Posted: 5/10/2011 8:07:21 AM EDT
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I have a raised garden (about six inches) , 10x20 feet, that we have been planting in for the last couple years.
The first year we had (looking at it from left to right): Tomatoes - (two rows of different variety), cucumber, pumpkin, potatoes (overtaken by the pumpkin), jalapeños and Thai chillies, and a small roll in the back of lettuce. Last year we did: Cucumber, tomatoes (two rows), tomatillo, jalapeño, poblano, green beans (two rows), and onions along the front. This year, upon cleaning up, the soil looks "pale", there seems to be a lot of small stones/rocks and it seems more dense or hard to turn. I haven't tested it, but I'm sure with all we have grown in the couple years the soil must have lost a lot of it's nutrients. What are good ways of making the soil rich again? Just a few bags of garden soil and/or some fertilizer mixed in? How far deep should I mix it? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks |
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Partially rotten horse or cow manure, rotten sawdust, and rotten wood with loosen things up and allow some good tilling/mixing. Stay away from chicken manure, it has a LOT of nitrogen in it and will actually kill plants if you use it too heavily. The pebbles and rocks on the surface are normal when you loosed up te soil. Rain moves the fine grit stuff and leaves the pebbles in place. My patch looked like a gravel road before I tilled it.
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could be that the biomass in the soil has decomposed. adding material that is no longer living can help. Horse manure that is properly aged might do the trick, but you can also buy a 40 pound bag of aged horse manure and other matter at lowes for around a buck fifty per bag. Good stuff.
This is one reason folks grow clover and rye grass then till it in about now so it can rot for next year! if you think of a garden rotation, while you are growing this year in plot A, you can be rotting biomass in plot B, and growing biomass in plot c. |
| I don't know what you grow up there –– literally –– but you probably can get a lot of the waste stuff of whatever it is, composted. In Texas, on the Gulf coast, it's rice hulls. They work great. I know that oat hulls are as good. Do you have any busy coffee shops in the area? Take ten or more pounds of grounds a day (every day) off of their hands for a while, also. |
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You have to be careful when using "compost" or other waste products, depending on the source it may consume more nutrients esp. nitrogen from the system than what you end up getting back as the microbes require nitrogen in order to digest the carbon in the compost. If it is already well-digested material then it is likely OK. Manure based compost should be good stuff in that it should bring a good amount of nitrogen with it. Good advice about growing a cover crop immediately after harvesting your garden, especially something clover or alfalfa based which will extract atmospheric nitrogen and return it to the soil. Same for a quick crop of peas which will grow fast.
Depending on your soil type, you might want to look at either lime (if the soil is acid, you can get it tested at the local county ag office) or gypsum if the soil is not acid. Some soils get depleted of calcium which is the glue that makes soil nice and clumpy permitting air and water to penetrate. Both lime and gypsum will supply calcium. |
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Good advice given IMHO.
I noticed you live in Michigan.............EVERY autumn...........dig in alot of fallen leaves. If you have access to grass clippings dig them in with the leaves every autumn. You'll probably never need to buy compost again if you do that IMHO. |
| Check Craig's List for people selling compost by the cubic yard in your area. Buying bags at the box stores isn't as cost effective as buying it by the cubic yard. In addition to that, the compost at the big box stores usually doesn't have much variety in it. The best compost is made from multiple organic inputs. |
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Quoted:
Check Craig's List for people selling compost by the cubic yard in your area. Buying bags at the box stores isn't as cost effective as buying it by the cubic yard. In addition to that, the compost at the big box stores usually doesn't have much variety in it. The best compost is made from multiple organic inputs. I absolutely agree, just that when you buy it by the yard and you don't have a front end loader to move it you are wheelbarrowing it. by the bag from a big box, you can carry 50 pounds fairly quickly and easy. |