Another trip to , another lesson in what I'm doing too aggresively. After testing the soil nutrient levels and Googling how to compensate, I went to Shelley's (on Mother's day, which is a Charlton Heston inspired madhouse - a madhouse!) and confidently announced that I needed organic seaweed (which they of course had in liquid form) and something with ash in it. And they had what I needed, but they also told me I didn't need it. Instead, I got a lesson in how to add "good" soil to the nutrient depleted dirt that I have.
I thought I could just pitchfork the garden over and add topsoil and kind of mix it together and plant. Not so, according to the Shelley's owner. What I now need to do is mix the organic topsoil with the organic cow manure and then mix half of that with half of my garden dirt (when it starts yielding decent sized crops, I will call it soil) when I'm digging the holes for my seedlings. If you're following along, I think we're down to eighths of soil components. Maybe quarters. Yeah, definitely quarters. Now, if I only had a wheelbarrow or an abandoned bathtub to mix the soil in so that I can put it back into the bags so that they're at the ready for the 15th...
On a side note, I absolutely cherish the fact that the owner loads up my car with the stuff I buy when it's giant bags of mulch or soil, without me having to ask. He'll finish telling me what I need to know and then disappear. The first time he did that, I was waiting for him to come back with the bags and I happened to see him on the cameras, slamming my doors shut. Today, since I stopped in after all my shopping, he had to get creative since the car was filled the dog food bags and grocery totes and laundry and a brand new tire. It really makes a difference that someone does that. Hats off to Shelley's once again.
