Penelope Periwinkle wrote:

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 11:10:00 -0400, ~patches~
wrote:


This is my second season using raised vegetable beds. I started out
with top soil mixed with peat moss and compost. Last winter I covered
each bed with straw then burnt it off in the spring upon the advice of
an old farmer friend. The tomatoes in one of the beds didn't do as well
as the others and the green peppers were poor performers. I'm thinking
I need to fortify the soil but am not sure what to add. I was thinking
manure and possibly compost then thought adding more peat moss wouldn't
be a bad idea. Any ideas on this? When would be the best time to add
the fortifiers - spring or fall?


I would think adding both compost and manure would make the peat moss
unnecessary. It wouldn't hurt, but you will already be adding a lot
vegetable matter to the soil. Will the manure be fresh or composted?
It's usually best to add soil amendments when they'll have time to
work for a few months, and fresh manure really does need some time to
break down.



Penelope
Thanks for your help, Penelope. I would be adding manure bought in bags
from the hardware store so I think it would be composted. I don't have
much of my own compost but will use what I do have as well as that
bought from a waste station. So I should add the amendments in the fall
so they are ready to work in the spring?