Welcome Back!
We’ve covered a lot of ground so far, and we’re getting ready to plant some crops soon. Before we go further we need to talk about soil prep and make sure we have everything ready.
SEEDS SOURCING UPDATE:
If you are still looking for seeds, look no further!
I have found a supplier of fresh, non GMO vegetable and herb kits. You can purchase them on my FARM STORE.
I also have an affiliate partner offering organic seeds if you would like to check them out for specific varieties
High Mowing Organic Seeds
Raised Bed Garden Soil
Now lets dig in!
I’ve covered soil prep for in ground/row style gardening in a previous post. If you’re planting your garden in the ground, read this post and we can dive in further later on if needed.
Today we’re talking about soil for raised garden beds. There are two main advantages to using raised bed gardens. One is the fact that you don’t have to worry too much about the dirt or material beneath your raised bed. In fact, you don’t even need to put your raised beds on dirt. You can put a raised bed on concrete, wood, or anything. Secondly, raised beds allow you to put in fresh dirt that is free of seeds, harsh chemicals, and pests.
Soil Hazards
Soil, no matter where you dig it up from, has hundreds of tiny seeds in it. These seeds are dropped into the soil year after year from various weeds, grasses, trees, and other plants. Some of them sprout and grow, however most of them do not, they lay in the soil dormant for years until the conditions are right for them to germinate.
Usually the conditions for these various seeds become desirable when the top layer of dirt is disturbed in some way. The disturbed soil mixes up the dirt and brings the deeper seeds up to the top where the warmer soil allows for the seeds to germinate. It is because of this reason, you want to refrain from using just any old dirt in your garden beds. Well, you can, but your raised garden bed will quickly be overtaken by various grasses, weeds, and anything else that happened to be in that scoop of dirt.
The same is true with chemicals and pests. Harsh chemicals can be held in the soil for years from a past contamination in that area. There can also be tiny organisms that are living in the soil that can harm your plants. Its hard to tell what exactly is in soil without a test or analyzation.
You also should be careful adding manure and other raw materials to your garden. Horses stomachs are not able to break down seeds, so applying manure to your garden that has not been properly processed could cause major problems. Other raw materials can be unknowingly contaminated with chemicals and pests.
Don’t Do What I Did
I’m going to share a personal story as an example of why you have to properly source your soil for raised garden beds.
Here is a picture of a raised bed I made last year out of logs. The problem came when I decided to use regular dirt and compost from my garden. I simply dug up some dirt out of my garden area and mixed in some compost. I put the dirt in the bed and planted my seeds.
Most of the plants that sprouted in the bed were “volunteers” or vegetable seeds from previous planting seasons that never sprouted. Also, hundreds of weeds sprouted from seeds that were dormant in my garden soil. I pulled most of the weeds and volunteers and put down hay to try to keep the weeds down, but this project was basically a total bust, just from the amount of seeds that sprouted unintentionally.
This is why your initial dirt for your raised beds is so important. Had this been a nice hand built box frame I would have had to hand dig all of the bad dirt out and start over. As you can imagine, this would have been a huge pain in the A**! Luckily I was able to pull the logs out with the tractor and till up the dirt and be done with this nightmare. Please don’t make the same mistake I made.
Application:
Filling Your Beds
If you chose tall beds when designing your boxes, there will be a considerable amount of volume in your beds to fill with soil. Luckily you don’t have to fill the whole thing up to the top with soil. You can put items in the bottom of the bed to take up space so that it requires less soil. Fill up most of the bottom 7-8” of your beds with logs, sticks, branches, and other wood pieces to try and take up some of the space in the bottom of the bed. These wooden fillers will break down over time and add to the composition of your soil.
Building Your Soil
If you have several large garden beds, it’s probably most economical to build your own soil from bulk material. A big advantage to building your own soil in bulk is you can customize your soil and really go turbo with the nutrients you add and the specific texture of soil. Again, making sure you’re buying each ingredient from a reputable dealer is key.
Try to find someone local to get your material from and build a relationship with them so that you can get information and material from them year after year. I recommend joining several local gardening groups on facebook and ask them what they use for their custom soil building raw materials.
A general guideline for building your own soil is as follows:
50% Quality Top Soil
30% Quality Compost
20% Various organic materials you can add to your mix
Vermiculite
Peat Moss
Coco Core
Leaves
Composted Manure
Vermicompost
You don’t have to add all of these items to your custom soil, add what you can find and source locally and easily. You may have some specific plants you are growing in the box, in this case you may want to research the specific soil type these plants prefer and build it.
Pre Packaged Soil
If you have just a couple of beds and would rather not worry with making your own soil, you can buy bags of potting soil. This is pre mixed soil that, when you buy from a reputable company you can be sure it is free of chemicals, pests, and seeds.
Please be aware of the difference between top soil and garden soil: Topsoil is stripped from the top layer of soil during construction projects. Garden soil is topsoil enriched with compost and organic matter to make it better suited to actual plant growth.
I would stay away from packages labeled “topsoil”, it’s most likely packed with seeds and was not properly processed for a garden application. You want to buy packages labeled garden soil, or potting soil that is made specifically for garden beds and is free of foreign seeds and chemicals.
Here is a package of organic raised bed soil that is showing available at a local hardware store at a decent price. This looks like something suitable you could use and maybe buy some of the other ingredients above like vermiculite and some quality compost and manure and mix these together to get a really nice soil base.
Caring for Soil
Building soil is an ongoing task. Whether you bring in packaged soil or make your own soil from bulk material to get your beds started, you will still need to amend and build your soils back each season. Look at your soil like a living being that needs to be taken care of. Every season it must be rebuilt, by amending and adding nutrients.
This includes protecting your soil from harsh elements. Heavy rain can wash all of your good nutrients out. Rain can hold in the boxes and create a soggy environment driving out your worms and bring in mold and disease. Extra dry and super hot soil will also cause problems for you. Once you get your soil in place, it is there technically forever until you dig it out, if you take care of it, it will provide year after year of healthy plants and vegetables.
Between planting season, you should cover your beds with a tarp, or hay/mulch to protect your soil. Mulching and putting straw around your plants during the season also helps to keep your soil moist and rich. If you notice your soil is waterlogged, go a few days without watering your plants to let the soil dry out. There may be some drainage issues with your beds that need to be addressed.
You want your soil to be crumbly in the hand, not too wet, not too dry. No rocks or debris noticeable in your soil. Nice, dark, rich soil is what you’re looking for like the picture below.
Well that’s all for now, we’ll see ya next week. This one was a free post so that everyone can get their raised bed garden going. If you know someone who would like my newsletter, please share it, or buy them a subscription!
WAGMI,
Farmer