Hi! I live in IL (zone 5)and our area has very heavy clay soil. We have built a raised bed vegetable garden and, after clearing about 6 inches down of sod, etc, we are left with a big clay pit. We have started composting, but what ratio of bagged topsoil/manure/peat/compost do you recommend to get us started? Our local nursery has everyting. We were going to try 20 bags of topsoil, 10 bags manure, 10 bags compost. Will this give us too much of one nutrient and not enough of another? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

That sounds like as good a start as you can give it, 20-10-10 and as the season progresses, add as much compostable materials (mulch, grass clippings) as you can for moisture retention.

One suggestion: place a whole bunch of b/w newsprint at the very bottom! As cellulose decays, that too will add to your soil.

Enjoy!

John

I would have left the sod and covered it with several layers of b/w newspaper then covered that with your soil mixture plus some peat moss

I too live in zone 5 the clay capital of the world.. I started a raise bed garden 3 years ago... Here is my advise.. start slow you willl not get all your beds in during the first year...I would not even worry about planting in the beds this year.. you need time to improve the soil to get the garden you want... I started with 4
4 x 8 beds..in the spring and two more each fall and spring to follow. I have 16 beds right now and plan to add a large melon bed this spring .I too started by going out and buying bags of top soil, mulch and manure ... don't ,have it delivered by the truck load...I have gotten ten tons of top soil at a time... you need to find a supply yard in the area..
Next is there a farm near you were you can get some old barn waste..I use horse waste that is at least one year old ...( collect all the leaves you can get) I get them from friends,family and strangers who I walk up to the house and say can I take your bags of leaves please?I add leaves to the manure mow it up with a walk behind mower and bagger... work 8 -12 inches in into the soil really good I used a small tiler the first two years ,some people would say not too, but I could not turn the soil by hand and there were no worms to hurt.....in the late fall add a final layer on top 6 inches or more to insulate during the winter and mix that in in the spring..you can not add too much during those first two years,...When my beds were new I did add the largest bag of peat moss I could find to each bed.. I also added gysum.. I do not have a ratio I just found out the manure and leaves made the biggest difference so I just keep adding them.I can tell you this is the first year it was not work to turn my beds, I turned 3 beds today in less than 10 minutes with just a turning fork... I have the nicest soil and so many worms.. People are going to get tried of me and my worms but I have worked so hard to get worms in the garden I feel like a proud parent...

I hope this helps and all of my best to you from South Central Pa..

I've just read through the threads on this topic and am wondering if there is a reason you're all using raised beds? I'm having my yard leveled and seeded in the next few days and would like to have at least part of it in garden. Is there any reason I shouldn't just measure it out and plant? Past "gardens" include a pot of tomatoes which wouldn't feed a family of one! Any suggestions are appreciated!
Marcia

Welcome Marcia and hopeful1! My soil consists of a layer of sod over clay and bedrock. I decided to build raised beds (up cause I couldn't dig down!) I used a method called lasagne gardening where you put thick layers of wet newspaper over the sod (when the grass and paper break down they add organic matter as John said) and then alternated layers of green (nitrogen rich) and brown. You can get an idea from this site:
http://www.lasagnagardening.com/smallspaces/notoil.html
I used cedar boards for my walls. I created these beds about a month ago and have already planted greens, lettuces, radishes and spinach. I found that the beds settled about 3-4 inches so far, so I will add another layer of compost before planting everything else in a month or so.

Oh yeah, my 2 beds are both 4x8 and I agree with new gardener about getting stuff from farmers, it takes a LOT to fill up the beds!

The other houses I've lived in had great soil so I've never used raised beds before so this is an experiment for me!

i use raised beds because it's esier to get to the plants. they're a little closer to me so i don't have to bend too far & i walk in the pathways between. and once the plants have established root systems the pathways were used to put water more directly to the roots, you odn't wnat to walk among the plants & brush up against them while they are wet. if you line your paths with a mulch you won't be walking in mud. i always make my beds 3 ft wide, i feel it's less of a strech to reach 1.5 ft to the plant, or 2 ft to get to one little thing farther toward the other side, than to reach 2 ft to the middle & more for that one little thing.

then when the season is over you can till everything under, flaten it out which mixes this years (by then well rotted) mulch into the soil. or yuo can keep your beds intact & not disturb the structure you little helpers (e.worms) have made. raised beds also keep you from compacting the soil, since you never walk in the bed.

when i started gardening there were 2 methods. there was planting in rows and "french intensive" which we now call raised beds. planting in rows was very wastfull on space & not the best way for many plants. corn wants to be packed together so the pollen falls to the ears better, stuff like that.

Raised beds warm up faster in the spring and they drain better after rains (or in any wet situation). You don't have to walk on the soil so it never gets compacted and is easier to dig. And you can bring in good soil if your "in ground" soil is less than perfect--to sandy, to much clay, etc.

That said, my gardens are ground level. My native soil is black, rich, and kind of clayey. I'm not handy and am not very patient. I like just removing the sod, loosening the soil, adding organic matter, and planting. Poof! Instant garden!

I use raised boxed beds.. first because the soil is so poor in our area I could not grow anything and spent hours fighting a lost battle , this way I did not have to add as much to a great big area to get quick improvement ..second with the boxes it is like decorating to me.. I have then arranged in differnt ways with paths..I am have a lot of ground to work with so the more I cover with boxes and paths the less there is to mow..
You don't have to make raised beds in boxes or a contained space... I found a really intresting book called The Vegetables Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith.. I wish I had seen this book 10 years ago it would of saved me a lot of frustratiion.. He does raised beds but in a more traditional format...you can get the book at book stores or this is the web site address the book gives w.w.w.storey.com

I read recently that sawdust is an excellent way to soften clay soil quickly. Sorry cI can't pintpoint where I read this but a quick web search should bring up this information. It was most likely over on www.gardenweb.com.

We are in a new house in town and have had no choice but to use raised beds if we want a vegetable garden. This past weekend we had 3 yards of "super vegetable mix" (mushroom compost, peat moss, manure, some soil) delivered for our 5 new 8x4 raised beds. We had put down newspaper, chicken manure, and straw previously. Our soil is hardpan, and we're not able to dig down more than an inch or so in some places. We keep finding big chunks of concrete and asphalt, not exactly ideal planting conditions. Depending on how many raised beds you are trying to fill, it might be cheaper to try to have some soil delivered than trying to buy seperate bags.

peat moss, peat moss, peat moss!!!! especially if you have clay soil like i had where my veggie garden is.