i would be thinking not enough organic matter/compost and not enough mulching with spoil hays or sugar cane mulch whatever. we don't start our raised beds with any soil mainly spent mushroom compost from the farm, and we mulch heavily up to 8"s and tuck all our rottable kitchen scraps under the mulch to feed the composting worms within, and they provide nutrient for the plants.

we also tuck our spent vege plants under right where they once grew.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens straw bale garden

Where are you located? Zone?

Adding compost ingredients over the top of the existing soil material is a great idea. Just layer it 4" thick or less & keep adding as you acquire.

You mentioned hilling up the soil, but I'm not sure what that means. Don't bother with moving soil just leave it be & layer over it. It will compost in place & shrink by at least 1/2 before next year.

Alternatively, you can dig a trench on each side lengthwise in that raised bed then back fill with compost ingredients & cover with soil. Especially useful for burying kitchen scraps.

Another idea is to grow a cover crop then turn that under to bring more compost ingredients to the beds. Follow what is recommended for your climate at this time of year. Bush beans are easy and you can eat the pods or plant the grocery store blackeyed peas or cow peas. Both are legumes that fix nitrogen in the soil. Roughly chop & turn them under or just layer more compost ingredients on top after bloom or wait longer for pods then cover.

I don't know about the Scott's top soil,but the Miracle Gro organic garden soil is sterile, it needs to be added to existing soil that is already breaking down.I've used a bag of black hardwood mulch to get a compost pile started. It has all the bacteria, and other micro organism to get things working

We are in the north part of the DFW area (North Texas) and I believe we fall in zone 7. I like the idea of growing a cover crop but did not want to have to order farm seed from a catalog. I'll try the black eyed peas. Do I need to soak them or anything before I plant them or can I just sow them liberally and let them go?

One more thing. When I was digging around in the second bed today I noticed that there was a white kind of crust or powdery white appearance to some of the dirt I turned over. I noticed some of this in the other bed also. I have heard that sometimes that is due to build up of salts from over fertilization but I was not very liberal with the fertilizer for fear of over fertilizing. What could this be? I could provide a picture if necessary.

My wife did apply some diatomaceous earth because it appeared that there were ants eating our little carrot seedlings. But i don't think it would still be so widespread in the soil so long after. Also we never mixed it in we just spread it between the plants so I dont know why it would in the soil.

Woody mulches, that does include pine bark fines, layed on the soil will not create a Nitrogen deficiency in your soil. But when those same woody mulches are mixed into the soil and are no longer a mulch but a soil amendment they will cause the Soil Food Web to get busy digesting that material usingmuch of the available Nitrogen in the soil to do that which will cause plants to be Nitrogen deficient.
Neither of the "soils" you mixed to fll those beds were soil. Both primarily are peat moss with some compost or other, unspecified, organic matter. Are these "soils" able to hold water?

What did you do with the plant matter that died? That could be possibly be showing up in the soil when you dug around. Shouldn't be a concern. Any plant matter that isn't contaminated with herbicides is useful to build good soil.

To grow the blackeyed pea seeds the soil should be kept moist to sprout. You can soak the seeds for up to 4hrs before planting to speed germination. The cover crop is just one way to put organic matter in the soil and gives you something to look at.

I suggest you amend with whatever compost ingredients is convenient for you. Your soil needs organic matter that didn't come in the bagged products you started the garden with this spring. Add the ingredients and keep moist through fall to speed up the process. If too dry you'll not have the decomposition you're looking for in good soils.

Used coffee grounds from coffee shops is a great start plus the worms love them. In your cold climate any layering you do now until freezing weather will help improve the soil for next spring.

Eggshells dried in oven as it preheats crushes easily to add to the garden and something not always thought of to include. We put a reused piece of foil in a small baking pan and keep in the oven with the shells. Makes it easier for all family members to save them. Alternatively can just go straight in compost, but when dried & crushed is flatter for layering and doesn't attract any critters.

We compost our kleenex, paper napkins, tea bags, coffee filters, junk mail, toilet paper rolls, torn or shredded cereal boxes, etc. to add more browns to the mix. Once covered with another layer of grass clippings, coffee grounds, shredded leaves, chopped vegetable waste, etc. no one notices we have tissues in our garden.

One way to collect more is to have a separate waste can in bathrooms & kitchen for the paper waste. Our best compost collector in the kitchen has been a step on trash can lined with plastic bag with bottom layer of papers from bathroom trash to absorb the liquids and prevent odors from mushy melon seeds or spoiled apples. We empty as needed usually 1-3x a week, so it's not much work and stays neat in the can. No more compost bucket on the counter to attract fruit flies in summer.

Earthworms will find your rich ingredients and loosen the soil for you free of charge.

IF it is dry now, get/take a roto-tiller now and get that soild mixed up.
The pine bark is doing no good and since it is already in there get it as thinly distributed as possible.
If you soil is not the same color from one end to the other it means you have clusters of differing soil types and probles.
Get is fully mixed and then cure one problem not hit and miss variables here and there.

I threw out the plants. I was worried they were diseased and I read multiple places not to compost them.

I'm just confused if I am supposed to compost everything in a pile then spread the compost or just pile stuff right onto the beds and let it decompose. If I add it directly to the beds should I bury it or just let it sit on top?

all we do with ours is break them up a bit by hand, then tuck them under the mulch where they once grew(so it sits on top of the medium but under the mulch), you can plant a new crop right beside them that way, if you bury them you will get a nitrogen issue. you could of course create a compost pile or worm farm and go that way, nothing is set in cement we just opt' for less processes means less chores.

don't use fertilisers

again look at our presentation

len

Shredded everything & wet, turn when the pile heat drops.

Either way

build a compost pile & turn as other posters have mentioned

OR

layer materials right on top of your existing soil in bed mounding more in the middle than the edges to contain it -- will decompose & shrink so build up 12" or more

cover with mulch or even keep moist by using old scrap of carpet, cardboard, tarp, overlapping burlap bags, etc.

the cover keeps the moisture in & weed seeds out
also provides a uniform look

Depends on how much you want to work. If you have the space & inclination -- do both ways. Then you'll have a great pile that is cured in spring to use in any planting project you'll have going. Ideal weed free for mulching the plants you grow next spring. Tomatoes will love all that compost because it's not high nitrogen.