Second garden advice please

[gundogblue]

Hi All,
This will be my second garden, last yr was my first and it was amazing, I planted tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, water melons, string beans, cucumbers, corn, and onions. Everything turned out great, I live 20 miles south of Chicago, and my dirt is pretty black. Last yr after tilling I added peatmoss, and bags of horse manure, my garden is fairly small it's only 20 ft by 20 ft but out of 14 tomatoe plants I was able to can a little over 100 quarts. But since this is the second yr for my garden I want to be sure I'm adding what needs to be added to the soil, I have tilled it 3 times this week, and last fall I raked up all the leaves and put them in my garden, along with year old wood chips. I would like to start planting everything in the next few days but is there anything else I should put in my garden to help the soil, like more peatmoss or more horse manure? I also left all the remains of the crops in the garden from last yr and tilled them into the soil as well. Any advice will be greatly apriciated, I just don't know enough about gardens yet to figure out how much nutrients the first garden took out of the soil,
Thank You,
Paul

[2cents]

gundogblue,
It sounds like you've done a good job putting organic material and nutrients back into the soil.
You can always try testing the soil for nutrients, maybe once or twice a year to keep an eye on what is going on chemically.
Many more people more educated than I here may add their two cents.
But, I would suggest during the year, side dressing plants with compost.
Adding lots of composted material in the fall and maybe seeding with rye over the leaves & manure in the fall will help. My dear old dad says it helps, put more back into the soil and break down the leaves & nuetralize the PH from the manure.
Be careful not to add too much of the wood chips in any one year, unless they are well composted.

[Bobberman]

I would have it tested or use a meter on it. Lime is always good to add a little espcially slow release!

[gundogblue]

Thanks for the advice, I will go out today and get a soil test kit, but do they come with instructions on how to tell if everything is good to go for different plants? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but as I've said I'm still a rookie as far as gardening is concerned.
Paul

[gundogblue]

Marlingardner,
Thanks for more good advice, and the kind words, but I can assure you my first garden success was purely beginners luck, I think everything just happened to be right, it's in full sun, and the dirt must be good, and it's on a very mild slope so it can only take so much water, and the rest just flows off it. But I did find a soil pH tester, but the guy at the nursury told me pretty much what the guys and gals on this sight have said.
Thanks for all the info,
Paul

[farmerlon]

... I have tilled it 3 times this week, and...

I would suggest that you keep the tilling (roto-tiller) to a bare minimum; you might even want to look into methods of no-till gardening.
The "heavy handed" aeration of the soil that a tiller provides, actually makes the organic matter (that you're trying to maintain) disappear from the soil much faster... not to mention the damage done to earthworms and other beneficial organisms that are needed for a really top-notch soil.

I didn't realize it either, the first couple of years that I had a garden. But, since I retired the tiller, my soil (and garden) have shown significant improvement.

[tomc]

You started out with "Loess" soil. It responds well to additions of compost or manure.

I will second encouragement to get your soil tested via your county extension service.

Bagged big-box store composts are too often must more loess (which you already have) with a bit of added 10-10-10, which you might not want.

Somewhere near you is a horse with its byproduct going to too little use. Follow your nose...

[Bobberman]

Lime seems to be a forgotten product for alot of gadeners! If a soil does not have enough of calcium or a lime mix alot of the minerals can not be absorbed by the plants. Too much is not good but a slow release lime is always good! My dad put lime on the garden every year and had the best lettuce you ever saw. He always had truck loads of leaves mixed in the soil with lime every year along with some manure!

[greenstubbs]

Illinois soil is the greatest!!!! Wish my soil was that black. I grew up in the Chgo area and never had to worry about the soil when I was a kid gardening, and never really added or did anything to it, I wouldn't worry about it to much, or do to much to it. JMHO

[farmerlon]

... Too much is not good but a slow release lime is always good! ---

Usually, unless your soil is already too Alkaline.
Personally, I think it's best to have the soil tested before applying Lime (or Sulfur). If the Lime is needed, most County Extension soil tests will include a recommendation for how much to apply.

Whenever you're starting a new garden area, I think a Soil Test is helpful to give you a "baseline" of knowledge about the soil you are working with.

[Kisal]

I, too, recommend taking a soil sample to your nearest Extension Service office to be tested. The people there are very experienced and will know the specific soil you're dealing with. It's better to get advice that relates directly to the soil in your area, rather than to soil 1,000 miles away. Until you know what your soil needs, there's no way you can be sure you're adding the right amendments. Organic material, like compost and composted manure, is very good for your soil, so you're always safe with that.

I grew up in southern Illinois, and we added composted manure (our family had a farm, but we lived in town) to the garden every year, but not much of anything else. My grandmother never used any type of pesticide. She's the one who taught me about hand-picking insects off of plants, and how important it was to examine your plants every day. If you do that, you will catch any pests early, before they develop into a major infestation.

You're doing great, so keep up the good work. [img]https://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/3.gif[/img]

[quiltbea]

Of course soil testing is the best advice. Then you know exactly what your soil needs. There are books that give the PH needs of all the crops out there. Several, like Organic Gardening Encyclopedia and The Bible of Vegetable Gardening. You could probably google PH requirements and get a listing.

It never hurts to add a trowel of compost into the hole any time you are planting a seedling or sowing an area of seeds.

If you're planting a brassica; brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, you may want to add a small handful of limestone to the bottom of the hole before planting. That additional limestone helps prevent clubroot, which is deadly to brassicas.

It sounds like you started out great and can only improve from there.

Good luck.