"m. anne" wrote in message
...

"cat daddy" wrote in message
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"m. anne" wrote in message
...
I have a small plot for my garden. Perhaps about 12' x 12'. I would
really
like to enrich the soil. Something that would hold moisture and give
good
stability to my plants. What would be a good combination of soils to
enrich. I have just regular top soil in it now.

For free, you can never go wrong with piling up leaves and keeping
them
damp. Stop by a Starbucks and ask for coffee grounds. They'll likely
give
you a garbage bag full. Keep piling it on as you get it.
A few weeks before you plant in the Spring, you can get some 50 lb.
bags
of alfalfa meal and/or dried molasses for cheap and work that in. Buck
Moore
Feed & Supply, 5237 N Lamar is where I've bought in the past.

If money's not a problem, stop by The Natural Gardener and buy what
they
recommend.
http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/
Thank you. I heard that alfalfa hay had alot of nutrients in it. I didn't
know they made alfalfa meal. I don't live around Austin. Hopefully here
in
our county someone should carry this stuff. I already have a bunch of
leaves, (thanks to Ike) going in a compost area. Thanks for the info.

One of the best uses for alfalfa meal is as the green component in
compost, when you have a lot of leaves and no grass. I take about a gallon
of meal and put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water. Let it soak and then pour
it in the middle of the pile and cover. It really heats up the compost pile.