Fantastic info here. I've only seen ONE earthworm in the some-100 sq ft I dug/tilled. I have considered that as a possibility the soil sucks, but there is some research to suggest whether earthworms are present or not means soil is bad/good. As far as pH testing with county extension. I have thought of doing that, but I just don't want to spend the time. If I were able to dig up the garden last year, for example, I would. I forgot about the water in hole test. I will be trying that out. Last year I did the jar test, forgot about that one. I will do it today. The tilth is there. And smell, I'm terrible with smelling. Excited to see the jar test reslts and water hole test. After thinking it out last night, I have thought maybe tilling in some peat moss would do the trick? Haven't done a pH test/mineral test yet. What are your thoughts? Anyone actually have soil start out like mine and be ammended well in the first year of gardening with it?

Fern.maas, I got the fertiliser from a feed mill on Hwy20 just west of Smithville, Ontario. There is another place about 2 miles further west in Fulton with the same price. TSC is the Tractor Supply Company but the long name never gets used. They are an American outfit across southern Ontario's farm communities selling almost everything a farmer needs. Both purchases were regular priced, not a sale price.

I would first cut the plants down with the mower. Then, if you live in an area with lots of fall leaves, I'd mulch with leaves. lots of 'em. I usully put at least a two foot thick layer of whole fallen leaves first to smother the grass and weeds, then add another two foot layer of leaves I have run over with my mower a couple of times to chop them up and make them stay put a little longer in the wind - chopping also makes then look a little neater. If it is breezy wet the leaves after you spread them to keep them in place. If you add enough leaves - and it will take a lot - you can smother anything. The leaves will decompose and be a great soil additive by next summer. You might want to repeat the treatment next fall if there are woody plants or really tough grasses you're trying to get rid of. There is no such thing as adding too many leaves as long as you are willing to wait for them to break down. If you get impatient it is not hard to rake off some of the leaves after they have done their job of smothering the plants. I would definitely not add any "erosion control" fabric or weed control cloth or anything like that. In my experience those things eventually get weeds growing through them - often the weeds start above and send roots down through the fabric - and them they become a nightmare to remove. No such problem with fall leaves. I find adding a layer of newspaper underneath to be unnecessary and not as easy as it sounds - I usually end up with gaps between the paper. Also, too much newspaper can break down slowly and be a pain when you try to turn the bed in a year or two.

Hi Leo, I’m lazy! The way I do it is to throw it on a pile and let it rot! No special mixtures, just whatever I have to throw on the pile goes on the pile. In the last few years I have started to turn and/or mix and fluff it up at least once a year to get air in it to get it cooking! Otherwise the only thing I do is to wet it down well every now and then in summer (and occasionally in winter) when we haven’t had any precip for a while. What David 52 isn’t telling you (now, David!) is that he has a couple acres of grass! At least! So when he lets it grow “for a few weeks” and then mows—he has a MOUNTAIN of clippings! Most urban folks aren’t that lucky! Like David 52 I use my grass clippings to mulch my veggie garden, but I don’t have that many and last year I started putting a thick layer of half-decomposed leaves that have been laying out there in the bags (the bags that get holes and get water in them) all winter around all the tomatoes/eggplants. That’s working really well—it’s almost like a wet sponge on top of the soil! If you’re planning to have a “bottom” in your bins, DON’T! If you leave them open to the soil the worms will migrate up into the compost and help the decomposition—and they’ll multiply like crazy and give you lots of worms to “transplant” all over your yard! A buncha years ago I started a compost thread—with possibly the longest post I’ve ever done! The only thing I do differently from what I said in that thread is that I don’t do any screening at all anymore! And I also do NOT let the compost decompose ALL the way anymore! I generally use it when it’s about 50-60% finished. That puts organic matter that attracts worms into the soil where I’m planting whatever I’m planting—and I also intentionally transplant worms with the compost I’m using. When I’m mixing it in to plant something and I find “pieces” that are too big to easily mix in, they just get thrown back on the pile. The one (minor, in my opinion) problem is that as the unfinished compost finishes, the area “sinks down” a little bit and needs a little bit of filling in at some point. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2127510/reflections-on-compost With your “bags of leaves!” It’s WONDERFUL to have bagged leaves over winter! I discovered this accidentally, but I get all the (50-60) bags of leaves from one neighbor and, needing someplace to put them, I started stacking them on top of the soil where my tomatoes are planted. The first year, when I was moving one of them I discovered that the worms had been “procreating” out there all winter! When I pick up a bag there’s a MASS of worms under it—most of them disappear pretty quickly, but I can never believe how many there are! So since that first year, I now cover every square inch of my veggie garden with leaf bags and leave them there all winter! They keep the soil underneath moist, and they insulate the soil enough that the worms stay active ALL winter. I highly recommend you try it! In spring I mix leaves right out of the bags (both wet and dry ones) into my (clay) soil where I plant the veggies, and they decompose in the soil over summer. The bags that get holes in them will get water in them, and they’ll start to decompose in the bags over winter—and it’s not unusual for worms to find their way into the wet bags and happily live in there! Whatever bags I have left in spring that I can’t use somewhere I put on the compost pile and just keep adding more as it goes down. (I do add bags of leaves sometimes over winter too!) People will dispute this, but I don’t put eggshells on the pile anymore! The first year I did, but I tend to dig around in the pile with my bare hands, and eggshells are SHARP! I also discovered that they never decompose! The few I put in that first year stayed just like they were when they were put there—except for the fact that they got dirty!!! (Also, pumpkin seeds NEVER decompose! I haven’t put any on my pile for 8 or 9 years, but when I’m planting in the yard I STILL get into them—intact—in places where they got buried those first couple years. I’ve even tried “tearing them in half” when I find them and reburying them, but then I just wind up finding the “torn in half” ones a couple years later!) I don’t know if this is explained in the compost thread! What you see in the pics is pieces of galvanized sheet metal attached to the fence to keep from rotting it out! That’s the “entire” construction of my compost pile! I put up the metal and started throwing stuff on the ground! I think you might be surprised by how many veggie scraps you come up with, and all “discards” from perennials and annuals can go on the pile too. I don’t ever put weeds that even just MIGHT have seeds on the pile. Not worth taking a chance! As usual, this got way longer than I planned! Gotta go! Happy composting, Skybird