Raised bed soils

[007clint]

Last Spring, I bought bulk garden soil from Living Earth in Plano.  It worked OK but when I cultivated it for my Fall garden, I found that it had packed down so hard that it was hard to get a shovel down into it and there were no worms yet.

Wells Bro Farm Store told me that I needed more nematodes and some soil amendments.  I bought some  organic Dirt Diet and some soil amendments (primarily green sand and lava sand) from them and mixed it into the top 3 inches of my soil in my raised beds before fall planting.  The Soil Food is primarily Alfalfa, cottonseed meal, & molasses and looks & smells like rabbit feed. I also noticed that my new raised beds have no worms where my two-year-old beds have 'gillions' so I gathered up a hundred or so and transplanted them.  I noticed that after watering, I almost immediately had lots of small flies on the soil which is probably a good thing?

[Brian Gallimore]

I don't know what to think about flies in the soil.... doesn't seem normal to me!

I met an experienced gardener last weekend and talked to him a bit about soil.  He says he prefers NOT to import soil and says our native black gumbo soil is some of the best soil for vegetables because of the high calcium content.  (see his comment on the blog post: http://northtexasvegetablegardeners.com/blog/2011/09/13/call-for-community-gardens-that-need-volunteers/, and his blog article http://gardenblog.selfsufficientcommunities.net/2010/04/organic-versus-high-brix/)

[Brian Gallimore]

notes from a facebook discussion (https://www.facebook.com/groups/58399429851/)

SB
My husband just built 2 garden boxes for my vegetables. I want to do all organic. I read that new paper is great to lay for weed control. Were would I find good organic soil at a reasonable price? Also when I get the soil should I mis manure in with it?


TB
composted manure is one of the best natural things you can add to your soil. If you or a friend has horses it's a gardening gold mine. You want it to compost first. fresh manure can do more harm than good to your plants.


SB
Does composted manure need to be added to the soil or is that all you use in raised beds? I'm new to this.


TH
I know you want organic soil and there's a company in the metro plex that delivers by the cubic yard for alot cheaper than buying a bunch of 40 pound bags of it from lowes. I've never tried straight composted manure but if it has no manure smell left it's fully composted and is pretty much just really nutrient rich dirt now. I actually use what I have in my yard; hard clay soil, mix sand, gypsum and manure into it and ends up making pretty good garden dirt. I add composted manure refresh the soil every time I get the beds ready for a new crop


Brian Gallimore
The best soil I know of is the "organic growers mix" from soil building systems http://northtexasvegetablegardeners.com/forum/index.php?topic=357.0

http://www.livingearth.net/ Living Earth has several locations, and also has good garden soil.

My recommendation is to buy good soil from the start and not worry about amending it it with anything. (more fail-safe and easier) Keep adding organic material to the top each season (I like chopped leaves) and that is about all you need to do!


GH
If you're installing it over lawn/sod and aren't going to remove it first, I would strongly recommend cardboard boxes instead. The bermuda that I know will slice right through paper without even breaking a sweat.


SB
Is cardboard "organic"?


Brian Gallimore
not usually, but it is better than many alternatives, especially if you can remove it out of the waste stream. big long discussion: http://www.permies.com/t/2157/permaculture/concerns-cardboard-newspaper-as-mulch

concerns with using cardboard/newspaper as a mulch (permaculture forum at permies)
www.permies.com


TH
Brian I hope you don't mind me giving advice on your group. I respect your knowledge and gardening skill but from experience I've found shredded leaves kind of light on N-P-K . Won't be a problem when starting with good soil and is good advice to add as mulch but if I were going to be pulling nutrients out year after year even with rotating beans in for N I'd have all kinds of problems including fruit set if all I added was leaves


LS
I use pine needles for weed control. I use them in my garden and not only does it control weeks, i can walk on it right after a rain. By the end of the summer, they are decomposed and i just add more. I almost never have to weed, unless somehow the ground becomes exposed to the sun. I also cover it during the winter. I dont get any winter weeds and when i'm ready to plant i just uncover a row.