Emmaline Jones

Thank you for the explanation Bryant! I think the gist of it has finally sunk into my brain. We had enough of a thaw yesterday that I was able to rake and throw some leaves on top. I'll get more if I see any bagged along the side of the road in my travels. When I apply my blood meal, should I rake it all aside or just sprinkle on top and water in?

C Rogers, the horse manure holding more potentially harmful bacteria is new to me. My supply comes from an active pile, but still I'll be careful with it. I'd read about herbicide carryover in manure previously. I tested it this spring. Beans and tomatoes are susceptible, I sprouted and grew some of each in the manure to make sure they didn't show any symptoms. The whole possibility does make me nervous, I wish I had time or space for some livestock on our property now.

Emma J

Thanks for the input!

In all honesty, I had to look up windrow. I've kind of been doing something to a similar effect this summer. The garden is being expanded and I've been throwing big sheets of cardboard, kitchen waste, yard trimmings, the horse bedding/manure mixture along with ton of fall leaves. It was probably 2 feet at the highest point. This coming year I'm hoping to plant in this section. I'm thinking ahead for the coming years... do people windrow over their established garden areas in the falls and then rake aside and then just plant into the soil come spring? If so, the window of opportunity between taking the last harvest and the arrival of snow/freezing weather is short; I'd need the windrow material on hand and a large chunk of time in order to move it. I'll need to think about how to make that idea work.

I don't have anywhere to compost horse manure before adding it to the garden, that's something that I need to build this coming year. Debating between wood pallet or hoops of hardware cloth. The hoops are movable once empty, which is a big plus as I'm hoping to eventually purchase and conquer the vacant field next to my garden. Also far easier to make the hoops, the only tools required are zip ties :)

Typically I plant as early as possible, so I'm leaning towards "fast acting" blood meal as a nitrogen boost this spring. This coming fall I could apply some feather meal in late fall in order to have it ready for that next spring. Varying the nitrogen seems like a no-brainer good idea to me.

Does this seem like a good idea?

This is my first post here; I hope I'm not overlooking something!

I recently received an soil report and wanted some input. I'll give some background before jumping right into it.

We bought this property 2.5 years ago. I've gradually been putting this veggie garden in, breaking up sod and removing rocks. At this point it's a fenced in garden about 10' x 45'. All I've been adding are leaves, wood chips, and a horse bedding/manure mixture. Overall it did well. Carrots, brussel sprouts and cabbage sulked, but that could have been due to shading by other crops and water shortage. The soil drains incredibly fast. It is a  sandy loam, with frequent fist+ sized rocks. It gets full sun and we live in zone 4b. Long winter, with a decent snow cover. It's snowing this very minute, in fact. Upstate New York.

Two weeks ago I brought a couple soil samples to the local Cooperative Extension. I also brought a sample from the front yard where a cherry tree is growing very slowly. The front yard sample is another topic, I may start another post once I get those results.

The veggie garden results:
Soil ph is 5.8 (low)
Phosphorus 61 lbs/acre (very high)
Potassium 108 lbs/acres (medium)
Organic matter 6.6%
Recommend adding 3.5oz nitrogen for every 100 square feet

I was expecting the low nitrogen, but what would be the best way to raise it without further elevating the phophorus?

Should I just grow a ton of beans and then chop and drop them? I now know that horse manure is a source of phosphorus, so I'm going to discontinue that for sure this coming year. I'm not horribly concerned by the low ph, most of what I grow prefers a more acidic soil anyways. I certainly don't want it going any lower however.

Thanks all. Sorry if this is a rather basic question.