Soil...Just dirt... or is it?

I've hit the subject of soils pretty hard these last few months and there's a very good reason. Soil is the foundation of everything we do as gardeners, be it home gardening or even commercial. Without good soil, our efforts will be in vain. Most people will look at soil and just see dirt. What is soil, really, and what makes good soil? Good soil is productive. That means it will grow your plants from seedlings, whether flowers or vegetables, into vigorous, healthy, mature plants. Soil starts out as rocks. Over the years the rocks are ground down finer and finer until they become dirt. It's ea...