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Sq Ft Garden Question - Soil at the end of the Season
Yes, I know it's summer and we aren't thinking about the end of the growing season yet. LOL But, I'm already thinking about what to do different next year and moving crops for better growing conditions (sun, etc.).
So, what do you do with the soil at the end of the growing season? Do you just amend it and add new compost? And what if you want to relocate crops? For example, I want to move my tomatoes and peppers to a new sq ft garden area - a 3 x 3 (only size I have space for) by themselves. The strawberries I want to take out and put in containers - I don't like where they are currently, so I want to do another strawberry fountain. And in the bed that had the strawberries and cukes, I want to do lettuce and other greens.
Since I'm going to put new plants in a bed once used by tomatoes and peppers, what do I need to do to make sure the soil is ok? Do I remove it and put it in the other bed just for my tomatoes and peppers?
TIA!
"There's a very simple test to see if something is racist. Just go to a heavily populated black area, and do the thing that you think isn't racist, and see if you live through it." ~ Reeve on the Clearly Racist Re-Nig Bumper Sticker and its Creator.
Re: Sq Ft Garden Question - Soil at the end of the Season
I'm a little confused by your question, but here's what I do:
I leave the soil where it is. I add compost before I plant. I mix the compost in it a bit.
that's it.
If you're asking if you should move the soil where your tomatoes are currently growing to their future location, the answer is NO. The whole point of crop rotation is that different things grow in the soil each year. This way a bunch of tomato-loving nematodes don't made a permanent home where you grow them and the soil isn't depleted of the same nutrients year after year.
So, I'd definitely advocate "relocating crops" so that you never have the same thing growing in the same soil back-to-back years (ideally, longer if you have the space)
Kastle, sorry for the confusion! But you pretty much answered my question. I was wondering if you should rotate the crops to different sq ft boxes. I've read that you shouldn't grow certain crops where tomatoes and peppers were, but in sq ft gardening that advice leaves me scratching my head because it's not like you have tons of space to begin with.
But, if all I need to do is add compost at the end of the season and move stuff around so the nutrients aren't depleted, I can handle that!
Thanks ladies!