Re: Soil problem in Vegetable garden

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Comments:
: : My husband and I want to grow a garden to cut down on our food bills.
: : We rent an appartment and the landlord is allowing us to use a section of land for the garden.
: : We tilled it two weeks ago and the soil has alot of roots in it and seems to contain clay because it clumps and doesn't fall apart easily.
: : The area of the garden is  @ 12 X 60.
: : Some people have told us to add sand to the soil to help the drainage put that would cost alot and I wouldn't know how much to add anyways.
: : I am looking for any suggestions.


: Hi Laura,

: I agree with Tom C.  Compost (yard waste that has decomposed) is the best thing you can add to your soil to break up the clay and feed the plants.  I would suggest you start a compost pile for next year.  Also, consider doing 'lasagna' composting for the winter (see encluded sites) or a cover crop of rye that can be tilled in for a green manure for next year.  Rye seeds are inexpensive and easy to use. Here's some sites that should be helpful.

: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/soil/
: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2000042647001285.html
: http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/SoilBiology/soil_biology_primer.htm
: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/covercrop.html#principle
: http://www.soilfoodweb.com/phpweb/
: http://www.mastercomposter.com/ref/orgmat1.html
: http://www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/greenmanure.htm
: http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/g06220.htm
: http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/no_till.html

: Hope I didn't overwhelm you with too many sites.  Good luck with your garden.
: Newt



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