<Bringing an old garden back to life> Before you add anything, before you do anything else, before invest any more time - you should get a soil test from a professional soil lab.

IF it were mine I would build a raised bed or two, read up on lasagna gardening - use that info to let the worms till the soil.

I'm guessing that it's still a bit overly moist. If you have good weather give it a day or 2, toss on your amendments and till it again. Then... cover with a mulch, like straw, and let it rest until you plant out. If you can't cover with mulch, then hold off the second tilling until shortly before you plant out. Mainly, the time to work the soil is when the weather cooperates. Too wet, and you can damage the soil structure. Too dry and you might as well be tilling concrete. It's a combination of knowing your soil type, and what a good tilthe looks and feels like.

If it has been unused for 5 years, it is already quite alive, and tilling it will reset much of its life to zero. why don't you try splitting it in two, one side you till it and manure it to your heart content, both actions damaging or killing myc.; in the other you suppress weeds just before planting, perhaps by laying cardboard (if the weeds are tall enough, you can keep them down with bricks and/or pieces of wood) and see which side produces more? it is less work and more production.

After reading glib's reply, perhaps I misunderstood. I thought the reason for the shoveling and raking was to smooth things out after tilling. If you haven't tilled yet, then well...

<If it has been unused for 5 years> I also wondered why it hadn't been used for 5yrs.? Where there problems? Was too much of something already added?

"Most pics of gardens I see have a
fairly fine looking soil. Is it simply a matter of just raking and
working the soil to break everything down over time?"

It's the result of regular maintenance and planting over qa period of years. You'll get there.

You are probably working out the clumps of roots and things, and have soggy soil making clods of mud. Let it dry a bit and then mash and bash them with the rake - like mashing potatoes, hold the rake vertical and smack the clod with the tines.

My plan is to get 7 or 8
bags of manure and mix in to the soil before planting.

You don't need to do this ... in fact, you will damage the garden if you do. Bagged "manure" is usually the dried scrapings from a dairy corral and is high in salts.

Just rake the plot reasonably smooth, and plant stuff. Unless they show signs of a deficiency, you don't need to do anything else but weed and water. Add a mulch of straw if you need to conserve water around plants like tomatoes.

And start a compost heap - spread the compost onto the garden in the winter and do a bit of raking in the spring and you will be good to go.

I would echo the suggestions to get a soil test, and if your soil is clayey at all, avoid tilling when wet. When it dries you will have terrible concrete clods.

Having said all that, compost rarely hurts anything and if the soil is low in organic matter (i.e. not dark in color at all - the test will tell you, but you can guess by looking), you can add some compost. I'd take your soil sample first though. Check with your County Ag Extension office about where to get it analyzed inexpensively.

Manure is indeed a particular type of compost. I would at least use half and half with some other type of compost. Many commercial composts have manure as one of several ingredients. Usually you can get several types. That way they balance out each other's strong and weak points.

Definitely start a compost pile in or near the garden for your yard and garden trimmings and kitchen scraps.

Keep us posted!

The garden has not been used in 5 years because life got in the way and I just let it go. It produced very nicely when in use for a couple of years.

I just want to 'do it right', when I get her going again. I will take a soil sample to my garden center, I know they test. I will also not add manure and depending on the soil test, just get it going again.

THANKS MUCH

"I will not add manure..."

This is at your discretion, but manure can be one of the greatest soil amendments you can find. If you can get composted manure directly from a farm, then that is best. The only caveat to composted manure, really, is the amount you use. If your garden has good drainage, I wouldn't worry too much about salts. If that's a concern, leave the manure out in the rain in a place where it can leach well. The salts will be gone quickly.

If you only have access to either manure, or compost through a store, then the compost is probably a similar price to the manure. However, if you're near a farm, then many farmers will gladly let you shovel out the barn. If it's fresh, just leave it out to compost.

Manure has been the #1 garden amendment for millennia. Sorry, but unless it is contaminated in some way, the idea that it can 'ruin' a soil is ridiculous.

I will likely let the garden center guide me after a soil test. Thanks for the comments, bring them on!

If the garden was productive, and it has rested for five years under vegetation it will still be fertile. of course if it was fallow it is a different story. Manure is a great amendment if a soil is lacking P. Otherwise it is not that great of an amendment. It has historical precedent because it was the only organic matter that was plentiful in a farm. Anyhow the "soil test" gives only partial, and sometimes misleading, information since it says nothing about soil biology which dominates fertility considerations.

I sometimes go in with a hoe and just manually "slice" up big chunks. It still won't be "fine" but that will come with the spring rains and weather.

<I will likely let the garden center guide me after a soil test. Thanks for the comments, bring them on!>

When I said to get a soil test from a professional soil lab I meant from a college or university i.e. a place that has absolutely no interest in selling you something, most likely things you won't need. Google can be a great help here.

afaik - most garden centers will use one of those home test kits that only give you Ph which is not too accurate anyway. Then try to sell you things (anything) they have "in stock". So a FREE test is not really FREE.

You can search this forum to get an idea what kind of things a good soil test will show.

Of course you can do whatever you want - it is your garden - but I would avoid advice from anyone who has an interest in selling, but hey that is me.

"Manure is indeed a particular type of compost" can you please explain that?

I appreciate all the advice for sure. But the garden was very productive when last planted 5 years ago and the 4 years I had it going. Only reason it has laid dormant, like I said, was 'life got in the way' of proper maintenance. It was just a proud mound in the yard when I tilled last weekend. This was to mix up the grass and such that was there.

When I have fertilized and put down weedkiller in the lawn every year I have purposely not put anything in the garden area, knowing I would bring it back sooner or later. I am not worried about professional testing or the like. My garden center's test will be fine for me. If they were to tell me that something radical is needed, I would blow them off and just continue with my plan. I am just interested in their thoughts, they have always been good to me in the past.

I am going to not use manure after reading here and some other sites. Being in the midwest, 'corn country', we have pretty good soil. With my past using this space, I think I am overthinking this. I have a few plants started indoors already. Once frost season passes, I will direct sow other seeds and plant my starts. Looking forward to a healthy garden for my family.

Appreciate any and ALL comments,

Matt

Just a reminder...

<Appreciate any and ALL comments,>

<I just want to 'do it right', when I get her going again.>

That would be a .... oh no.

That the garden was "very productive" 5 years ago means nothing today, soil is not static and has changed though you have grown nothing there except maybe grass.

Start with a good reliable soil test. Unfortunately Purdue does not do them, however the University of Kentucky will do this and maybe the people at the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service would be of help in interpreting the report. In addition to a good reliable soil test for soil pH and major nutrient levels these simple soil tests may also be of some use.

1) Soil test for organic
material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in
a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and
replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24
hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight.
For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the
bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above
that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole
1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains
away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain
away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs
more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the
soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful
of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is
released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a
finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your
soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant
odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria
will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

5) Life. How many
earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that
is not healthy.

limmq is kimmsr

Most certainly overthinking. If it has had vegetation, and it has no tree roots underneath, the nutrients will have cycled. And you have a micro-herd underneath that takes years to build, and that you should consider saving, not damaging or destroying, since they will help your plants.

Everyone (everyone!) who bothers to test their soil after a few years of amending finds above optimal mineral nutrients (everything except N). It is the compost curse, which is similar to the overfertilizing curse. A normal consequence of dumping large amounts of organic matter on your garden, stripped of the two most important nutrients, carbon and nitrogen.

Keep in mind that K moves less than an inch a year in clay, and P much less than that, due to physical processes (percolation, diffusion). All the motion is by biology (that is, up and down through the roots and up the aerial parts), and if the P/K is imbedded in some piece of OM, it tends to stay there even better.

It would be worth digging one spot down 2 ft. How many worms? What is the root mass? How deep does it go? And if you really are itching for some labor, your garden would be better off if you were to bury some rotten logs (a technique called hugelkultur), than any tilling or amending.

>>"Manure is indeed a particular type of compost" can you please explain that?

I was agreeing (admittedly vaguely) that manure can have higher levels of salts, and if the OP is concerned about that, I suggested mixing with other composts. I've used plenty of manure compost directly from the farm and bagged products with manure as an ingredient and I've never had a problem with excessive salt. I do live in the Midwest though with 30" of rain per year. Someone in an arid climate may have different results.

It's easy to get wound up in all this stuff...Matt, you're right, don't overthink it, you'll get lost in the...weeds? haha

Certainly whether to have a professional soil test or not is a personal decision but let me explain my logic.

Step 1 in planning a garden is site selection - choosing a site with adequate sunlight for the plants you want to grow = 6-8 hrs of direct sunlight (no shadows) but direct unfiltered sunlight. You can always improve the soil.

Step 2 is to have a professional soil test done. This will serve to save time and money by adding only what is needed to grow the plants you want to grow.

The below info is directly from here http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2836&q=378202#Correcting 

<Tests Performed
Soil
samples are tested for texture, organic matter, pH, nitrate nitrogen,
ammonium nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Except
for pH and texture, all results are expressed as high, medium, and low.
A nutrient is classified as excessive when it is likely to damage
plants. If necessary, we can perform tests for salts, micronutrients,
and contaminants.>

<Correcting Deficiencies or Excesses
Based
on the soil test, applications of limestone, fertilizer and compost or
manure are often suggested. The proper time for application of each amendment is usually stated. Organic amendments are suggested when requested.>

To read the entire CAES Soil Testing info click here -

Soil testing helps with much more than saving time and money. Nutrient availability is influenced by soil pH, for most plants most nutrients are most readily available with the soil pH in the 6.0 to 7.0 range. Having nutrients in balance means one nutrient will not adversely affect the plants ability to use another and helps the gardener understand how that balance is in that garden. Plants need just enough Magnesium to properly utilize Calcium, and vice versa.

Yes, a good soil test will help the gardener know which nutrients might be needed or not and may mean the gardener does not need to add a source of nutrients saving that gardener money by not purchasing what is not needed and saving time and energy by not applying the unneeded nutrients, but there is much more involved.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-soil.htm

kimmq is kimmsr