Getting the garden ready...

[Shayanna]

I've noticed all the farmers around here are spreading manure in the fields already. I'm guessing I need to get mine ready as well. I have very limited compost. But plenty of manure. I'm due to muck the chicken coop, so I'm thinking of laying that down (its mixed with straw). Then maybe clean the pig pen and lay that down. Next I have some cow/ goat manure, then maybe what I have of compost? I'd like to avoid buying any mulch. Will straw work? What about pine needles? Dead leaves leftover from fall?

We have rather small garden space. 20 x 20. I also have tire gardens for root veggies. (Stacked tires to be filled with {insert here}). What should I fill these with? I have access to some black gold-like soil from a nearby swampy area, and I would be willing to haul a wheelbarrow or two over.

[homstdr74]

We have always mulched our garden with the oak leaves that we have raked up each fall and stored in wire fence containers for that purpose. When we mulch, we put down a couple of layers of newspaper (we buy that by the bundle at the news printing office) then pile the leaves on top of that.

Your fertilizing program sounds good, but I'd be wary of putting any seeds or seedlings where you've put fresh chicken manure...it needs to be aged in the soil for a week or two.

The soil from the swampy area mixed with some leaves or straw or other material would work great for planting spuds in the tires.

[Wolf mom]

Pine needles work great as mulch on top of the soil to help keep weeds down.

Are you planning on using what you collect to turn into the soil to enrich it or as a mulch on top?

Visit the Gardening & Plant Propagation Forum on HT. Lots of good info there.