On Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:52:26 -0800, Billy
wrote:

In article ,
Oren wrote:

Hello,

I live in Southern Nevada (Mojave Desert) USDA Zone 8a.

This is a difficult place to grow a garden, but yesterday I found some
information that got me excited about growing tomatoes. The lady has a
book with many details for growing in the harsh desert.

Our soil here is hard packed, plenty of rock and difficult to grow
anything.

Reading on I found out that some soils are made with "biosolids"
(sewer sludge). From my reading it was pointed out that this
information is not unnecessarily reported to the consumer. Apparently
this is some "nasty" stuff to be growing food crops in, since it
contains things that are not removed at the sewer treatment plants.*


Questions: What can I use and combine to make my own soil? Are there
products that I can use to ensure the soil is safe?

Thank You.

*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sludge#Biosolids

You want to avoid biosolids for a garden, or wherever you may want a
garden in the future (heavy metals).
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/mi...ggie-nightmare
-white-house-organic-gar/19114069/

You want 18 lbs. of chicken manure (or its equivalent)/100 sq. ft..
There should be 5% to 10% organic material in the soil.
30% - 40% sand, 30% - 40% silt, 20% - 30% clay
If you scrape away the top inch or two of dirt, then dig a sample from a
hole with vertically straight sides, put it into a large glass jar with
water, and shake it hard to mix it up, then the sediment will take 24
hrs. to settle. The bottom layer is sand, the middle layer is silt, and
the top layer is clay. The thickness of the layer divided by the total
thickness of the total deposit gives the percentage of composition.
You'll want to pull out the rocks as well. Use them to build a nice
fence.

It would probably be easier to build a raised garden, or to use pots.

Good luck.

Thanks. I'll look into this more and find what I can. Containers are
pretty much a lost cause out here in the heat. We get many days of
115F temperatures and container gardening is not really the best,
without frequent or constant checking and watering.

I have material (cinder-blocks) I can make a raised bed. That was one
thought I have already considered Irrigation is of no concern as I
removed much of my lawn turf and still have the pipes capped off, etc.
I can use it as drip lines for a raised bed. I'll speak with the
local nursery folks.

The last time I saw real black dirt was when I crossed the Mississippi
River... wish I had some river bottom dirt. The desert dirt here is
like concrete.