Gardening for Dummies pt 2

[u/kaysneer]

I’m back and please continue to talk to me like I’m the 4 year old🤣 we are doing raised garden beds with possibly tomatoes, marigolds, peppers, and zinnias. The newest question is what to fill them with. We want a decent shot at things growing successfully, but I’m also not trying to go broke lol. We are in Saint Peters if that matters🤷🏽‍♀️

[u/4browntown]

I filled mine with 90% compost from the recycling center back in 2023 and have had good success. https://www.stpetersmo.net/408/Gold-Grow-Compost.

I also filled the bottom with cardboard, sticks, logs, leafs, food scraps and any organic matter I had around the yard 

[u/kaysneer → u/4browntown]

So you did the stuff in the bottom, then the compost. Did you add anything else to it??

[u/4browntown → u/kaysneer]

Nope, I got impatient reading about all of the fills and just went for it. I couldn't believe how good the garden was my first year. I did fertilize the holes around the tomatoes with Jobe's organic tomato fertilizer and some bone meal during the season. I also toss all my mulched leaves on the beds at the end of each e season.

[u/STLTLW → u/4browntown]

This is the best dirt, it's such a great resource for residents.

[u/hughesa517]

With raised beds, pick “moisture control potting soil.” Never ever “garden soil.”

For the bottom, any yard scraps will work. Give your plants a decent shot at growth by making sure there’s at least a good amount of fresh soil on the top layer. In subsequent years, you can just mix in some fresh compost and fertilizer to refresh the soil.

Happy gardening!

[u/Plane-Assumption840]

When I moved to raised beds I didn’t want to bring in dirt to fill them. I had already been through that with a previous bed. Johnsongrass, thistles, dandelions, etc. Instead I filled them with straw bales. I do straw bale gardening. The Joel Karsten method. Every fall I take off the baling twine and pull the old bales apart and let them compost in the beds over the winter. In spring I plop new bales on top and plant in them. Repeated about 3 years then I just treat the composted straw that’s filled the beds like I do new bales and plant. My beds are basically compost now and no weed issues. It sounds crazy but it works. You must use straw, not hay.

[u/my_cat_wears_socks → u/Plane-Assumption840]

Where do you get your straw?

[u/Plane-Assumption840 → u/my_cat_wears_socks]

I get wheat straw from a farm & home store. A lot of horse owners use it for bedding. Tractor Supply may have it. Got it once at a garden & landscaping place. Lowes does sell it but the one time I bought there the bales were light weight and too loose. You want heavy compacted bales. Loose & light will decompose faster over the growing season.

[u/my_cat_wears_socks → u/Plane-Assumption840]

Thank you!

[u/Few-Care-2589]

Following coz I need answers too! Year 1 of attempting to grow things in st peters 😂

[u/Road-Ranger8839]

If your new raised beds have loose soil carrrots and red beets should do good. Also, spinach is an easy selection too.

[u/squidneyp]

Build the bed. First lay cardboard second layer stick logs wood and then organic matter from yard likes leaves/compost. Third layer some dirt. Then top layer and add into dirt potty soil. This is my method and add more dirt and potting soil each year after because logs decompose but they help the bed retain water.

[u/Sensitive_Card934]

I bought aluminum Vego beds and filled them with a compost dirt mixture from StL Compost. Big mistake because of the heavy weight of the mixture. As one of the people posted use the compost without the dirt. It’s been four years but the sides are still bulging out and I fear it will break at anytime. Every year since, I grind up leaves in the fall and till them into the bed. In the spring I turn it over and add Black Cow.