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PostPosted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:16 am 
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From Howard Garrett


Native soil should not be removed, but grass and weeds should be, especially Bermuda grass.

Here's how to amend a 100-square-foot garden: Spread compost 4 to 6 inches thick on the bare garden soil. Also spread 40 pounds of greensand, 80 pounds of lava sand, 40 pounds of zeolite, 20 pounds of whole ground cornmeal and 20 pounds of dry molasses. Till or fork all of the amendments into the native soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Forty pounds of used coffee grounds can be added now or later.

Mulch transplants and seedlings with shredded native tree trimmings or partially completed compost. Don't pile mulch onto the stems of plants because it can slow or stop plant growth and can lead to circling roots and other physical damage or diseases. (See Resources to obtain free instructions.)

When the plants start growing, spray them and drench the root zones with Garrett Juice Plus. Also drench the roots with Thrive by Alpha BioSystems.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:06 am 
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I'm working on a raised bed this fall so it will be ready to plant in the spring. Good to find this post.

I'm going to be raising the soil level on one sloped side of a place where I had a garden this year, so I'm bringing in soil to put on top of the existing soil, and I'll be working in my backyard compost and other amendments. I'll be sure to mix some of the existing soil into the new to keep the biological activity that is currently there in the new mix.

Anything else you can think of that should go into a new raised bed?

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:24 am 
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Soil Mender offers now a new product called Raised Bed Mix. Go to their website, click Products, then Soils, and its description can be read there on that page.


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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 7:55 pm 
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how much of the products Howard mentioned, lava sand, green sand, corn meal, zeolite and molasses are added to samller area, say 3x3 or 4x4?


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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:44 am 
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I think you just to do the math and reduce it from 100 sq. ft, to the size of your bed.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:22 am 
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We have been burying dog pooh in an abandend garden. Now we would like to use it as a garden but fear it would not be safe to eat veggies from this plot. Does anyone know if it would yield edible food? Would it be safe after so many years of not using the plot? :roll:


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:06 am 
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I'm making preparations for year 2 of organic gardening and wanted to understand if I have to add all of the "ingredients" (listed in the original post) again or just "some"? Some of the ingredients are costly and just wanted some good guidance before I started shopping around.

Thanks


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:27 am 
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Some of the ingredients are costly, but when you look at the long-term results, they are an investment in your healthy soil. Rock powders, dry molasses, orange oil for pest control, beneficial nematodes, mycorrhizal fungi, dollars spent upfront and then a few things for during the season mean you'll have a healthy crop in your garden. The costs of chemicals aren't just in the dollars spent to kill all bugs or all weeds, but in your health and the health of the soil. I think you'll find that some things don't need to be done every year, or you can stagger it if you need to.

If the budget is tight (been there, done that) then concentrate on creating your own excellent compost, get the lava sand and Texas greensand (both affordable) and in the meantime, find a commercial compost like Black Kow. Mulch in the garden with wood chips from your yard or perhaps picked up locally. The mulch will break down to fertilize the soil and will hold water in in the meantime.

Foliar feeding can be inexpensive - a bottle of (or make your own) Garrett Juice, plus a few liquid ingredients like fish fertilizer, liquid molasses, will keep them healthy. Liquid applications of water with a very dilute mix of soap, orange oil, hydrogen peroxide (not necessarily all at the same time - see the guides) will help keep the pests down if you start to see them.

Your best bet is to be hands on in your garden, learn what the insects are that you're seeing, remove pests by hand when you can, and treat in a way that you don't kill off all of the beneficial insects.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:16 pm 
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EXCELLENT! Thank you for the wonderful advice....


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