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?

"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.

(JohnDKestell) writes:

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?

Possibly, but since you're diluting it into 10 inches of soil, I doubt
you'll have any trouble.

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.

Sounds like you're doing a great job. I've started a few gardens from
scratch, and I normally just till under what's there, mulch quite a
bit, and see how things do the first year before adding much else.

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?

One possibility, especially if your soil can use nitrogen, is to plant
a winter cover crop like winter rye, and then till that under in the
spring. That'll fix nitrogen to the soil as it grows, add green stuff
when you till it in, and look nicer than a bare spot over the winter.


--
Aaron

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)

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

"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.

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