Bad Soil

[Lillia]

We have very bad soil. It seems not much will grow. We have planted many seeds in the past 2 years but nothing grows well. We can't afford new dirt or to have manure delivered and I need some advice on naturally feeding the soil. Any tips appreciated. Thanks

[Steve the Gas]

When you say bad.... why?

Is it contaminated, pure rock, too acid/alkali?

Don't know where you live but some stables give horse manure away.

[Totally Scrambled]

Ditto Steve,
Clay, sand, gravel, wet, dry etc
Dom
27

[Lillia]

When you say bad.... why?

Is it contaminated, pure rock, too acid/alkali?

Don't know where you live but some stables give horse manure away.

It was very rocky. They built the house and garden over the garages and contents inside. Just leveled everything and built. I remove debri when I find it and for the most part it's about gone.
Contaminated? Could be?
Our neighbors have pine tree, as well, that drop the needles in our garden.
Thanks

[Lillia]

Ditto Steve,
Clay, sand, gravel, wet, dry etc
Dom
27

yes. LOL
I guess I just never had so much trouble growing food before. Since this home, I feel I've lost my touch. The soil looks perfectly fine, apart from rocks. Can I feed it in an inexpensive and organic way? I'm guessing it's just lacking nutrients maybe?

[Totally Scrambled]

Hello Lillia,
The pine needles will make the ground acidic, so clear them away.
At our last house I cleared a load of rubble from under a thin layer of soil in the garden. Even so the soil was very light and nothing much would grow. I dug the soil down about a foot and sieved out the worst of the stoney stuff and put 6" of horse poo in and then put the sieved soil back in and let the worms etc do the rest. Everything started growing well after that.
It wasn't a very big garden so it wasn't too much work.
I got the idea from a telly programme years ago where they went to Africa where the soil was bone dry and very poor. They got the whole village to save up their veg scraps and dug the soil out of trench, about two feet deep, threw in the veg scraps about 1.5 feet thick and chucked the soil back in. The veg scraps held the moisture and rotted down making a nice soil.
You could get family, friends, neighbours to collect their scraps up and do the same. If you have room for a compost bin you could store it in there to either rot right down or until you have enough to fill your trench/bed.
Hope that gives you a few ideas.
Dom
27

[Lillia]

Hello Lillia,
The pine needles will make the ground acidic, so clear them away.
At our last house I cleared a load of rubble from under a thin layer of soil in the garden. Even so the soil was very light and nothing much would grow. I dug the soil down about a foot and sieved out the worst of the stoney stuff and put 6" of horse poo in and then put the sieved soil back in and let the worms etc do the rest. Everything started growing well after that.
It wasn't a very big garden so it wasn't too much work.
I got the idea from a telly programme years ago where they went to Africa where the soil was bone dry and very poor. They got the whole village to save up their veg scraps and dug the soil out of trench, about two feet deep, threw in the veg scraps about 1.5 feet thick and chucked the soil back in. The veg scraps held the moisture and rotted down making a nice soil.
You could get family, friends, neighbours to collect their scraps up and do the same. If you have room for a compost bin you could store it in there to either rot right down or until you have enough to fill your trench/bed.
Hope that gives you a few ideas.
Dom
27

I did answer this, really :) I came back to see that my reply isn't here....did I forget to submit it? I thanked you for your ideas and asked if chicken manure will work. I can't get cow or horse. Thanks again.

[Totally Scrambled]

Yes, chicken poo will work but if fresh bury it at least 8" deep. If you let it rot down you can just fork it in.
Dom
27

[Lillia]

Thanks so much

[Steve the Gas]

Do whats the 27 Dom?

[fishpond]

If it will rot down either compost it first or just dig it in.(I mean anything, but I draw the line at human and dog manure )
Chicken manure is high in nitrogen and will burn some crops but makes an excellent compost accelerator.
Grow a Comfrey patch---variety = Bocking 14.
All sorts of Bees love it , it makes excellent compost. It also sends down deep roots so the goodness comes from places you would not normally cultivate down to.
Pile the stones in a corner as you dig them up, they may come in handy later--may be the edging of a pond
Above all, Do not give up.

[Lillia]

If it will rot down either compost it first or just dig it in.(I mean anything, but I draw the line at human and dog manure )
Chicken manure is high in nitrogen and will burn some crops but makes an excellent compost accelerator.
Grow a Comfrey patch---variety = Bocking 14.
All sorts of Bees love it , it makes excellent compost. It also sends down deep roots so the goodness comes from places you would not normally cultivate down to.
Pile the stones in a corner as you dig them up, they may come in handy later--may be the edging of a pond
Above all, Do not give up.

No, no giving up! Comfrey, hmm? I will try it.
Ha, these rocks are about golf ball size and ragged. Actually, much of is is cement
Thanks you so much
I'll try all I can~

[fabindia]

Some great ideas here.

I have good soil but still keep a decent compost heap. One of neighbors saves all her vegetable scraps. Perhaps you could ask some of your neighbors do the same. I think we are all into recycling nowadays .

[Lillia]

Some great ideas here.

I have good soil but still keep a decent compost heap. One of neighbors saves all her vegetable scraps. Perhaps you could ask some of your neighbors do the same. I think we are all into recycling nowadays .

We did start one in the summer but it looks far from being ready. One thing I do is put all eggshells (crushed) in the garden, year round.
Thanks~

[lancashire lass]

Something to do between now and early spring (+/- mid March/early April) is dig trenches and fill with the compostables, then cover up with soil. This is a well known method for improving the soil for when growing beans but is adaptable for some other crops such as outdoor tomatoes (putting banana skins in planting holes for tomatoes is well known)

Just remember that manure will also lower the pH of your soil.

If it will rot down either compost it first or just dig it in.(I mean anything, but I draw the line at human and dog manure )

Absolutely - too much risk of pathogens in the soil. Another to avoid is cat poo.

Some great ideas here.

I have good soil but still keep a decent compost heap. One of neighbors saves all her vegetable scraps. Perhaps you could ask some of your neighbors do the same. I think we are all into recycling nowadays .

We did start one in the summer but it looks far from being ready. One thing I do is put all eggshells (crushed) in the garden, year round.
Thanks~

I have a small bin in the tea room at work where people put their fruit peelings/cores, tea bags and coffee grains etc, and roughly collect about 3 litres worth every week. Since autumn these go straight into the trenches I mentioned but over summer go into the compost bin. It amazes me how many banana skins I collect every week

Egg shells - I save these and finely grind down with a mortar and pestle and put these in the planting hole of brassicas (cabbage/broccoli/sprouts) which like soil with a higher pH. I also add garden lime directly to the planting hole of brassicas for the same reason.

Grow a Comfrey patch---variety = Bocking 14.

Comfrey, hmm? I will try it.

Bocking 14 is a "sterile" variety - that is, it won't self seed all over the place which is handy. Ordinary comfrey self seeds readily and can become a weed, and worse, the deep roots are a devil to dig out and they keep coming back up. The leaves are rich in nutrients as mentioned and better still, by the time you are ready for planting your seed potatoes, the leaves will have grown (Comfrey is a perennial and dies back over winter) and you can line your potato trenches with them. Use also grass cuttings in the trenches, and some crumpled newspaper (wet it thoroughly before planting and covering with soil) Newspaper has very little in the way of nutrition but adds humus to the soil which helps to retain moisture during dry spells.

Good luck with the garden Lillia - it sounds like a lot of hard work but will be worth it.