Improving soil loam

23 years ago

Hello, I am in the procces of converting a chunk of my lawn into a vegatable garden. Since last summer I have been plowing the ground trying to remove the large amount of rocks. Early this summer I leveled the dirt and worked in about 300lbs of lime. After 2 weeks I spread some red clover seed and with some rain it has grown nicely. The dirt seems to range from a dark clay on one side and loose sandy soil on the other. Although it seems fertile it lacks any ability to hold moisture and the clay side will even crack from the sun. My plan is to plow under some colected grass clipping and chipped wood mulch. I figured I could flip all this plant matter under and let it decompose. If this is heavily limed to control the acid level can a veggie garden survive above this. I want to continue growing clover or other grasses between rows to improve the soil and control erosion. I would like any input on this because this is my first veggie garden and I would like to keep out as many chemical as possible, Bob.

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Comments (4)

Nelz
23 years ago
Bob,

Congrats on undertaking the gardening experience. Picking fresh veggies is great! Everything sounds great so far, growing a cover crop is excellent, removing rocks (while an eternal project) will help alot also.

Regarding acidity, it is better to get one of those cheapo PH tests from a local nursery or large *-mart or ***-mart and see where you're at. Much better to know where you are starting from. Automatically adding lime to material that is being composted is vastly overrated, and often not necessary. However wood chips may make it necessary. Nitrogen that is being used in the decomposition process will be released as the process completes bring the soil back into balance. That's why it is better to compost in a pile and add that later. Test PH now so you can begin making any adjustments that may be necessary now and then fine tune them in the spring if needed.

As far as building soil loam and reducing the clay issue, personally I would completely skip the wood chips, as they will take too long to break down and will continue to hold onto nitrogen while decomposing. The grass clippings you mentioned are good to add, and since it is almost fall, mow or chop those leaves and pile them on and turn 'em in and cover with 6-12 inches of straw. You could save some leaves as part of a compost pile. Actually, I wouldn't be afraid to go as high as 6-8 inches of chopped leaves if there is some grass clippings in there.

In the fall I turn in several inches of chopped leaves and grass clippings (mixed with leaves from mowing), and cover with straw for winter. I do this to beds only. I cover paths heavily (8-12 inches) with straw to keep weeds down in the summer. This straw gets turned into the beds in fall, and a lighter layer placed on paths for fall and winter. In the spring, path straw is used as mulch in beds, and new straw added to paths. I personally wouldn't waste time or energy growing anything between rows. Why amend soil that is being walked on, and has no plants?

I personally would curtail or slow down on repetitive plowing and tilling. Everytime you do this it plays havoc on soil structure. It destroys worm tunnels, flip flops deep soil with the stuff on top changing the microbe balance, and can create a hard layer right at the bottom of the tiller blades or plow blades, called tiller pan.

When I put my garden in at my current place I built raised beds. I shoveled a 2' wide path of dirt onto a 3-4' wide area next to it that was the bed, and worked my way across. Paths are permanent and all I do is the straw treatment above. Beds are permanent and get all the attention for soil building.

With adding that much lime (not sure how big of an area) I'd definitely start by testing the PH and seeing where to go from there.

Good luck! You are definitely working it hard and have the right ideas.

Ken
ellenh
23 years ago
I have a small farm in NJ with clay soil too. The clay soil I've struggled with here on my farm and in the suburban house I had prior. Being relatively new to farming - but not gardening, one thing that I found out is that you do not want to plow clay when it is wet. It destroys the aggregates that are created within the clay which allow air and water to penetrate your soil. If you do this, nothing will grow. So be careful about the timing of your plowing. Many farmers here plow in the fall when the weather is a little dryer.
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shakaho
23 years ago
Post your question on the soils forum, and you will get lots of help!
KAYGARDENER
23 years ago
I AGREE ABOUT THE SOIL TESTING... LIME WILL LAST ~2-3YRS, DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH YOU APPLIED/ 100 SQ FT. OUT HERE IN THE WESTERN USA, WHEN DEALING W/ ADOBE CLAY SOILS, I'VE ALSO ADDED PEAT MOSS & GYPSUM AS SOIL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FALL TILLING...
THE FIRST YEAR, I USED THE SHOVEL FOR HANDDIGGING ONLY FOR EARLY SPRING PLANTING (LIKE PEAS & POTATOES), UNTIL IT'S TIME TO PUT IN BEANS, TOMATOES, ETC. THEN IT'S DRY ENOUGH TO USE HEAVY MACHINERY, LIKE THE ROTOTILLER, IN HEAVY CLAY SOIL. THEN I MADE RAISED BEDS & CONTINUED SOIL IMPROVEMENTS & HAVEN'T HAD TO USE THE ROTOTILLER SINCE. GOOD GARDENING TO YOU,K.