HELP--Late start on garden!
Hi, New here.
Anyway, I moved in the early spring, then made a long trip, and just today "prepared" as well as possible my new plot. Here's what I did to "shock" the soil into condition (it was actually pretty good, nice and dark and crumbly, pH about 6.7-6.9). I tilled it to about 10", raked off as much "crap" as I could, weeds, roots, junk...... Then I covered it with about an inch of about 4 year old wood chips (stored outside, well rotted and aged), and tilled again to a foot deep. I raked again (much less garbage this time), then covered it with some cattle bedding from the stock yard (it was steaming when I cut into it--a little too hot from bacteria? still, it seemed to be "working" really well--you can't really tell where the manure stops and the sawdust and straw begins) and a good sprinkling of blood and bone meal. It rained for about 2 days. When it dried enough (just this morning) I tilled it and raked everything nice and smooth. It looks good to me, but it's my first shot at starting a garden from basically, a lawn. (I inherited my last, and really my first garden from the previous tenant). Anyways, the rain seemed to have helped in getting the whole deal mixed in completely. I can't discern the stuff I added from the soil. NIce and crumbly. Well, I don't know why I'm asking for advice, because the plants are already bought, and I plan to go ahead. But has anyone else faced this problem? I mean, just trying to jump start a garden like this? I already have my compost heap started for the fall crop, and even a load of horse bedding to help it winter over. I'm sure it will do better next year (the manure sort of mellowing out, the straw sort of breaking down). I know my situation is far from Ideal, but any suggestions about making the best of it? Thanks, John also, what is a good late summer/fall idea to help seriously build up some great soil for next year? Is it ok to just add my compost, and then maybe a serious layer of manure/bedding, and let it break down over the winter? Should I turn it under, or wait until spring for that? |
HELP--Late start on garden!
"JohnDKestell" wrote in message ... yard (it was steaming when I cut into it--a little too hot from bacteria? If you really put in a pile of not yet rotted manure, it's possible that a good number of your plants will die from nitrogen overdose. (the manure sort of mellowing out This tends to be necessary. |
HELP--Late start on garden!
Don't have anything to offer but you're not alone.
I just tried gardening for the first time (been an apartment dweller with little sun my whole life). The gorund dirt I had to start with looked like a sandbox, had very few weeds growing in it and my soil test came up empty on Nitrogen and very little phosphorus. I did a bunch of similar work on it and so far I'm doing ok. I won't know until end of season when I get to compare plant in the reworked dirt to the ones in new, healthy soil. DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email) |
HELP--Late start on garden!
Rachel wrote:
"JohnDKestell" wrote in message ... yard (it was steaming when I cut into it--a little too hot from bacteria? If you really put in a pile of not yet rotted manure, it's possible that a good number of your plants will die from nitrogen overdose. I'm not so sure about that. Yes, manure has a bit of nitrogen in it but not as much as you might think. OG did an article a few years ago comparing the amt. of nitrogen in the different types of manure but with my CRAFT memory, I don't recall the exact numbers. Here we have often put fresh horse manure in the garden with no ill effects. Mary |
HELP--Late start on garden!
"Mary McHugh" wrote in message ... If you really put in a pile of not yet rotted manure, it's possible that a good number of your plants will die from nitrogen overdose. I'm not so sure about that. Yes, manure has a bit of nitrogen in it but not as much as you might think. OG did an article a few years ago comparing the amt. of nitrogen in the different types of manure but with my CRAFT memory, I don't recall the exact numbers. Here we have often put fresh horse manure in the garden with no ill effects. Two years ago somebody gave me a (small) truckload, advertised as rotted, but it wasn't. Lettuce, spinach, basil refused to grow, leaves turned yellow - symptoms of nitrogen burn. The next year, the same plants were fine, with no other significant changes. So, I said "it's possible that"... because it happened to me. |
HELP--Late start on garden!
On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 16:43:03 -0400, "Rachel"
wrote: Two years ago somebody gave me a (small) truckload, advertised as rotted, but it wasn't. Lettuce, spinach, basil refused to grow, leaves turned yellow - symptoms of nitrogen burn. The next year, the same plants were fine, with no other significant changes. So, I said "it's possible that"... because it happened to me. I'm using spent-mushroom soil which is partially rotted, and I have some qualms about it this year. Last year, I used it and it was black and crumbly and odorless. This year, it's not as aged as last year's, and is dark brown, not as crumbly, and has a very slight odor. So far, so good. Everything's growing very nicely (especially considering that we've had nothing but rain for a month - no sun). So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. The lettuce is gorgeous - particularly splendid (it likes the wet cool weather). I never saw such beautiful lettuce before, anywhere. The same is true of the Asian greens - just beautiful. They like the damp coolness too. Pat |
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