amending soil in raised beds for square foot garden
17 years ago
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- 17 years ago
- 17 years ago
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Question for raised bed / square foot gardeners
Comments (6)This past spring we built some planters 2 feet off of the ground, 6 inches deep. I used a mix very similar to Mel's Mix. The compost I added was 3 different brands of "box-store" humus-n-manure type products. I used a double measure of the various "composts" (calling them compost is a compliment they don't deserve) than I did of either vermiculite or peat. As our reliable friend Violet recommends, I mulched heavily. I wish I had used or purchased more high-quality compost! It seems as though my garden is suffering from a severe nutrient deficiency as a result of store-bought compost only. If there is one area I would suggest you concentrate your efforts, find some good, healthy, nutritious organic material to add to your mix. I now wish I hadn't used any peat. I mean, it's void of nutrients, it seems it's only value is moisture retention and, compost performs that task better (I believe) plus, "real" compost has nutients in it. We are experiencing record heat, here near New Orleans. My mix is not at all drying out quickly. I'd have to look at our temps the past few weeks but, I think we got into the mid-to-high 90's every day for 3 weeks. If drying-out were "MY" main concern, I'd add more vermiculite. But again, I believe a generous amount of good compost will do all you're asking....See MoreSquare Foot Gardening in Extremely Dry Soil
Comments (9)Kendra, Here is a pic of when we started. Until we expand our larger bed to encompass the whole side yard area, for now I just bordered it with rubber landscape edging held in place by spikes. Setup is: everything has weed barrier under it. Native tree mulch outside of sf beds. Ladybug brand sf garden soil in raised beds, and since pic was taken, added hay/straw to help keep if from drying out. We also have a black soaker hose running under the straw that we turn on as the plants start drooping/looking a little sad. Here is a pic of our watermelon we just picked on the 4th of July. I took up growing right under a lemon basil plant, which smells incredible when you touch it. It shows the setup we ended up with for right now with the mulch and hay combo. This year is our first year to do a sf garden bed. We lost a squash, zuchini, and two corn plants, but I think the sf garden bed kits we bought are not tall/deep enough for those plants. Anyways, if any more questions, ask away. This is my first year doing sf gardening, so I'm all trial and error right now, so please share your pics/questions/suggestions/ect... I have some more pics of the garden to upload from the camera so I'll try and get them on here soon....See MoreIs Square Foot Gardening intended only for raised beds?
Comments (0)No, although many people prefer raised beds, square foot gardening can be achieved in raised or unraised beds. The basic premise is that the garden is built up as a series of squares 12 inches by 12 inches. In Mel Bartholomew's book "Square Foot Gardening", he suggests that the 1-foot squares be grouped together in a square 4 ft. by 4 ft. thus, having a unit with 16 one foot squares...See MoreMust-have soil amendments for new raised beds
Comments (25)tanya, Yeah, I have no idea how Agricultural Ext. services are offered in Canada. Your Government is usually more helpful than ours, so I'd really be surprised if you didn't have an office, with the testing services, available. I'd call or check in to a local school, college, or university, or local government and ask them. The teachers, or horticulture dept. directors should no doubt know, as well as your local government offices. I live in Tn. and our County Ext. offers the tests for $7. However, it does cost more in other States. I really can't, in good conscience, recommend those home tests. I would exhaust your efforts on professional labs before spending money on the home tests. Please let me know if your local or (is it?) Provincial Government has provisions for tests, as now I am curious. I'm ignorant to the local Government structures in Canada. Do you have Counties? That's how our Ag. services are delineated. Edit: Oh, and even though you had difficulties, and did use a lot of the fish compost, that should make for a VERY healthy bed in the long run. I surely wouldn't say using it was a mistake. I just think there's a learning curve on what it looks like finished, and how to use it properly. It's not available here, so I don't have the hands on knowledge to say what are good amounts. A web search should help, but sometimes it's tough to find good info....See MoreRelated Professionals
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