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Vegetable Gardening

Community Garden Plots, cheapest way to prepare soil??

14 years ago

So me and two friends "rented" a 30 x 20 garden plot each, through a township program. I think this is only the 2nd year the plots have been used. They will till the soil for us, but after that we are on our own.

I haven't been to the site yet, but I am assuming the soil is clay like everything else around here. Since we don't own the plots, we want to keep costs down. Any tips for how to prep the soil?

Comments (8)

adknorth
14 years ago
I'm in a rural area, so this may not apply to you. But just in case - If you have horse boarders or a horse show grounds near you, a lot of the folks in my area get their soil prep manure that way - the barns just give it away. They usually have a pile from the previous year.
barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
14 years ago
The soil is tilled? You're home free. Just get yourself a garden rake and hoe and have at it. For a 20x 30 garden I'd expect to till it with a garden fork and bust up the lumpy soil as you till. If the soil has a good amount of clay don't overwork it or it will get rock hard at the first rain.
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I don't put any sulfur in the holes of the roses pictured. The other holes with sulfur didn't bloom well. My heavy clay is very retentive, there is no leaching here. Here's a quote from Nutrient Stewardship site: "Phosphorus is the nutrient most affected by pH. ..Nitrogen, Potassium, and sulfur are less affected. At alkaline pH values, greater than pH 7.5, phosphate ions tend to react quickly with calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) to form less soluble compounds. At acidic pH values, phosphate ions react with aluminum (Al) and iron (Fe) to again form less soluble compounds." It's good to test if one's tap water is alkaline, some cities add lime to water so pipes won't corrode. Calcium in lime will bind with phosphorus, and less is available. In my 12 years of growing flowers in pots, the year that I got continuous MOST blooms despite my pH 8 water was when I used high phosphorus SOLUBLE fertilizer, and low nitrogen. Granular phosphorus like bone meal and 46% superphosphate are useless in the planting hole here in alkaline clay. My results confirmed what University of Colorado stated "bone meal and rock phosphate can only be utilized at or below pH 7". My pH 7.7 soil was tested most deficient in phosphorus. Here's a quote from David Neal, CEO of Dyna-Grow Plant Nutrition in CA: "There is some evidence to believe that low N helps to convince a plant to stop its vegetative growth and move into its reproductive phase (flowering), but environmental factors are probably more important. P is typically 5th or 6th in order of importance of the six macronutrients. There is little scientific justification for higher P formulas, but marketing does come into play ...." He's right, just a tiny bit of SOLUBLE phosphorus made more blooms and more roots - but beyond that is wasteful. The site, Robert Morris NOBLE plant foundation, rated the mobility of NPK: "Let's compare the mobility of NPK on a scale of 1 to 10. Nitrogen is a 10 ... extremely mobile and can be lost to leaching. Potassium is a 3. It has limited movement in the soil. Phosphorus has a rating of 1. It is immobile in the soil and is likely to stay wherever it is placed." Here is a link that might be useful: Soil pH and availability of plant nutrients
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Well said justaguy2. I suggest not screwing and unscrewing if you don't have to. You'll increase longevity if you just leave as is. The frame won't be that heavy at all. As for holes, not sure, maybe someone will have a suggestion. Off the top of my head I'd say an ice pick or something that wouldn't turn into a "rip" if that would even happen, maybe Xs would be fine with a knife. If you do line with no bottom, consider corner drainage instead of directly in the bottom center area. Maybe you could even build the box, line the box, fill with soil, and then drill some holes in the sides along the bottom. Just an idea... Sounds like all you need to do is get started!
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glib
14 years ago
manure. If it is old, plant in it. If it is young, start seedlings in seed mix and plant through the manure. You need a pickup truck and a manure donor to keep costs down. A wheelbarrow too, if you can not drive up to the plot. A shovel and a rake. One inch of manure will be enough, but two is better.
cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
Compost is an excellent soil conditioner for clay.
Some townships also have a composting program and give away
almost free compost to their residents.

Horse manure, leaf mold, broken pine needles are also good.
scarletdaisies
14 years ago
Drive to a nice wooded area where there are lots of leaves, you may have to dig through the snow for them, or maybe even a field full of tall grass, then cut it down and up into little pieces leaving out the seeded tops, pile them as high as you can on the entire garden area. Leaves are kind of big and fly away with the wind, so mowing over them will keep them in place and it will be easier to break them down.

You can also drive by local restaurants looking for coffee and tea grounds, salad scraps from the salad bars, pick through their garbage if you're allowed to, the scraps are considered green and so is manure.

You can even compost in between the rows as the garden grows, but you will waste lots of space that way.
Compost is the cheapest method and most accurate to revive bad soil, but then you can plant green manure. Green manure is living plants that give nutrients to the soil like clover, rye grass seed, yellow dock, etc.. At the end of the year you can plant them in your plot and more than likely they will stay alive until you dig them up at the beginning of your garden season. You can also plant these plants around or near your other plants to make them grow better while your garden is growing.

A book I have says for every 5 to 6 foot area, put 3 inches of course composting material down like twigs, brush, corn stalks, etc, layered on top of each other for ventilation underneath, 6 inch layer of greens (grass, coffee grounds, clippings), 2 inches of manure ( from rabbit cages, guinea pig cages, or any animal that does not eat meat like cows, goats, sheep, etc), add one inch of soil, then repeat until the pile is about 5 feet high, making sure you water each layer to keep it moist, but not muddy, punch holes in the top of the pile reaching the very bottom 2 or 3 feet apart, keep watered if it dries out, and turn it at 3 to 4 week intervals until it's finished. Manure does not have to be used, but it's got lots of nutrients, you can just use brown dead animal plant matter like leaves, and then green layers in between. If you want to add soil in the mix like I described, maybe dig the soil up in that 5 to 6 foot area to remove the first 1 foot of soil, then add it slowly as you build you pile.

You don't need anything but leaves if you want to keep it simple. Cover the entire area with mowed leaves 2 feet high, mowed so they will keep the bulk down, then water them, they will break down.
defrost49
14 years ago
I have had good luck with lasagna beds which I would suggest trying on top of tilled soil. I top them off with aged composted horse manure. You should be able to find sources of free manure on Craigslist. The source I found charges $15 to load our trailer with his tractor. He works on the manure pile all winter adding bedding material, kitchen scraps, etc so it's wonderful compost and ready to use.
jmwolff
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone! Hmmmmm horse poop...I am gonna have to find me some of that.

So a follow up question is, there is a water tank on site...but no hoses, etc. What is the best way to mimimize the amount of water I need to lug. Black plastic? Are there any "drought" resistant strains of popular veggies?
jimster
14 years ago
"What is the best way to mimimize the amount of water I need to lug. Black plastic? "

Yes. Black plastic or any other mulch. It will conserve moisture and inhibit weeds. It you use plastic, be sure it is perforated to allow water to penetrate.

There are drought resistant vegetables, such as cowpeas. I don't know of any drought resistant strains of various veggies.

Jim

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