Hi,
I am building a "Raised Bed" organic vegetable garden for my back yard. I need to haul in top soil since I will not be rototilling the ground underneath. I will be adding composted horse manure to the soil as well. My question is what kind of soil should I buy to haul into the bed? If I buy organic soil, will it be too much organic matter after adding composted horse manure? I am new at this, maybe there is no such thing as too much organic matter
Thanks.
Jackie
I personally don't think you can have tooooo much organic matter.
Organic soil doesnt mean it has more organic matter. It just means it hasnt been treated with chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides.
I have cinder block raised beds that I put compost and top soil from my land in and have great success. Sounds like you are on your way to a great raised bed to grow lots of veggies in.
Let us know how you do.
p.s. I laid down cardboard boxes on the ground before putting the raised bed there to kill back some of the weeds. Eventually the cardboard breaks down into a nice crumbly soil. It keeps large cardboard boxes out of the landfill and it recycles it back into the earth since cardboard is cellulose. It is also allowed under USDA organic standards.
Thanks for the reply to my question about the soil. I guess I will just purchase soil from the nursery (organic as possible) and add my composted manure. We did lay down a mesh type of material that is suppose to stop the grass from growing underneath.
Jackie
Hi Jackie, you can make your own soil with the manure you already have and mulched leaves this fall. Don't use Oak leaves if you want to grow corn or any other grasses and don't use walnutleaves. We have a plethora of information in the forums on composting.
But, this method would be called sheet composting. Lay the mulched leaves (use a lawnmower) over the area and turn into manure or even better place more manure over top the leaves. Leave for the winter.
I like to plant a green manure (otherwise known as a cover crop) over top the manure for the winter like Rye or a seed mix that you can buy. Usually Rye, peas, and perhaps some vetch.
Personally, I make my own seed mix of Rye, vetch, buckwheat, peas, and broad beans.
Turn this into the soil in the early spring and harvest your broad beans in late spring when your new crop is just springing up! They are great in soups!
If you use this method, you will build a healthy soil community that you plants will grow in (you will be amazed with the results) and you will most likely have fewer incidences of disease and herbivory.
Anything with the suffix -Cide should not be used. Lots of healthy alternatives to use that are both safe for you and your family but, also your neighbours and will help build a beneficial microbe community that will fight off disease.
I know this may sound wierd, but I have heard that if you have left over fish, or if you have a fish that died (ie goldfish) they work REALLY well to establish a compost cycle.....of course if you have cats, you may have a problem with them digging up the garden!
I used to use a liquid fish based fertilizer. It's a nice organic source and it's really good for the plants. However, anything I planted that had been grown with that would drive the cats crazy and they would dig it up looking for the source of the smell. Had to give that up.
rainbowgardener wrote:I used to use a liquid fish based fertilizer. It's a nice organic source and it's really good for the plants. However, anything I planted that had been grown with that would drive the cats crazy and they would dig it up looking for the source of the smell. Had to give that up.
