I think what you have is a good start, but no, if it were me I would add ferts too. Most finished compost/manure compost have lower nutrient values and so if it were me I would add some additional ferts before you plant or you could always do a side dress later in the season.

Damon

I think it really depends on whats in your compost. I make my own. It contains many ingredients not incorporated in the store bought stuff. Eggshells, fruit peels, vegetable scraps, wood ash, etc., its really quite a long list of things that provide micro nutrients that aren't available in miracle grow type fertilizers which only provide N-P-K any way. However since you grow toms exclusively I would not go too heavy with manure or high nitrogen fertilizers as they promote allot of leafy growth and do little for blossom set & fruit production. I would recommend a balanced fertilizer with numbers like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 as these are generally the ones formulated for tomatoes. I just use my home made compost, turned in in the spring & fall, and mulched on top through out the season. Oh, don't forget to check your Ph and adjust if necessary, I find 6.5 to be the sweet spot for tomatoes but anything between 6.0-7.0 should be OK. Good luck
Ken

Without soil samples and a compost analysis, were all guessing... period. Sad but true!

Correct as to above :

Lots just dig a hole and in goes some humus, and fish heads, whatever works!

To be safe buy a inexpensive soil test kit and check your compost (which is the best growing medium mixed w/ some native soil).

I use compost from a brush recyceler that sends it out to be heat treated to be sure it contains no pathogens, weedseed or other nasties.

Just be sure your ph is in the range stated above and lots of NPK.

I only use fish emulsion and seaweed extract, and compost teas later in the season. A product called "mushroom stuff" is a good transplant/ root stimulator at plant out.

Thanx for the tips. I was hoping to not need fertilizer as I wanted to keep things as natural (and cheap... probably more cheap!) as possible. I guess I'll go with some sort of natural fertilizers.

As for the soil test, I'll see what I can do. But the reason I haven't done one yet is that my soil was a mix of red and black clay. I've mixed in enough compost now that every shovel full is different from the one right next to it. Basically, what I have now is clumps of clay with compost mixed in. I can literally take a shovel full and pick out the compost from the clay. What would I put in the test kit? My plan is to wait a couple of years so the "soil" can stabilize and not be so clumpy before I actually pay for a test.

The reason I asked is because money is tight. When I'm at the garden center, I have decisions to make. Do I buy higher quality soil to mix in or do I buy fertilizers? My hope is to get the soil fertile enough so that fertilizers are no longer necessary. I guess I'll stick with my plan of making my own compost and mixing in natural ferts as I can afford them.

My hope is to get the soil fertile enough so that fertilizers are no longer necessary.

Ever? Not going to happen. No way to get and then keep soil fertility without some sort of regular replacement program.

What you grow is going to use nutrients and the compost continues to decompose. N disappears into the air over time and other nutrients leach off into the ground water.

Even those of us who use heavily composted beds and no supplemental type fertilizers add lots of fresh compost on a regular basis. Beds get a good dose of several inches of fresh stuff every spring and regular side dressings during the season. So if you can't make your own compost then I'd suggest investing your $$ in a regular supply of quality compost.

You can also look into using supplemental "meals" such as cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, etc. The folks on the Organic Gardening forum here have several good suggestions that will help you.

Dave

Thanx Dave.

I plan on adding fresh compost periodically. I have a compost pile started with "Craigslist" leaves, UCG's, kitchen scraps and the first mowing of the season (so far). The leaves have been there for about a month, but the pile didn't heat up until the grass clippings were added last week. The pile is about 4 ft tall, six feed wide and about 3-4 feet long. I have no idea how much actual compost this will yield, but look forward to figuring it out.

I also add material directly to the garden. Every January, Austin gives away "Christmas Tree Mulch" as part of their recycling program. I load up the minivan and spread that around the garden (about an inch or two) I cover that with about six inches of leaves and then grass clippings all summer as I mow. Once my compost pile is ready, I'll be adding that as well. Fresh manure that I can find (again, Craigslist) will be added to the compost pile. Old, composted stuff, directly to the garden. At the end of the season (December) I will tilling the lot into the soil and start over with the Christmas tree mulch in January.

So the garden will be "fed" throughout the year with both fresh material and composted material. So am I correct in assuming that with all this, I will need to hit it with a fertilizer a few times a year?