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

[ewt]

Sounds like there are a few questions here.

I would definitely top up the beds. What you use to do this with will vary according to what's available locally, what's appropriate locally for your soil and conditions, and how much you want to spend. If money isn't an issue, buying in some peat-free compost is unlikely to do any harm. If you've been composting your kitchen waste, using that would be great.

Whether or not to dig the soil is a big question and it depends on the existing soil texture and how intensively you want to grow. In general one of the great things about raised beds is less digging: stopping people from walking on the soil means it doesn't get compacted nearly as easily. But heavy clay soil can still get compacted, especially if it's been rained on with no plant cover. If this is the case, then working in some compost would be a good idea. Plant roots need air. But you could still just dump good organic compost on top and let the worms do the work, which would have the added benefit of being less disruptive of the soil food web. If there are a lot of weeds, put down a couple of layers of thick cardboard first and soak them with water. If you've kept the bed covered then bravo!

If you want to direct sow into the bed you need to pay more attention to the consistency of the top layer than if you're planning on using transplants (either grown yourself or store-bought). With transplants you have the option of topping up with straw, woodchips, leaf mould, grass clippings, or other mulch materials.

Tomatoes are heavy feeders, so it's worth bearing that in mind when deciding what to top up with. If you can get hold of organic certified well-rotted horse manure, that would be amazing. I wouldn't risk the non-organic sort as it can have aminopyralid contamination, which is a pesticide used on horse feed and lawns which is terrible for a number of garden crops. (This is also worth bearing in mind with straw and grass clippings.)

[rafiwinters]

We did decide to top up the bed with more soil. We got some that's formulated specially for raised beds so I think that will be all right. We're thinking about compost. Neighbor V thinks she will get a 2-compartment composter to keep outdoors and actually use our currently unused veg and produce ends. Also a nearby co-op sells compost for pretty cheap, you just bring your own bucket. :-)