Specifically for soil conditioning and a compost ingredient as we prep our new garden. My horticulture skills are non-existent and I don’t know what I don’t know. That said I want to make sure this is something I do the right way or it could be a crappy experience. Sorry had to do that.
Thanks for any gardening tips!
Specifically for soil conditioning and a compost ingredient as we prep our new garden. My horticulture skills are non-existent and I don’t know what I don’t know. That said I want to make sure this is something I do the right way or it could be a crappy experience. Sorry had to do that.
Thanks for any gardening tips!
Here’s a thread full of poo puns.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4996921;search_string=poo%20puns;#4996921
No! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascariasis
What are you growing? Our town has a composting dump and I go there for dirt. Plus, we keep a compost pile. Or go to a farm and get aged cow shit. Be careful about getting compost from a nursery or big box as a lot of it comes from sewage treatment plants and could contain numerous pharmaceuticals.
No! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascariasis
What are you growing? Our town has a composting dump and I go there for dirt. Plus, we keep a compost pile. Or go to a farm and get aged cow shit. Be careful about getting compost from a nursery or big box as a lot of it comes from sewage treatment plants and could contain numerous pharmaceuticals.
We are not 100% sure yet. We love all types of tomatoes so that is a definite.
tomatoes are pretty easy. Full sun if possible, enough space between them to allow air flow, be prepared to support the branches (I just use wooden stakes w/plastic bag strips for ties, but you can get cages), soil that isn’t too clayish, mix in a little cow shit, don’t water often, but water deep especially after they are well-established. I like to grow cherry tomatoes in big planter boxes. I used to always grow indestructible varieties like Early Girl but the past couple of years I only grow heirlooms like Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter - they aren’t pretty but the flavor is unbeatable.
My fav is the Campari those things are like crack! I sat over the sink Sunday after swim practice cutting them in half and dunking them in Kosher salt. Yums. Are Camparis doable? I’m in Florida if that matters.
Chicken turds are excellent for asparagus but it takes a long time to grow. Instead of animal poop, I like worm poop from the compost bin. It is free. I toss all but animal products in to the compost bin. The worms just come, eat and poop. Gray water is used to keep it all moist and help produce good compost. Two years ago it helped produce tasty strawberries, watermelon, canatloupe, tomatoes, zucchini and onions. Whatever was not given away or eaten went back into the compost bin.
Ha. Yeah, Florida probably works for tomatoes. You might have to start Camparis from seed though as I doubt you’ll find plants. Where I am we have to start seeds with a foot of snow still in the backyard, but you probably have time.
Yea we probably need to adjust our expectations on year one getting a later start. Lots of trial and error while we figure out what kinds of stuff we want to grow and what we are ok with buying.
Broccoli and lettuce grow great down here. The biggest issue isn’t the soil, but the bugs. A garden can go from beautiful to a complete waste in a day.
We have a “garden” behind my shed. I had to build a screen enclosure to keep the critters and birds out, then I realized the smallest hole allowed the bugs in. I really didn’t want to spray so I closed all the holes.
I live south eastern fla for reference
For broccoli I use Bt spray which a bacteria that kills the caterpillars that come from white cabbage moths. Works great. If I don’t use it, it’s impossible to find all of the green caterpillars in a head of broccoli.
Don’t have any problems with lettuce. Lettuce is definitely a veg that is way better from the garden than the store.
Specifically for soil conditioning and a compost ingredient as we prep our new garden.
You can’t possibly know what to add to your soil until you know what’s already in your soil. You’re doing yourself a HUGE disservice by simply saying “I’m going to add X”. The end result is that you could end up with too much of “X” combined with not enough of “Y” and with soil conditions that are worse then what you started with.
There are tons of places that do soil sampling and many do it via mail and most are relatively cheap. I had three different spots done a couple years ago and I think it was a total of 39$.
The place I used not only tested the soil but also told me what needed to be added based on what I was telling them I was going to grow in each area. Potatos are different then tomatoes and so on.
About the only thing that is “Universal” and in almost every case not enough is organic matter. Even that however can alter various aspects of the soil.
So my suggesting is to get your soil tested and then at least you have a starting point. Then pick out what you want to grow and alter the soil from there.
~Matt
Consider a worm bin. Basically worms eat your fruit/vegetable scraps and produce dirt! It’s highly amazing. Also the worm “tea” drains and collects in the bottom bin which is like superfood to your young plants.
Consider a worm bin. Basically worms eat your fruit/vegetable scraps and produce dirt! It’s highly amazing. Also the worm “tea” drains and collects in the bottom bin which is like superfood to your young plants.
I like this idea it sounds a bit mo simples. I’m looking at a lot of stuff here thanks for all the info LRer’s.