Off Grid Living / Camping > Gardening

Improving Soil in the Vegetable Garden

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Poorboy:
Glad I'm not the only one. I had to take a pick axe to some spots to break through the hard pan. This is a first time garden here and it was logged years ago so the clay is compacted by heavy equipment and it's been driven on since. Did an area 16'x40' by hand with the pick axe and fork spade. Quite a work out but I'm trying to repair 25 years worth of not living so well, so, no pain no gain as they say. I can't add a whole lot of leaves etc because the soil is already acid/low ph. One thing the loggers did do was make some clearings and when they did, they left lots of black top soil in piles which is what I've been using for raised beds. Even on those, I have to crack the hard pan otherwise they'd be pools when it rained.
Cow peas are good for breaking up hard pans/clay pans and add tons of nitrogen and organic matter. If you use sand, make sure it's COARSE sand otherwise you're making adobe.

WooferHound:
So . . . I bought a PH meter and measured the soil in my veggie garden in a dozen places or so. I was wide-eyed to find the PH was reading between 4 and 6 and mainly around 5, this is much too Acid. Seems that I have been digging in so much organic material that it has pushed the PH level too low.

If I understand it right, I would dig in some Lime to help raise the PH up to a more usable number ?

My garden was growing very badly this year.

rossw:

--- Quote from: WooferHound on July 19, 2012, 08:31:24 pm ---If I understand it right, I would dig in some Lime to help raise the PH up to a more usable number ?

--- End quote ---

Yes, lime is an alkali and should help raise the pH of your soil.

madlabs:
I use oyster shell to raise pH, works good for me. My water is acidic and so I mix some in my compost/manure mix, as well as when establishing new beds and so on.

On the topic of gardening, my 55 gallon compost tea maker that I made is awesome! It's like organic crack for plants. Everything in my garden is going crazy.

Oh, and peat moss and tree leaves and wood shavings are usually acidic, so maybe avoid those for soil builder. Horse manure and compost work great for me.

Jonathan

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