Garden Expansion: Part 2

All done

For part one and a look at the original garden go here.

So now I have to talk about soil. In a raised bed I have found that a slightly sandy soil works best for drainage, but I live in the south where it is quite hot. I recommend checking with your extension service or such for their recommendations on pH and structure in the soil. Anyway here is how I filled the raised bed.

Lucky for me there was dirt to begin with

Since I am expanding the garden I had a good amount of excellent soil to start with, so the first step was raking it out evenly across the bottom of the bed. I then used more on the edges to reenforce the new stone walls. Next I added about 400 lbs of cow manure. (I lifted this with one arm.) If you know a farmer, it is a fairly easy to get, or it is available at most home-improvement stores. Usually I use my compost pile each year to fertilize the garden, but since I am expanding I took the opportunity to finally build a two-year compost system. This meant I needed manure.

Only ten more loads to go

I am fortunate to have a large wooded area behind the house with a creek/drainage ditch running through it. This gave me plenty of sandy soil on both side of the water. Again you can purchase fill dirt and sand from many garden centers etc., but free is always better. If there are no woods near your house try calling around to some builders or farmers. Or find a neighbor on vacation and leave them a surprise when they return. Just blame it on the groundhogs.

The final mix

In the end my soil mixture was about 60 percent dirt, 20 percent sand, and 20 percent manure with some ash from the barbecue thrown in. After the level was even with the top of the stone wall I just turned it all together and raked it out even. In a couple days I will plant my onions, garlic and carrots for the winter.

Don’t forget the fence

So then I built a fence to keep out the rabbits and the dogs.

That fence will never keep me out suckers

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