I can't see any reason not to use it, and I can't see any reason to add more organic matter to something that's probably half organic matter already. If anything I'd add sand, or regular garden soil. Wetland soils often are very high in organic matter, which is what makes drained wetlands so attractive to agriculture. But, once you drain the soil, or dredge it up and put it in a raised bed, you expose all that undecomposed organic matter to air, and it rapidly decomposes and, well, disappears. Your soil will settle rapidly and shrink in volume as it undergoes aerobic decomposition. With adding some mineral structure in the way of sand or garden soil, it should be great for your veggies! but like kimmsr I have to wonder why it's available ... still, muck soil is a valuable resource and not to be turned down when available. It's just that it was very valuable in its original habitat, too.

At my last house I had raised beds - 4' wide by 12-20' long with wooden sides about 1 1/2 foot tall. Over two or three years we built 8 of these large beds plus several smaller beds for perennial crops like stawberries, rhubarb, and horseradish. For that situation, there were several advantages. It allowed us to have flat areas on a hill; we terraced with rock walls and put the beds on those flat areas, surrounded by woodchips for mulch, so there was no weeding at all. The beds were sunk about a foot below the grade, and we had to sift the soil, which was shallow over fractured ledge, to get rid of all the rock, and then we filled the rest of the beds with composted cow manure, thanks to our local dairy farmer. So, we ended up with no weeds & great soil in flat beds from an area that started out mostly rock on a steep grade. Other pluses were sitting on the bed sides to plant, screwing trellises for beans, melons, cukes, etc. directly into the bed sides, and the ablility to plant early due to good drainage and early season warm-up. We also sometimes put plastic hoops over the beds, tucking the hoop ends inside the beds to hold them, to cover with spun-bond or plastic. On our strawberry beds, we put hinged wire mesh covers so the chipmunks couldn't eat the berries. Between mulch and the high organic content of the soil, we only had to water when it had been dry for a couple of weeks or more. Our current house had a pre-existing ground-level garden which we simply took over as was since the house needed a huge amount of work, so that's where our efforts and energy went. I miss the raised beds, and find that I have more difficulty with soil-living bugs like wire worms in my potatoes and cutworms crawling in from the surrounding field. I can't work in the garden as long since I have to bend more or sit on & scoot along the ground. (I'm no spring chicken!) The grass and weeds migrate into the veggie garden from the surrounding field, and the soil needs to be prepped in the fall so I can plant peas, potatoes, etc. earlier in spring since the soil stays cold and wet for much longer. There are two only advantages I can see to the ground level garden: it's easier to till with a machine like a big tiller or tractor if you want to be able to do that, and any crops that need winter warmth can be well mulched and will stay warmer in the ground. Garlic, which is a bit borderline as far as hardiness here, has better survival rates, and my leeks and root vegetables overwinter better with a thick layer of mulch when they are in the ground rather than in a raised bed. So, like Lisa, I will eventually have some of both, but with most of my garden as raised beds and a smaller part of it in the ground.

There is one quick way of finding out if it is muck as it will not be thick but like shredded fiber and fall apart easily. It will also burn well when dried out. I Michigan we knew that if it caught fire the only way to stop the burn was to plow down below the muck. So if this is what it is then you have great soil to use in your garden and should get a great garden out of what you have there.

Here is an older post on the subject of "Deep watering for heavy feeders" In my past row gardens I used 3gal. buckets (placed in small depression on top of the soil) with holes (size of a nail) drilled in the side near the very bottom. Though more labor intensive than soaker hoses, I found I used less water and felt I was getting the water where it was needed. I use rain water. Example- with tomatoes spaced 4ft each way T ... T ... B T ... T T=Tomatoes B=Bucket I can see buried bottles getting clogged (the buckets did) and just holding the water for the rest of the summer. I used a nail to unclog but that is a pain. Experiment with the size hole to drill. Larger hole won't get clogged as easy but once drilled you can't make it smaller. So start small. Hints: Drill all holes directly below where the handle attaches so you know where to find it when unclogging or placing bucket (they are ALL the same). I also marked arrows to point out holes. They do get dirty. Drill one hole or one on each side of handle or directly in bottom. I like the side so I can see if water is seeping out. Mark the bucket so they can be identified. Make an many as you can. I moved mine - one side today, the other side tomorrow. I could see how much water was going into soil. I think 5 gal. might be a bit much but would use whatever I could get free. You don't have to fill completely. In fact marking the inside may help to give measured amounts. Clean out buckets good, including bottom. Use bleach. I might go back to a few soakers since buckets may be difficult inside the SFG. But will likely use buckets outside the frame since roots travel a good way. Lugging buckets was/is an exercise routine for me. Last year, I tried coiling up a soaker before planting corn but the corn was uprooted by a few skunks as soon as they sprouted. I got discouraged and didn't have much in the way of corn. They didn't bother the seedlings I transplanted but the sprouts went fast. Apparently they like the seeds on the sprouts. Planning to use more rain barrels this year and will likely attach a few soakers and let gravity do the work. There goes my exercise plan. Will likely take longer. I think watering is a bit uneven this way also. Buckets - back to buckets. Maybe even coffee cans (inside frame) using the same concept. Bottles have such a small neck opening. Mulch after the soil warms but before the weeds start. Then mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch goes along way to keep soil moist, keep the weeds down, and attract earthworms to digest the mulch and feed your plants. Hope that gives you more ideas. If I used bottles I would keep them on top to save digging them back up to unclog. Guess you could always use draino (just kidding). Good Luck, Gumby The entire thread can be found here - http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2155180/deep-watering-for-heavy-feeders-growing-on-upright-trellises?n=5