News
2025
Spring Gardening Tips from Herbalist AnnMarie Tedeschi
Preparing Your Soil
Spring invites us to reconnect with the Earth through the timeless practice of gardening. Whether you're growing herbs, vegetables, native plants, or flowers, a thriving garden begins with healthy, balanced soil. Now is a good time to research the plants, shrubs, or trees you would like to grow. Understanding their specific needs—such as sun exposure, moisture, spacing, and soil preferences—can make a big difference in their health and yield.
Soil Health
Soil health is the foundation of a vibrant garden. Be sure to choose appropriate soil or to make amendments to the existing ground soil by adding compost and fertilizer. This will help provide better drainage and supply beneficial nutrients. Slow-acting fertilizers are generally best, such as fish emulsion, bone meal, cottonseed meal, or worm castings.
Understanding Soil pH
Most plants thrive in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0—slightly acidic to neutral—which promotes the best availability of essential plant nutrients. However, researching each plant is essential since there are exceptions. Acid-loving plants like blueberries, azaleas, lilies, and daisies prefer more acidic soils (pH 5.0–5.5). You can lower the pH naturally by adding compost, sulfur, or pine mulch (pine needles or pinecones). Other plants, such as lavender, rosemary, and okra prefer slightly alkaline conditions (pH 7.5–8.0). To raise the pH, consider incorporating ash or limestone into your soil.
Test Your Soil
To determine your soil’s pH and better understand its nutrient content, consider having it tested. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County offers pH testing for just $3 per sample, and more comprehensive testing is also available, including fertility analysis, soil health, and plant-soil suitability. Visit ulster.cce.cornell.edu for more information.
Wishing you all a happy spring and an abundant gardening season!
AnnMarie Tedeschi of Infinite Roots
AnnMarie Tedeschi has a lifelong affinity for nourishing and supporting the people around her. Her passion as an herbalist is to empower people to understand the whole picture of their health and to make their own remedies. As an artist as well, she enjoys the creative process of blending formulas. Through the Holistic Health Community’s Soil to Soul and outreach programming, AnnMarie offers free herbal circle gatherings in Kingston, as well as other workshops, each one exploring a different topic on the use of herbs for healing and self-care. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about these gatherings.
Learn more about AnnMarie and her work at instagram.com/infinite.roots.
