From Howard Garrett


Native soil should not be removed, but grass and weeds should be, especially Bermuda grass.

Here's how to amend a 100-square-foot garden: Spread compost 4 to 6 inches thick on the bare garden soil. Also spread 40 pounds of greensand, 80 pounds of lava sand, 40 pounds of zeolite, 20 pounds of whole ground cornmeal and 20 pounds of dry molasses. Till or fork all of the amendments into the native soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Forty pounds of used coffee grounds can be added now or later.

Mulch transplants and seedlings with shredded native tree trimmings or partially completed compost. Don't pile mulch onto the stems of plants because it can slow or stop plant growth and can lead to circling roots and other physical damage or diseases. (See Resources to obtain free instructions.)

When the plants start growing, spray them and drench the root zones with Garrett Juice Plus. Also drench the roots with Thrive by Alpha BioSystems.

I'm working on a raised bed this fall so it will be ready to plant in the spring. Good to find this post.

I'm going to be raising the soil level on one sloped side of a place where I had a garden this year, so I'm bringing in soil to put on top of the existing soil, and I'll be working in my backyard compost and other amendments. I'll be sure to mix some of the existing soil into the new to keep the biological activity that is currently there in the new mix.

Anything else you can think of that should go into a new raised bed?

Soil Mender offers now a new product called Raised Bed Mix. Go to their website, click Products, then Soils, and its description can be read there on that page.

how much of the products Howard mentioned, lava sand, green sand, corn meal, zeolite and molasses are added to samller area, say 3x3 or 4x4?

I think you just to do the math and reduce it from 100 sq. ft, to the size of your bed.

We have been burying dog pooh in an abandend garden. Now we would like to use it as a garden but fear it would not be safe to eat veggies from this plot. Does anyone know if it would yield edible food? Would it be safe after so many years of not using the plot?