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Aberdeen, SD

My fiancee' is having to go out to aberdeen SD about 2 months ahead of me. i have an idea of what size patch i will have in the back yard (roughly half the yard). i spoke to a nursery guy out there today. for roughly an 800 square foot patch he suggested 6 yards of manure tilled in. now mind you this soil has never been worked before so i am thinking maybe i should have the guy add about 4 yards of compost and maybe even 4 or 5 yards of top soil.
what yall think?
oh and BTW i am also planning on having the guy doing the tilling spread in some 20-20-20 balanced fertilizer.
what is rough estimate for a new patch in new ground with at least 6 yards of manure tilled in?
also one last thing. there will be roughly a month between when i want the ground tilled and all the good stuff mentioned above to be put in and when i will atcually plant

3/3/2003 8:30:40 PM

[email protected]

See if you can draw a soil sample before any of those amendments are added. It is possible to obtain topsoil that is worse than what you have. The organic amendments such as compost & manure are fine either way. But get those soil cores pulled first no matter what.
A rough rule of thumb for the 20-20-20 would be in the 5-7 lbs per 1000 sq ft or maybe 4-6lbs for 800 if we had to guess. But there's plenty of time to get the soil tested.

Steve

3/3/2003 8:39:19 PM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

In such a small patch (no offense intended -:)) I will add two yards of peat and one yard of worm castings. The same proportion for a big patch would be very expensive. As you don't have time enough to build a great soil, your goal could be to transform it in a pot soil.
Grow'em big!
Don

3/4/2003 2:10:58 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Yeah Dinc, I go with Don on this. I would always prefer adding the amedments to the soil then buying the soil. Old patches that consistently grow big uns have that humus....add what willl get you there!!Good Luck with the new patch! and Grow em Big! Chuck

3/4/2003 7:05:11 AM

Montoursville, PA

Hey Chuck.....no bad advise here at all. I favor the addition of canadian or local peat. Since bales of peat varry I will just say three or four big bales in your 800 sq. ft. The rest of you plan sounds pretty good. I agree on the soil test. You need to have things moving in the direction of a PH 7. You are right on target for the manure and composts. Agree 1000 percent about checking soil because there is little excellent top soil out there any more. Furthermore the turkeys selling it will not have tested it. I would sit on that addition until you can get there and talk to locals who may be able to guide you a little. In my book your additions are for spring and fall plus all the leaves and compost you can muster up...every year!!

Good luck with the new patch.

3/4/2003 7:41:25 AM