Hi Cameron,

I don't have that much experience building up soil, so I'll let others chime in to give you better advice. But seed starting mix is a sterile mix and is typically used for starting seeds indoors in areas where the growing season is short. I don't see why not using seed starter mix in a raised bed but if you are building up your soil anyways, it's going to be good quality and you shouldn't need seed starter mix. It might be a bit redundant? Unless some has experience doing this?
Good luck and I hope things start to become less overwhelming.

Wow, not real sure where to start. This is a late start for a garden to be really productive this season so I guess my first piece of advice would be to slow down even a bit more and relax. When overwhelmed and trying to covr all the bases fast we usually only makes things worse.

Focus on getting the beds good and ready for a little bit of planting now and shoot for a full fall garden. Not sure what the deadline for planting would be at that elevation.

On the bed - normally raised beds don't have or need bottoms and work better without them. But if you know for a fact that gophers are a problem then the chicken wire will work fine as long as using 2 layers of it will still allow for good drainage. Lack of good drainage can cause more problems than gophers. But I don't know of any reason why it would require any sort of special coating and adding one may only create more problems.

So these beds filled with you native soil, correct? Any idea of the amount, the volume, so you can determine what percentage of amendments may be needed? But you have already planted in them? So amending them now will be difficult. Plus how could you treat the chicken wire if the beds are already filled and planted? Bit of a cart before the horse there. :)

So what seeds have you planted and are already up? When and how do you plan to add all the amendments if the bed is already planted?

Soil amendments:

3 large bags of fully composted chicken manure - needs to be added and mixed in well at least 3 weeks prior to planting..

2 bags of Kellogs Amend - unknown

1 large bag of worm casings - a fertilizer rather than an actual amendment so use it as such IF the plants need extra nitrogen.

2 Bags of Miracle Grow Peat Moss (I plan to return, I've read it makes soil soggy.) - do not return as it is likely the best thing on your list for soil amending but it needs to be mixed in well before planting

1 Bag of Vermiculite - can't hurt and might help but again needs to be well mixed throughout before planting

1 bag Jobes Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer - ok if needed

1 Bag of seed-starting mix (for direct-sowing seeds in the raised beds?) - no, direct seeding is done in native soil not seedling mix. Save and use it for starting transplants

1 Bag of Bonemeal (for blossom end rot, yes? - no not for BER but good for soil because it is very slow to decompose. It will gradually decompose and provide any needed phosphorus. BER is not a calcium deficiency issue and that claim has long been disproven. It is a soil moisture management issue and another discussion for another time.

so i guess my primary question is - When and how do you plan to add all these amendments if the bed is already planted?

Fertilizers - you already have that covered.

Tomatoes and eggplant - have you already bought your transplants? If so are they already planted?

Dave

Cameron, as far as the gopher issue (your question is not at all stupid) - if you haven't filled the beds yet, use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. I've had gophers break through the chicken wire, I think the holes are too big and the wire too flimsy to really keep them out. We have had much better luck with the hardware cloth. I'm not sure if you can do something to keep the chicken wire from breaking down, sorry, maybe someone else will have an idea. Another gopher-proofing measure we took was to make fairly deep beds (2' high) to give the roots plenty of room before being chomped and to keep the gophers from just creating a bunch of tunnels near the surface that cause the water to run off into the tunnels instead of soaking into the soil. Upside to the higher beds is you don't have to bend over as far to garden, which is great for people with bad backs ;)

As to amending your soil, I'm sure the advice from the pros here is going to be better than mine, but I just wanted to chime in with my specific experiences. I also have the lovely California clay and sandy loam (in different parts of the yard) and have had decent luck amending it with the commercial amendment products and composted manure, HOWEVER, since the stuff you buy for local amendment is mostly wood shreds, you may have problems with nitrogen being bound up while it decomposes. I have been trying to let the newer beds sit empty for awhile to decompose when I could be patient, but when I couldn't, I made sure to fertilize them weakly but more often than my older beds, with mixed results. You also need to remember with the clay that you will not have to water as often as most people do. My clay areas are super easy to over water and cause all kinds of problems, especially with tomatoes and peppers.

Running off at the mouth. Hope some of that was helpful and that you'll get even better advice from others.

My first year using a raised bed, I mixed Amend with native soil and did okay. Now I use a blend of 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 mixed compost (chicken manure and homemade compost). I put it on top of the soil - Amend mix. My vegetables seem happy.

Unless you are sure you have a calcium problem, blossom end rot is usually the result of uneven watering - letting the soil get too day and then flooding it. For gopher barriers, hardware cloth may work better than chicken wire.

My raised bed

gopher control

I completely understand you feeling overwhelmed. I've been gardening for about 6 years now in a community garden with incredible experienced gardeners who are always willing to help with advice, and I still feel overwhelmed sometimes. My advice is try to keep your garden as simple as you can so that it is still enjoyable and you can grow some things and have mostly successes. I agree with adding the peat into your soil but if it were my garden I would save the chicken manure to put in a layer around the plants after they have grown a little. The other stuff is fine to add but not necessary. Growing from seed is easy once you have done it a few times but for now I would purchase a few things from a nursery and maybe start one item from seed... swiss chard is an easy one from seed or beets. I'm not sure about your growing conditions since I'm in N Ca. Yes, I have a huge gopher problem too. The nursery sell wire baskets that go into the hole before planting to keep the gophers from eating the roots. You might look into those since you are probably getting a little late in the season and the baskets will allow you to plant now. The baskets last for years without the gophers biting through or deteriorating. Enjoy, gardening is fun!

Thank you everyone, great stuff. I am starting late because we just had out last frost and snow two weeks ago, which is just crazy.

I have the beds constructed and the materials ready to go into the beds. Beds are not yet filled and my seedlings are quite big at this point, still sitting in the window. I will buy some transplants because I am starting late, that's my plan. Also, I tested the PH and my soil is neutral, which is good I've read.

As far as growing conditions. We don't get much rain up here. Now that summer weather has set in, days are an average of 80-85ish degrees and nights dip low as 50 degrees.

What would you recommend for fertilizer? I've heard fish fertilizer is good? Something not too strong to avoid burning?

I really appreciate the responses and will come back if I have more questions, :)

You need to harden off your transplants if you grew them inside. There is a whole science and everyone has their technique. Basically, they need to adjust to the changing temp and winds. I would put them outside during the day, not in direct sun all day long and bring them in at night if it is cold or give them overhead protection at night, under an outside table or chair for instance. Your temps sound good for hardening off. Eventually get your transplants accustomed to being outside, this can take some time if your weather is unsettled, at least baby your plants for a few days then leave them outside at night but watch your weather for cold snaps and heat spells. Then when you plant, what I like to do is prop something up beside the plant to give it shade in the hottest time of day or plant when it is cloudy. I do that for a few days. Most hardening off info I've read about seems to be geared toward people who can be at home all day with their seedlings, moving them in and out of the sun or shade as needed. I can't/don't do that, I harden off my seedlings just like I recommended you do and my seedlings grow fine when I plant. Also, when you plant it is always good to water well then put some mulch around the plant to keep the soil cool and moist. I use dry leaves but you could use the manure as a mulch....

Ahh that's better that the beds are not planted yet so you can mix everything up well in it before planting. As I said above you already have ample fertilizers on hand to use - the Jobe's, the worm castings, the chicken manure, and even the bone meal are all fertilizers, all sources of any needed nutrients. Plus what is naturally in your soil. Why do you think you would need additional?

Fish emulsion is a good basic 5-1-1 fertilizer if you feel you need additional for some reason but it is only applied with every watering when it is diluted. Normally it is used in its normal dilution only as needed on certain crops.

Dave

No No No on the chicken wire! It will break down in a few years, and the little buggers can easily get through something the size of a quarter!

Do you really want to dig those beds out again in 3-4 years and replace the wire?

Hardware cloth is more expensive, but well worth the cost! Some of my beds are going on 14 years without a gopher breach!

Also, about getting overwhelmed, take your time! Build one bed per year! Decide what is worth growing yourself as opposed to buying at the local farmers market or organic grocery. A few things I've given up on are Brussels sprouts (aphids), artichokes (ants and earwigs) and potatoes (just haven't got it down for some reason!)

What I usually do when starting a new bed is to fork down as deep as I can, break up the clay, add composted Horse manure, water it in, water in again, build the frames with hardware cloth, place those over the area, add some soil (we get ours from the landfill, it's a vege mix, so has compost in it) water it in, repeat til everything is filled in.

People scoff at me, but I also use those gopher "chatterers" and have had very little gopher activity in my vege area for the last 5 years or so (except when the batteries went dead). My other field is LOADED with gophers!

Anyway, gardening shouldn't be overwhelming! It should be enjoyable! Relax and enjoy! Nancy