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joe1980_gw

Making soil for new raised veggie bed

Joe1980
12 years ago

I'm planning to make a 4'x16'x1' raised bed, which will set atop about 6 to 8" of decent topsoil, which is on top of cruddy clay soil. It'll be on the top edge of a hill, so I don't think drainage will be any kind of issue. Anyways, I currently grow in containers, using Al's 5-1-1 mix for veggies, and Al's gritty mix for other non-food plants. From what I understand, I should not start digging into the cruddy clay, but rather just leave it, and build new soil on top.

With that said, I need to mix up some good quality soil for my raised bed. I'm wondering if it'd be beneficial to use some of the ingredients of the 5-1-1 and/or the gritty mix. Obviously the gritty mix in it's entirety wouldn't work, but I'm wondering if the turface or napa floor dry would be a beneficial ingredient. Also, I am thinking that pine bark fines would be a good thing to add, to bring the pH down to favorable levels. I plan to build a compost bin, but currently have no compost to add. So, what would be the best mixture to make to fill my raised bed to start? Or am I best off looking for plain old topsoil? I plan to start using this bed next year, so I have a bit of time on my side to get the soil ready, let it sit & fester, as well as build up some compost this fall with leaves and yard waste like my spent veggie plants from this year, and cut down perennials. I also figure to toss my used 5-1-1 mix and used MG from the containers into my raised bed as well. Thanks in advance!

Joe

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