What is the right type of soil to grow organic?

[Frank554]

Hi everyone I am hoping to start a small 8x6 foot raised bed to grow organic vegetables. I have read alot of different ways to do this and one i like is the Lasagna method of layering up soil and straw and so on. I have also been told Screened Top Soil Mixed With Compost Manure would do a better job. Any tips or advice would be most welcome.

[muck lover]

Hi Frank.
Congratulations on starting a veggie plot. I think you have already made the biggest and most important step which is to make a start- any start!!!
I have used a variety of lasagne gardening in several areas over the past couple of years. I layered any organic material (over a layer of cardboard if the ground is weedy) including manure, leafmould, coffee grounds, old potting compost, seaweed, chicken bedding, home made compost, pine needles, shredded garden waste, shredded softish brown packing paper worm compost, sprinkles of wood ash, grass clippings and other stuff I can’t remember. It all sinks down amazingly. I didn’t do it all at once but over a few months. Those beds I used for pumpkins potatoes sweet corn and courgettes. They did well and I have nice fertile beds for the next growing season.
I would say if you layered enough stuff up now and left it until spring it would be ready to plant. If it still seems a bit rough use bigger plants transplanted or put a layer of bagged compost on and plant or sow into that.
Of course there will be failures as well as successes but that’s how we learn and there’s NOTHING as good as eating your own home grown produce.
Also I suggest you consider a fruit bush or two as they yield well for relatively little work after a year or two.
Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

[Frank554]

top soil

Thank for the reply with excellent info, just one question. I have seen a dude putting one thick layer of horse manure on the top last layer and then covering the whole lasagna bed with thick plastic and leaving it from Autumn to Spring so its ready to plant. Would this method be good.... Im just afraid of turning the whole thing into a compost heap?

[Logunner]

Thank for the reply with excellent info, just one question. I have seen a dude putting one thick layer of horse manure on the top last layer and then covering the whole lasagna bed with thick plastic and leaving it from Autumn to Spring so its ready to plant. Would this method be good.... Im just afraid of turning the whole thing into a compost heap?

It basically is a compost heap, but one that you plant into.

My own experience is, don’t use straw in a lasagne bed, still harvesting barley in my beds...

[Frank554]

reply

It basically is a compost heap, but one that you plant into.

My own experience is, don’t use straw in a lasagne bed, still harvesting barley in my beds...

Thanks Logrunner for the tip, yes I was a bit worried about straw. I saw a video on youtube that showed someone covering his organic raised bed with a layer of well rotted cow manure then a big sheet of heavy black plastic from late autumn till spring. Would this be safe as a local gardener also told me it would be better to cover the bed in a fabric membrane that lets water in.

[veggiechicken]

Hi Frank and welcome
Cover the bed with cardboard which will allow water through, keep weeds down, you can cut holes in it and plant through it, it is not plastic so there's no disposal problem and its free.

[Kirk]

I would say just dig and add anything reasonable to get to the soil structure you want/need.

GC north of me sells "Organic compost", not really compost but well shredded and reasonably composted stuff. 4 bags @£10 so I get 4 a time and dig them in. Looks about the same makeup as bags of semi composted fir tree needles, fine mulch status. Soil has improved a lot - no longer rock solid. Also get bags of manure, need that stuff.

First raised bed I did was a mixture of anything. Mini bark chips, compost, used compost, coir mulch, manure, basically anything hanging around looking spare.

Would suspect the main one is get something in to make the soil more open and digable, then the manure.

[bikermike]

I don't think there is a right answer, but the no dig method has a couple of views (which I follow, but lacking an agricultural research station cannot verify).

1) soil has weed seeds in it no matter what, so the method is to put a layer of cardboard on top of the existing soil to suppress existing weed seeds.
2) fully rotted compost has the least pest-harbouring properties.
3) Aminopyralid. bvgger. That's put horse poo on the risky step.

I grow in peat-free compost which is a mixture of home-grown and bought, over a layer of cardboard.

Is your space 8x6 in total, or just the bit you want to grow in. Manure is good if properly rotted, and you'll need to test it for pesticide residues first (see if a bean seed grows in it or not).

On the subject of space, if you make a raised bed that big, you may have difficulty reaching to the middle (unless you are very tall and/or a ninja). before you got to the effort of building such a bed, might be worth checking with the area marked up how far you can reach.


Whatever you are planning to do, the first thing I would say is "start a compost heap" - home-made compost is free and will be at very least a handy extra source. Might as well have that going whilst you do everything else.

[bikermike]

Thanks Logrunner for the tip, yes I was a bit worried about straw. I saw a video on youtube that showed someone covering his organic raised bed with a layer of well rotted cow manure then a big sheet of heavy black plastic from late autumn till spring. Would this be safe as a local gardener also told me it would be better to cover the bed in a fabric membrane that lets water in.

I'd go with Veggie Chicken and say cardboard. On a choice between membrane and sheet plastic, I'd go sheet. Things grow into the woven stuff which can make it impossible to remove.