"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
m...
"kcchin" wrote in message
...
I have a small garden 30meter square. I dig down and find that the top
40cm
is just plain
sand ,little or no clay or silt. Any crop I plant, the soil is only good
for
one crop, next generation
are stunted and will not grow. I assume that I have exhuasted the
nutrients
for that crop.
What do I do?
Cart off the top soil (in this case sand, sand) and replace it with a
lorry
load of garden soil, or could
I do something else?
I have access to limitless amount of dry leaves throughout the year to
use
if I choose to.
Carting off the sand and replace it with garden soil is rather expensive
here in Singapore.

You've already had a lot of good advice, but I'd add one more
technique to consider.

As you have sand, it must be very well drained. This means you can use
"planting pockets": until you have enough compost to cover the whole
plot every year, you could economise on it by mixing it in only at the
precise site where you put each plant. It's rather like making a hole
in the ground and using the hole like a plant-pot. I did it with
tomatoes in Libya, and it worked very well (till the bloody goats
arrived!).

As I said, you can do this only in well-drained soil: if you did it in
heavy clay, the plants would probably die.

I wouldn't even *think* about carting off the sand: there is no soil
so bad that it can't be made into good soil if you're patient, and if
you grow mainly plants which like the conditions you have.

You should be able to make compost very quickly in Singapore,
especially if you keep a few chickens: if the supply of leaves really
is unlimited, I'd suggest having three or four heaps going at a time,
as 30 metres square is quite a big space. Your garden will be a
tropical paradise in two years!

Mike.

That sounds a good idea, Mike, I sure would try it.
Sort of having groundlevel beds? With all the advantages of beds; No worry
of having rain wash them down.
(Well, u have goats, and I alas, have a Jack russal (daughter's)to do the
same job)