Garden experts I need advice...

[NikonSniper]

Boss lady wants some raised beds built for planting veggies.

Heading to the sawmill and going to get some 2x12 Hemlock planks and 1x4 Hemlock boards to trim the top. Going to make the boxes 4'x8'

The question I have is what is your "recipe" for the best soil mix for the boxes? Have been reading peoples various mixes on the web that range from using zero soil to a mixture of soil, compost, and various other things.

[justjoe]

I had 4x8 boxes changed to 2x8, the light gets in better, nothing gets shaded out, I started with peat moss added compost and vermiculite, top with a little manure, I add compost and manure yearly good luck

[Petee]

If you have a truck, then contact me at 371-3322 or e-mail cshenkle@ verizon.net and I can hook you up with all the leaf mold you can handle.  The guy will load it for you.

 

You will need a soil test to find out what amendments to add (if any) and I would hurry if you want to get it ready for planting this year.

[lavender]

I like justjoe's mixture. Peat moss is naturally sterile and keeps down disease. It also holds water. Compost adds some nutrients and improves the texture of the soil. Vermiculite helps with drainage. The horse manure adds vital nitrogen. Both composted material and leaf mold are low in nitrogen. Peat moss has a very low pH and leaf mold is also fairly low so you will want to monitor the pH of the soil. Compost is more neutral.  Veggies like a slightly acid soil 7 is neutral so 5.5-7 covers most things. Lime will increase the pH if it is too low.

If you are starting from scratch you might as well use what is easy to work with and there is no reason that veggies won't grow in that mix. But..............sometimes there is magic in soil. Maybe just a couple of scoops to cover all your bases. You need to reach an ecological balance in your planting medium and some of the microorganisms in soil might help that.

You can use amended top soil from your yard or in bags. Add some peat moss to improve texture and maybe some sand to improve drainage. Veggies will grow in that as well but it will be harder to work with. There is no "correct" recipe. Some people use what they have and some go for scientific mixtures. All's good.

[Petee]

If you have a truck, then contact me at 371-3322 or e-mail cshenkle@ verizon.net and I can hook you up with all the leaf mold you can handle.  The guy will load it for you.

 

You will need a soil test to find out what amendments to add (if any) and I would hurry if you want to get it ready for planting this year.

 

The leaf mold will fill up the bulk of the bed free.  Then once you have the soil test done (Agway and DuBois Feeds or your county Extension) then you add what is needed in nutrients.  That could include aged manure, rock dust, compost, and some native soil but you won't know for sure until you do the soil test.

[steelnut]

I had 4x8 boxes changed to 2x8, the light gets in better, nothing gets shaded out, I started with peat moss added compost and vermiculite, top with a little manure, I add compost and manure yearly good luck

We have three 4 x 10's, but I really like the idea of 2' wide instead of 4'. We use the same mixture in ours that you do.

[Petee]

Use of peat moss is being discouraged nationwide because it is a non-renewable resource.  It has no nutrition to speak of and leaf mold is better at soil conditioning, plus is it free.

[Bon]

I always added mushroom mulch to my garden when I could get it. You will have veggies growing like crazy!!

[Petee]

Mushroom compost is excellent as a soil conditioner or an amendment but too much of it can kill your plants.  Every batch of mushroom compost is different and by itself may contain enough nutrients to kill plants.  

 

Again, it's something you add as needed, not the basis of bulk in a raised bed.

 

You can use soil too but it will be heavy and probably need amended to work properly.