Good Soil = Good Growing

The One Acre Vegetable Garden has gotten off to a roaring start this spring thanks to unusually warm temperatures and, the secret to success, good soil.

In keeping with our green mission we use organic soil in the gardens at the Retreat. This is especially important in the One Acre Vegetable Garden because everything we grow there is edible.

Our soil is a blend of compost, sand, and chicken litter mixed in with the existing soil. To sweeten the acidity we also add some lime. Most vegetables like a pH between 6 and 7.

I usually prefer to vegetable garden in framed, raised beds because I get to custom blend the soil to make it just right. A mix of two-parts bagged soil (no amendments such as fertilizer or water retentive polymers) to one-part well-rotted manure and one-part compost will do the trick.