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brandi_tew

lifted garden soil

10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago

So as a kid my parents and grandparents aunts uncles and really any family I had always planted gardens. I can remember weeding pinching pulling and clipping the plants. We had 3 different types of gardens we grew.. we always started them the same. Till the land add in a mixture of manure compost and mushroom compost 1 of top soil ash...soak the land again retill the land then plant it was about a week long process. My parents stuff always grew and in abundance. Since then I moved into town started living in the city. I've decided we need a garden my family don't eat the cheap veggies we got to go for the expensive stuff... so I've decided to build a pallet lifted garden. Since I can't till I know I don't plant in mushroom compost as a first... what would be recommended?? I live in Northwest Florida... I've already seeded and got plants started got to move them asap. Of tomatos, cucumbers, squash, watermeloms, cilantro, red onions, bell peppers, spinach and lettuce... I've got a direct sunlight and a midlrvel sunlight spot picked out next to my pool which is filled with well water.. the excess run off from the well water sprinklers would feed into the plants which would help with watering perfectly the way my set up is made. I honestly just don't know the soil...to buy now.. it's old wooden pallets that I've taken 1 side off of. As it cools off in fall i will change it out to broccoli cauliflower more onions spaghetti squash... I've just started my first asparagus plants and they are taking off just didn't realize it takes 2 years to grow..might buy some that are already established.

Comments (4)

  • 10 years ago

    I believe your question is, what do I fill a raised bed with?

    You're correct that 100% compost is not the best way to go. There are several reasons for that. What you need is simply a mixture of topsoil and compost. Depending on how much you need, you can either buy bags of topsoil or get a load delivered or if you have access to a pickup truck, get it from a nursery or soil supplier. They may even have a 'garden mix' which might save you the amending.

    Just make sure of a few things. You want a soil that is balanced in terms of sand/silt/clay if possible (loam) although you may not find that in Florida. Ask where they got it to make sure it's not full of noxious weeds. If you're buying bags, don't get potting or container mix, and keep in mind a lot of the 'garden soil' products are pretty much all organic too. Poke a hole or find a broken bag to see what it looks like. You need mineral soil for at least half the volume.

    If you're buying bags of compost, it's good to get several types and blend them. Watch for too much soil - I've seen compost bags that had more soil than the 'topsoil' bags next to them which looked more like compost. Buyer beware. You kinda get what you pay for with store bought compost: the cheapest has the least organic matter and nutrients, but the most expensive isn't necessarily better than the middle ground.

    Be prepared for the beds to settle and compact and require some topping off next season.

  • 10 years ago

    "Myth #1: Topsoil means that it is going to be good, dark and rich soil.

    Balloon popper: There is no legal definition of the word topsoil. Technically, it is whatever is on the top. Sight unseen, you could order 5 yards of anything from beach sand to adobe brick material. Always go to look at what you are buying if you are unfamiliar with the soil seller to know what you are purchasing."

    From this article. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/the_shocking_truth_about_topsoil

    What is needed is a good soil mix and something called "topsoil" may not be that.

    Soil is composed of the mineral portion (the sand, silt, clay) organic matter, air and water. Some few are lucky enough to have loam, a soil type generally recognized as the best soil for growing things. https://hort.purdue.edu/ext/loam.html

    Most of us have sand or clay and amend that with ample amounts of organic material to get a soil that will grow plants without too many problems.

    kimmq is kimmsr

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I'm not a believer in buying soil.

    Improve what you have by adding compost, or, adding veggie scraps directly as described by... when can I stop digging?Posted by Garyoldman Parsons.

    The trouble with buying in soil is that you don't get as good a result as you would if you do the hard yards yourself. Plus, there are other problems created when depositing one soil on top of another.

    Aaaaaand, as kimmq said, buyer beware. There is such a lot of rubbish out there. I am yet to see something that I would want to actually purchase. Oh... that's right. I foolishly let go a huge, old pile of composted horse manure because my brain could not compute that what I was seeing was so lovely. I had expected not to be impressed and when I went and looked at this heap, and saw that it looked like soil, I could simply not compute it. A few months went by (yes, months) and I realised that what I wanted was as much of that heap that I could get. But too late. It was GAWN! I could not believe that I had been so stupid.

    These sorts of heaps do not come around very often, sad to say.

  • 10 years ago

    I don't disagree with you guys on the subject of improving the soil we have (as you know), but seeing that the OP had already set up a type of raised beds and wanted to fill them, I thought it best to just give advice on how to do that.