By John Hazlett, SWCD District Manager Every year around Thanksgiving I enjoy another tradition at home-brewing compost tea for my native trees and shrubs. Generally, I tend to land [...]
Eagle Creek Demo Garden Fall 2021
by Kevin Allison, Soil Health Specialist Fall 2021 This post demonstrates 3 strategies that I found to be particularly useful at the SWCD garden this year. Cereal Rye > [...]
Eagle Creek Demo Garden – Spring 2021
by Kevin Allison, Soil Health Specialist Spring 2021 The SWCD Eagle Creek Demonstration Garden is an educational space for no-till gardening and soil health practices such as crop rotation, cover [...]