Monday, July 13, 2009

Help on Dry Soil

We're facing a new problem here: the soil around our house, (not where Rodrigo's coffee plantation is, or where our vegatable garden will be) is incredibly dry and looks like being really sterile. Rodrigo planted some seedlings and they all died. We'll need to work hard on the ground to make it accept the plants we plan to grow there, including my elemental garden! I don't know if it is like that because the place was so affected when the house was being built, or what... I just know that I need it to be a fertile ground!
Do you guys have any tips about it?

5 comentários:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...that's too bad. I don't know what to say. I was lucky enough to have very fertile soil here...I just planted and things started growing beautifully.

Hopefully you can find a way around this. There's got to be something you can add to the soil?
And mix it up?

Hugs and luck to you.

P.S. Your bell shouldn't take much longer than another week or so.
(also, did I tell you there's a little surprise in there for Lucas?)

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

I'm thinking two things likely happened, Nydia, when the home was built. One, topsoil might have been cleared off to level the area. Second, the ground was packed down by the weight of people and materials. Both of these things are reversible. Add a lot of mulch to the soil. Top-dressing the soil is okay if you can't spade it in. Rotted compost is a good idea. Also, and I had great success with this, can you get ahold of any clover seed and plant it there, then spade the clover under at the end of the season. That's called "green manure." But you will likely always be fighting clover if you do. But I like clover all over, myself.

amy said...

You need to work in some other organic matter to the soil preferably with a rototiller. Then topdress it with mulch to keep the moisture in and nutrients. :)
You can often get free manure at places too so if you have a way to pick it up that might be an option for a lost cost way to start off. Good luck!

KrisMrsBBradley said...

Do you guys compost? I'd start composting like crazy to get the dirt back in shape. Or is there a place where you can get it? (Where I live there is a community compost place, but you never know what's in it!)

Coffee grounds are awesome to help the compost "cook", so you should be able to get some decent compost in no time!

Powell River Books said...

Hi Nydia - I've been up the cabin almost all month and there's no Internet there. I was reading about your soil problem. You've already got some good suggestions. I save all of my kitchen vegetable and fruit waste (never any grease or meat) and put in a simple compost pile using some wire mesh. You can see it at my blog if you like. I add to that any garden clippings I have. I start the pile in early Spring (that's when I empty the contents from the previous year) and stop adding when I pull up my vegetable plants after the summer season ends. I get about the equivalent of a 55 gallon barrel of compost ready for use the following spring. That's not enough for what you need, but it is a good ongoing addition. Plus all of those scraps and cuttings don't go to waste. - Margy