It is non-negotiable that the quality of your soil is the determining factor of whether your garden will thrive or not. I think about it like this: If a mother does not have all that she needs, how can she properly take care of her children?
The structure of the soil in this backyard is tight, sandy, and hydrophobic. I have been adding natural and organic materials to the soil in an attempt to regenerate productive structure. It has been working!
What I have been adding: Coffee Grounds, egg shells, and pieces of banana pulled from the fertilizer water(soggy enough to decompose within a day or two in the soil). Admittedly, this has not been fool-proof. The coffee grounds occasionally grow mold, the egg shells get picked out of the soil by birds(but this is supporting biodiversity so what the hell), and the banana isn’t a constant. Could I just buy an all purpose calcium fertilizer to add? Absolutely. Am I torturing myself by insisting that I stick to my own ethos of using what I have? Absolutely. However, there is something beautiful about spending time with the land and pouring your heart into it, and then seeing how the land grows and loves you back. Is personifying the soil weird?
The Urban Reclamation Project 