Well, to give any advice we would need to know exactly how you are gardening. In ground, in raised beds, containers, etc...

Also, if you could give a general location, nothing too specific, and a timeline on when you planted we could be of more help.

Rodney

Something changed, from one year to the next. What? Did plants actually die, or did they just not grow? Compost is always a good and inexpensive soil amendment, but lack of it isn't going to turn a productive garden into a non-productive one in one year. The trouble with drip irrigation is that it isn't that conspicuous if it isn't working. If you dig down, is the soil moist underneath? 30 minutes of drip per day doesn't mean much unless you know how much is coming out.

Rodney: The garden is in-ground for now in three or four rows. Raised beds are planned, but I haven't had money or time for those yet. Uses something called drip tape. I'm in Nevada County, CA (Sunset zone 7). Dave: Thanks. I'm from California, but the organic gardening site with info about making soil is in the UK. Can you recommend a basic/starter organic gardening book?

daninthedirt: corn didn't grow to full height, deer ate the pole beans, tomato seedlings died, summer squash didn't grow to maturity, and pumpkins didn't grow to much more than a few inches high (maybe planted too late?), I don't think water was the problem (the soil was moist)

Well, what is especially puzzling is that I understand that things grew well last year, but something changed, and this year they won't. Did you add *anything* to the soil this year? I'm a little skeptical about nutrient depletion. Bountiful harvests in one year don't change to death and lack of growth in one year because of nutrient depletion.

You mentioned you learned about 'making potting soil' from a UK site. The item you linked is specifically about making a mix for use in containers and isn't really relevant to in ground gardening. This is the section which deals with in ground soil.

While building your soil up is a fairly universal process, gardening conditions are so different between Ca and UK that I hope someone can recommend you a more geographically appropriate site.

As to adding compost to the soil, yes. I can't think of many situations where adding compost would not be beneficial. As you make it it should be going into the garden routinely and regularly. (And beware the two meanings of 'compost' in UK English.)

I agree, however, that its not a question of tweaking the soil if everything failed from one year to the next.

If corn didn't grow as high, I definitely suspect lack of nutrition. Did tomato seedlings die because of disease or something else. If you suspect you planted something too late, perhaps you need a reference sheet for your zone. I'm in NH so I like to use a planting table on a favorite seed company's website (Johnny's Seeds) and a vegetable growing guide book that was published in Boston. (Crockett's Victory Garden) I also have a feeling that first year gardens sometimes do pretty good but the following year bugs and disease find you. Despite years of experience and usually bumper crops, this year I have no winter squash. Due to a cold, wet spring, vacation and planting late, my seedlings were eaten by striped cucumber beetles while I was away 4th of July week and it was too late to plant more seeds. Gardening can be a win some/lose some activity.

The 2 systems that have the most effect on garden success or lack thereof from one year to the next are climate and soil nutrient availability. This assuming no other big changes happened.

Any major pest/disease issues this year you didn't have last year?

Did you use drip tape last year too?

Any major weather/climate changes between the 2 years?

If those answers are Yes-No- Yes then you know what you need to change. If those answers are No-Yes-No then what you are left with is nutrient issues. And lack of nutrients is far more common and likely with organic gardening - especially new organic gardeners - simply because they don't yet understand how organic gardening works and doesn't work. Nor do they understand that it takes years of soil work and care to make it successful. I say this as an organic gardener of 50+ years.

A single book recommendation? No as that is just one person's opinion. It requires reading several books or online resources on the subject to gain a working understanding of the subject. A place to start - the Organic Gardening and the Soil & Compost forums here at GW.

Other resources to explore:

The Soil Food Web

Rodale's Organic Life

8 Steps for Making Better Garden Soil

All the resources at Peaceful Valley Organic Gardening

Dave

defrost49: Thank you. Seems like timing and nutrition might be the problem.

digdirt2: No-Yes-No is the answer. Learning more about nutrient issues might be the key.

Ryan I let some vegetable seedlings sit too long before transplanting to the garden. They weren't just neglected but abused with irregular watering. I thought as long as they weren't dead, they would revive. Got some stunted broccoli and cauliflower as a result. Very poor head development. One thing to learn about is days to maturity and hardiness because it different among varieties of the same vegetable. Some lettuces are better grown in cool weather and some can take a little heat and long days without bolting. I think some seed catalogs give much more information that others. For example. this year when I once again bought lemon gem marigold seeds, the seed package said they needed light to germinate - just put them on top of the soil in the seed pot. Wow, great germination and now I know why my other attempts had failed. I had buried the seed using typical annual flower seed planting directions.

For nutrients, see if there is an organic farmers group near you. The one in our state does bulk purchasing early in the season and will accept orders from non-members. You have to order and pre-pay and there's only one pickup date but prices are very good and they can order a great variety of things.