Does anyone move their garden?

[LovinLife]

I have been told I should move my garden because the soil can become barren of minerals, but I see people who have their garden in the same place for years. Should I find a new spot for my garden this year or not??

 

[SKR8PN]

That is the reason we use compost. Good soil is built up over the years, depending on how you take care of it.
My garden has been in the same spot for over 60 years. Moving it would mean starting all over again.

 

[k0xxx]

We sometimes rotate where we plant certain crops, but mainly to deter certain crop specific pests that lay their eggs in the soil. As SKR8PN said, using compost replenishes the soil and makes moving your garden not needed.

 

[Denim Deb]

My garden is in the only spot in my yard that is any good for it.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Rotate crops, and manure and compost
Lots less work.

Now, an exception to this, is if you have chickens, build a double set of pens for them, several feet wider then the size of the garden you want.
You want one pen on each side of the coop.
Prepare the soil, and on one side, prep with lots of compost and manure. Plant as usual.
Let the chickens have at the other side for the year.
The next year, rotate sides!

 

[LovinLife]

That's good to hear! I was worried about having to prepare a new spot. So about composting...I've been starting a compost pile...uhh, sorta. I just throw all my old veggies, coffee grounds, and a little paper in a pile. I just started it a year ago. I don't have any fancy containers built or anything. I've gone out there a few times and mixed everything around with a shovel. Can I add chicken poo, rabbit poo, cow poo, or horse poo to the pile? Should I build some sort of fancy compost bin, cover my pile, etc?

Thanks for the help.....I'm still such a rookie

 

[LovinLife]

My garden is in the only spot in my yard that is any good for it.

That's probably the case with most people....that's why I was so confused.

 

[SKR8PN]

I have two compost piles. One is for nothing but leaves that I mulch up and add to the pile every fall. I use that pile throughout the following summer on the garden as mulch, and put any leaf/compost left in that pile, on the garden when I till it under in the fall.
The second pile is mostly woody stuff, with veggie scraps, chicken manure, coffee grounds, and enough green grass clippings to make it cook. I turn that pile a couple of times every summer until it is ready to be put on the garden and tilled in.
I also add well composted horse manure to the garden from time to time, as well as a bit of lime every other year or so.

My leaf compost bin is nothing more than a couple of 4x4 corner posts, with 2x6's making up three sides.
The other compost area is simply a pile of stuff beside the garden.

 

[AnnaRaven]

That's good to hear! I was worried about having to prepare a new spot. So about composting...I've been starting a compost pile...uhh, sorta. I just throw all my old veggies, coffee grounds, and a little paper in a pile. I just started it a year ago. I don't have any fancy containers built or anything. I've gone out there a few times and mixed everything around with a shovel. Can I add chicken poo, rabbit poo, cow poo, or horse poo to the pile?

Yes.

Should I build some sort of fancy compost bin, cover my pile, etc?

Nah. You can if you want to contain it more. Or if the neighbors object. But you don't have to.

Just remember: compost happens.

 

[k0xxx]

Should I build some sort of fancy compost bin, cover my pile, etc?

I have compost piles that are just piles. I did make a compost bin and it does actually work a bit quicker, but it requires more attention.

Also, adding a few shovels of good topsoil helps get a pile started as it contains the microbes that do the work.