I live in Central Oregon where when you dig, you hit rock.For this reason I made raised beds and bought a few yards of soil.What do I need to add to this soil ? I am thinking of buying worm castings, any other suggestions?
Most municiplalities sell compost generated from the garden waste they have picked up over the years. Mix compost with some peat moss and vermiculite. Add this to the soil you purchased and fill up your boxes.
Grow your own worm castings. I do. Buy an 18 gallon storage bin from whomever you buy from. Drill holes around the side of the box for airHoles are just beneath the lid on the box portion. Fill the bin with shredded newspaper and get an order of red wigglersnot earth worms. Give them all your vegetable scraps and shredded paper. By Spring you wil have all the worm castings you want for free. No one even knows my storage box is a worm bin because it just looks like a storage box. Add as much compost as you can rally up to your raised bed. Rake up your old leaves and shred them. I rake all my oak leaves up in the spring and run them through a shredder and add them to my soil. The shredder is a cheap Black Decker leaf shredder that costs about $30. Add pine needles if you have them around. Start your own compost pile. I dont even have a bin. I just go over to the edge of the woods and dump all my grass clippings. After a few weeks, I throw them all in a bucket and add to my soil. Good source of nitrogen. You can use fresh grass clippings but do not let the fresh clippings touch your plants or the plants may burn. If you heat with wood or have a source of wood ash, add some of this to the dirt. Do not use wood ash that has had anything other than wood burned in it. If you want to know more about the worm bin, give me an email and I will give you more detailed instructions.
