how to get enough fertile soil in your garden

Hi everyone,

I've been interested in permaculture and food forests for many years. Since 6 years I own my own home and garden. Unfortunately the soil, which is mainly clay, has a lot of demolition debris, which makes it difficult to stick a shovel in. That's why I came up with the idea of creating a mini food "forest", although the surface area is limited. I used to plant vegetables on a small part of the garden, and I would like to do this again. I have some neighbours who use pesticides that made me hesitate to grow my own food. Also debris in my own garden from a previous owner made me hesitate.

That's why I came up with the idea of using raised beds and fill these with clean soil. Maybe I'm too afraid of my soil in my garden, but after digging up debris like batteries and a nail poilish bottle, and seeing my neighbour using pesticides, I prefer using soil of which I am certain that it's clean.

I had a long term wish to have my own compost toilet, so I built one in my garden. It has been in use for almost one year now and the compost pile is about 1 cubic meter in volume. I put the compost toilet content together with the organic material from cooking / kitchen in my compost pile. Ideally, I use this compost to built my raised beds. But it will take one extra year before it is safe to use it as garden soil. When using a height of 20 cm for the raised beds, the compost pile produces about 5 square meters per year of new clean soil.

The "problem" is that I would like to start this spring with a vegetable garden, but if I have to wait until I have enough self produced compost, it will take at least one more year.

I am wondering if you have any ideas how to be able to start this year instead of waiting another year? If I buy commercially produced compost, it takes a car (truck) to deliver it, which burns fuel, and oftentimes I'm not convinced about the origin of the ingredients of the compost, although there are a few companies that state their compost is made from organic ingredients.

My suggestion would be to add as much organic matter as possible.

Cover the area with dry leaves, branches, sticks, etc, then cover the area in wood chips would be a great start.

Start making compost as compost is pure gold.

Hmm, pity you mixed the compost pile in, as that compost would have been OK to use without the 'nightsoil'.

Some ideas may or maynot work depending on your climate (maybe sharing your climate zone would be useful, but many people do go for growing in raised beds if they are not happy with the soil (or lack of) they have.

One idea is straw bale gardening. If you can get hold of reasonable straw (beware persistent toxic gick) you can use just a small amount of compost and liquid gold (urine) to turn those into container beds. Richard has a clip of his garden here - that thread has some other ideas of starting garden beds too.
More about strawbale gardening here

Some suggestions:

1) plant deep-rooted legumes like crimson clover or hairy vetch.  There are numerous variations on this theme.

2) plant a deep-rooted crop that likes to take up the nitrogen.  Daikon radish, Buckwheat, certain grains come to mind.  Again, numerous variations

These are two very easy options.

3) pile on wood chips and plant into the chips.  Technically the plants will need to be planted under the wood chips, but the chips will break down surprisingly quickly

                                OR

4) Since you have those wood chips, try inoculating them with mushrooms--specifically Wine Caps.  Nothing will turn woody mass into fertile garden bedding faster than Wine Caps

5) Make compost piles on the beds over winter.  Don't get too concerned about getting browns & greens correctly balanced--just get the stuff piled up on the bed.  As it  slowly rots over winter, all the leachate will be drawn down by gravity into the soil beneath.  In the Spring, maybe take whatever is left and pile up into a more properly constructed pile, but who cares a this point (you could also just chip the stuff in).  All that leachate will do wonders for all over fertility.

6)  If you feel industrious, you could make biochar and that in.


There are just a few easy-to-do steps that can work miracles on your garden bed.  I can't speak highly enough for the Wine Caps or the impromptu compost pile that is just left to sit.  And if you can get that pile a bit on the green side of things--that's actually pretty great as all of that green juice will work its way right into the soil beneath.


Good luck and please let us know how things work out.


Eric

First of all, thanks for all your helpful responses!

@Anne Miller: I have 3 compost bins, only 1 has the night soil, the other two constists of wild flower clippings, so I think this will be ok to add to the soil of my garden? And then cover with wood chips?

There are many companies that sell wood chips, but none of them tell where these are sourced. Not sure, for instance, of pesticides are used during the lifespan of a tree? Or can I just take any woodchips commercially available?

@Nancy Reading: I live in The Netherlands, so we have a mild climate, winters are about 23 - 41 °F. Thanks for the straw bale gardening suggestion - I will check the clip / links and dig into this topic! I was also thinking about hugelkultur - I would like to dig into this topic as well.

@Eric Hanson: thanks for your suggestions! What is the reason behind point #1 and #2? Is it getting nitrogen into the soil to feed other plants? I will try the wine caps. Does one just need to add / mix a few wine caps to the wood chips and let them sit together?

Another question: can I just create a new bed, fill it with some old organic material from my coponst bin (no night soil), and cover it with wood chips, and immediately use it for growing vegetables?

John Bos wrote:
There are many companies that sell wood chips, but none of them tell where these are sourced. Not sure, for instance, of pesticides are used during the lifespan of a tree? Or can I just take any woodchips commercially available?  ....

Another question: can I just create a new bed, fill it with some old organic material from my coponst bin (no night soil), and cover it with wood chips, and immediately use it for growing vegetables?

Are you not able to get the free wood chips from Chip drop?

https://permies.com/t/209527/permaculture/Chipdrop

https://permies.com/t/189915/chip-drop-happy-happy-happy

If not then fall leaves are the next best thing:

https://permies.com/t/152261/Fall-Leaves

https://permies.com/t/366729/composting/LOT-Fall-leaves

To answer that last question, yes that would work.  I have grow in straight compost and it is like black gold.

I would definitely fill a bed with what you have (don't put chips on the top though).
Start growing some sort of easy cover crop that you can cut and make mulch.

From one urban gardener to another: our soil is always going to throw surprises at us (I still occasionally dig up weird things). But if you grab every bit of organic matter you can find, you will be able to dramatically change your garden soil. Keep the poop out of it, but get everything else you can (paper, chips, weeds, leaves, kitchen scraps, etc) and pee on it and heat it up, chip, mulch, compost. You can really go to town and find sources for coffee grounds or tea leaves, other people's scraps, etc. It works wonders.
I would also say, try not to worry so much about the possibilities of everything being contaminated or toxic. This is an endless concern that can be debated forever with no good outcome, because we can't know the supply chain for every single thing, or what is buried in your yard, or what's in the air, or anything else. Do the best you can with what you have and keep in mind you're doing 100% more than that you in an alternate universe who doesn't garden, or compost, or anything. Take it one step at a time.
My mother in law grows on three urban plots in the largest city in South America. One plot was used as a dump for at least 50 years. It's more rubble than dirt. She keeps chickens to keep the vermin down (because scorpions especially love rubble) and manages to get amazing harvests out of gravel and bricks and everything else. You can't turn a spade there without getting tiles and bottles and heaven even knows what else. Yet her banana and papaya trees are enormous and lush. Life finds a way.

@Anne Miller: thanks for your response and links! Next fall, I will try to collect as much leaves as possible from my neighbourhood.

@Tereza Okava: thanks for your response! I think you are right about not worrying too much. And beiing aware you are doing what you can and be content about that.

Nice story about your mother in law! I guess my plot is way cleaner, so I will defenitely try it out. (I already planted many fruit and nut trees)

Just one more question: should I be cautious for herbicides - or other substances -  when buying wood chips? I remember reading about this, but can't find any information about it anymore...

There's a local firewood supplier - so I will inform him, it is locally sources wood, so I guess it should be save?

Clay is actually brilliant once you get organic matter into it, it holds nutrients way better than sandy soil. I'd just start with one raised bed this spring and keep building your compost supply for the rest.

While I really don't know though it seem unless the trees have a problem, most folks do not spray trees.

Organic straw is also something to add to the soil.

Thanks again for your help! I managed to find a local seller who sells wood chips. It is affordable and I ordered 2 cubic meters. I guess this will be a good addition to my garden. If I'm correct, it is advicable to mulch new planted trees using mulch, for instance wood chips, in order to protect the surrounding soil from weeds, and to prevent the soil from drying out? At least my book about forest gardening advices to mulch around newly planted trees...

John Bos wrote: If I'm correct, it is advicable to mulch new planted trees using mulch, for instance wood chips, in order to protect the surrounding soil from weeds, and to prevent the soil from drying out?

I utilize wood chips as mulch when I plant trees and shrubs with good success. I'm careful about keeping the chips from accumulating heavily near the trunks of the plants (no mulch volcanos) but otherwise I lay a decent layer to help retain moisture.