questions about soil and fertilizer

[rafiwinters]

Hi all, just joined (rejoined?) the group. Seeking thoughts or advice. There's a raised garden bed at the back of our yard and I was thinking of planting some stuff. Not a total gardening newbie but out of practice and there is some stuff I don't know. So...

--the soil in the raised bed is about 4 inches below the top of the wall. Do we need to add soil to build this up?

--the ground hasn't been worked in a while except for my tomatoes and herbs two years ago; planted nothing at all last summer; do we need to fertilize? If so, what kind would be best? We live in the U.S. in Zone 6.

Thanks! :-)

Comments

[earthspirits]

It would probably be a good idea to add some more soil, and also turn the soil and get rid of any weeds that may have sprouted, before you plant your new seedlings.

[rafiwinters]

Hi, I think I knew you were in this group--I might have joined at one point and then left because I was so discouraged about my garden fails--anyway, here I am, it's nice to see you here. So. Yeah, V the neighbor and I did decide to get some more soil, turns out there's some specifically formulated for raised beds, so we bought a couple large bags of that. She, being the young strong one (I'm middle-aged and have a bad back), did a bunch of soil-turning while I picked trash like cigarette butts and rusty bottle caps out of the soil to throw them away, and then stripped her old Christmas tree of its needles for mulch or compost. She's going to have someone chip up the trunk of the tree for more mulch.

[earthspirits]

Nice to see you too. : )

That all sounds excellent!