Here's another guest post from Fern Marshall Bradley, coeditor of Reader's Digest's All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening.

In my last post, I introduced the link between soil health and human health. It's a simple connection. The plants we eat (and that livestock such as beef cattle eat) draw all their nutrients from the soil. So in order to have a healthy diet, we need to eat plants and meat that were properly nourished by growing in a healthy, nutrient-rich soil.

As I explained last time, one great way to boost soil health is to make and add compost to your soil. But besides composting, you can also treat your soil to healthy "snacks" all season long by covering the soil with organic mulch. What's organic mulch? Simply some type of formerly living plant material, such as fallen leaves or grass clippings. Earthworms, centipedes, and a host of other tiny creatures and microorganisms that live in soil will feed on the organic mulch and digest it, yielding a wide range of nutrients that plant roots can absorb.

Here's a top ten list of organic mulches for home gardens:

1. Shredded leaves
2. Leaf mold (decomposed leaves)
3. Grass clippings
4. Pulled weeds (remove any that have gone to seed first)
5. Wood chips (let them age for several months before using)
6. Straw (in vegetable gardens)
7. Pine needles (especially for acid-loving plants like rhododendrons)
8. Newspaper (soak it before laying it on the soil around plants)
9. Shredded paper (use it like straw)
10. Coffee grounds (collect them from a local coffee shop)

Just spread mulch 1 to 2 inches thick between and around all the plants in your gardens. Be sure to leave several inches of open space between plant stems and the mulch though, to help prevent stem or trunk rots and slug or other pest problems.

P.S. Would you like to win an edible garden for your community or local school? If so, check out the contest that Reader's Digest is offering in conjunction with Share our Strength and the Food Network. They're giving away five great gardens, and you could be one of the winners!