Guest guest Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Even if you have crappy soil, composting can fix it. It won't take out heavy metals but it will invigorate everything else there. If you want to get your soil tested for heavy metals, ask your local Extension Service how to do that. They will know and know who's cheaper, too. Like Ellen said, even with raised beds your roots will eventually go down into regular soil, which is fine. I suggest you just start building on top of your soil, in or our of a raised bed, and go from there. Often city dirt is very compacted so you might want to loosen it up by double digging (any good gardening book will explain how to do this). Once you loosen up the soil, you can go many ways. I say go the easy ones. Have you read the book Lasagna Gardening? She goes really simply, mostly just loosening soil and then letting newspaper, leaves and kitchen refuse become active composters in the soil. That's really easy. Or you can do what we do -- put down bales of hay over where you want to garden and let it break down over the rest of winter and spring. Then plant directly into the by-now mushier hay, must like planting in soil. How easy is that? warmly, Jacqueline Friendly Haven Rise Farm Where Spirit and Nature Meet http://www.FriendlyHaven.com www.Blog.FriendlyHaven.com Check out our farm classes at http://www.FriendlyHaven.com/classes.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.