"T" wrote in message ...
Hi All,

Lesson learned, maybe.


BIG SNIP

Then I started to think. My neighbor imported soil from
the local soil and compost place and used raised beds.

Were mine had decided to grow, was in the decorative rocks:
decomposed sandstone covered for 22+ years. Some how they
had found a hole in the plastic and took root.

There is no other difference between me and him OTHER
than the soil. Same water, same light, same temperature,
same sun, same everything, except the soil.

Do I suppose too much? Or is this a good demonstration
on why I need to drastically improve my soil? (Where
I have been improving it, I seem to be doing pretty well
this year, so far.)

-T



Anecdotally: This year I cleared a section of "lawn" to turn in to a garden
bed, basically turned over everything that was there and buried it in the
sand raked it to a fine tilth and picked weeds for a month or so. Rather
than leave it fallow for the winter and prior to any amendments I scattered
a couple of seed packs of leafy vegetables, spinach, silver beet and
lettuce. I mixed the seeds together and scattered carefully, if that's
possible. Looking at the way the seeds are growing it looks to me that
some parts of the patch have suitable nutrients and some have none at all.as
that seems to be the way the seedlings are showing all seeds grow at one
spot no seeds grow in another spot and these are scattered all over the
patch. Come the spring, Australian Winter at the moment, I shall be digging
in the compost to give the summer crop a better start.

Mike