Denver - Looking for good soil ammendments
 

Hello. I would like to know where in or around Denver I can get organic soil
ammendments to rebuild my vegetable garden.

I have been doing my own compost, but not nearly enough to replenish the
soil for next year.

This year I got screwed. I had purchased "planter's mix" from this small
company, only to find out in the middle of the season that it had ZERO
nitrogen.

I do not want to be stuck like that again next summer.

Do you think that manure and compost bags from Home Depot or Lowes would be
good at all? Now I am paranoid and want to soil test everything I see!

Thanks for any info! CHEERS!

Bendit wrote:
Hello. I would like to know where in or around Denver I can get organic soil
ammendments to rebuild my vegetable garden.

I have been doing my own compost, but not nearly enough to replenish the
soil for next year.

This year I got screwed. I had purchased "planter's mix" from this small
company, only to find out in the middle of the season that it had ZERO
nitrogen.

I do not want to be stuck like that again next summer.

Do you think that manure and compost bags from Home Depot or Lowes would be
good at all? Now I am paranoid and want to soil test everything I see!

Thanks for any info! CHEERS!

I'd get a big ole mess of municipal yard waste compost now (enough to
cover your garden beds 1-2" deep), windrow it for a month to help it
finish up composting (munie compost is cheap but often half-baked), then
dig it in with bagged manure (at a rate of 10 lbs per 100 sq feet of
beds) before it gets too cold. Because both compost and manure are very
slow in releasing nitrogen, you might want to supplement with a higher
nitrogen fertilizer in the spring. If you want to go organic, fish
emulsion or bloodmeal are good choices (follow directions on packaging).

Finally, next fall you might play around with green mulches/cover
crops--esp. nitrogen fixing ones like vetch or alfalfa.

The irony is that plants cannot actually utilize nutrients in their
organic form--they must be broken down by soil microorganisms into their
inorganic forms. And tilling in half-baked compost can actually do more
short-term harm than good, since as the compost continues to break
down it actuall robs nitrogen from the soil rather than releasing it
(nitrogen draft).

Good morning. I would think that planters mix would be designed to last
until the seeds sprouted and got big enough to be transplanted, rather than
amend your garden soil. Maybe you should get a bag of fertilizer and add it
to your garden area. It is rated according to content (10-10-10, 25-10-10,
and so on). The first number indicates the percentage of nitrogen it
contains. I put it down in early spring, several weeks before planting, and
work it in. Then after the plants have come up and are ready to flower or
produce edibles, I sprinkle some along the sides of the plants (you cant get
too close to the established plants or it will burn them), but 3 or more
inches from the main plant.

If you are looking for something natural to add to your yard rather than
something manufactured, look for some place that makes compost for sale. We
lived in Ft Collins for 18 years and found it at some of the local green
houses. I even made the mistake of adding fresh horse manure to my
asparagus bed before planting the roots. I had the healthiest asparagus and
the biggest crop of grain plants growing in the bed.

Have fun. Dwayne



"Bendit" wrote in message
...
Hello. I would like to know where in or around Denver I can get organic
soil ammendments to rebuild my vegetable garden.

I have been doing my own compost, but not nearly enough to replenish the
soil for next year.

This year I got screwed. I had purchased "planter's mix" from this small
company, only to find out in the middle of the season that it had ZERO
nitrogen.

I do not want to be stuck like that again next summer.

Do you think that manure and compost bags from Home Depot or Lowes would
be good at all? Now I am paranoid and want to soil test everything I see!

Thanks for any info! CHEERS!

"Bendit" wrote in message
...
Hello. I would like to know where in or around Denver I can get organic
soil ammendments to rebuild my vegetable garden.

I have been doing my own compost, but not nearly enough to replenish the
soil for next year.

This year I got screwed. I had purchased "planter's mix" from this small
company, only to find out in the middle of the season that it had ZERO
nitrogen.

I do not want to be stuck like that again next summer.

Do you think that manure and compost bags from Home Depot or Lowes would
be good at all? Now I am paranoid and want to soil test everything I see!

Thanks for any info! CHEERS!


Thank you all for your great input! I will analyze the situation and act
accordingly.

Bloodmeal eh? I already sprinkle some of that stuff in the compost that I am
making.

Thanks again, CHEERS!