Vegetable Garden Update: Soil not Ready for Planting

A week has passed since we implemented what turned out to be phase one of our soil quality action plan. This weekend we remeasured the nutrient levels in our vegetable garden’s soil and determined that the plot was not ready to plant. Luckily, mother nature brought us some colder weather at the start of this week that would not have been advantageous for our seeds, so that makes me feel a little better about our preparations.

What Went Wrong with the Soil Quality Action Plan?

I did not expect us to get everything right on the first try with this vegetable garden experiment. This is one of those things that I am sure we will struggle with all year. In retrospect, I believe that we should have removed more of the natural soil and replaced it with a greater volume of the purchased garden soil. Our natural soil is rocky and still has a fair amount of root matter from previous plant inhabitants. We also did not do the best job fertilizing the plot. We used one box of fertilizer to cover an area that should have taken a box and a half. Additionally, we did not water the vegetable garden plot after fertilizing because of anticipated rain in the weather forecast that never materialized.

Implementing Soil Quality Action Plan Phase Two

In order to address our poor soil quality, we decided to repeat some steps from our first soil quality action plan. We raked out the vegetable garden again to remove even more root and plant matter from the weeds that used to dominate this particular environ. Next, we put down another box of fertilizer and turned it into the soil. I took special care to ensure that I was mixing the fertilizer into the soil at an appropriate depth (about five inches). We did not water the vegetable garden after fertilizing because rain was coming in later that evening. If we do not get adequate rain by mid-week, I will be sure to go out and water the vegetable garden soil to make sure that the fertilizer is thoroughly mixed and diffusing its nutrients to the soil.

Next Steps in Fertilizing and Planting the Vegetable Garden

Now that we have turned the soil and fertilized multiple times, I am hoping that the soil nutrient level will be adequate when we test it again this weekend. If the soil is fertile then we will begin planting the seeds. We have started some of our plants in a mini-greenhouse starter kit, so those small plants will require slightly warmer soil to be put in the ground. But for now, we can focus on getting the seeds in the vegetable garden if the soil is fertile from our second phase of soil quality action plan tactics.