A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Used soil..what to do

Trying to figure out what to do with my used soil from my containers after harvest. I used pure top soil for all my planters and want to save it for next yr so I won't need to buy as much new come spring .

After our 1st harvest of our spuds it seem to be a little dry... 100%top soil ,drains to much.

My idea is to add leaves/ peat/compost to give it more asorbentcy to retain water the next time .

My ? I guess is... should I just make a pile on the ground and tend with it in the fall with the leaves , or store the soil in containers till spring and then add the decomopsed leaves then?

Im looking at about 200lbs of top soil when all said and done . One of my conserns is contamination of the junk dirt on the ground and all the other stuff floating around , not to mention the run off factor too from the top soil being so light and fine.

I was going to turn it all in with the clay junk we have here to bring that to a better soil but we decided to go with more containers rather then planting right in the ground next yr.
Container growing is so much nicer when trying to utilize space and keeping pest out....+ plus it's fun moving things around during growing season....kinda like re-arranging your living rm

My latest thought is to start filling a garbage can up and keep it covered and add compost goodies to it till it's full .

What would you suggest ..?

Snow

A trash can is hard to 'turn' and to compost your leaves and things it needs air, moisture and turning to decompose nicely. You are a decent carpenter. Use some junk boards or pallets to make your self a bin. Actually side-by-side bins are easier to work with. Store your soil in black plastic trash bags in one side. And then when you have some gleanings, begin layering it with your waste and leaves in the other side.I know this will use valuable space and your space is premium. But if you can find it, you will not be sorry.
Your used soil can harbor some pretty nasty things that can infect next year's growing. In a composting situation it heats enough to kill off most of those problems. If you cannot find the space for the bins, then my suggestion would be the black plastic alone and not to mix the soil with anything else. It may heat enough to clean up its act then.

without "Greens" in your compost it will not heat. Fall leaves are a "Brown" and will not heat your compost. The best mixture to heat your compost pile is 50% "greens" and 50% "browns". "greens" include fresh manure from cows or chickens, and grass clippings just to name a few.

But heat will not kill bad diseases in the soil so if you have soil that is diseased don't add it to your compost.

Now if you just want to rejuvinate soil that you have used then go ahead and add it to your compost.

Different plants like different types of soil. For example tomatoes like a 50% compost 50% garden soil mix. But that's with the assumption that your garden soil is a mixture of 30% sand, 30% clay, and 30% humus. (NOTE: never mix sand and clay together you will end up with low grade cement.) Add humus (bio matter) to the clay and once you have a good mix there you can add the sand.

I hope you aren't totally confused.

200 pounds of soil will fit in 2-32 gal trash bags or 2-32gal trash cans with covers. Whichever you use, protect the soil from rain or snow. Before using the soil for planting next spring, spread the soil on a tarp to let the sun warm it up. Turn the soil over a few times to aerate the soil. You can also amend the soil at the same time, mix well to blend the old soil with the amendment[s]. When done, make a pile at the center and pull in the four corners of the tarp to cover the soil [so it won't dry up] until you are ready to use it.

Add this info to the one's posted by Tina and tkhooper.
Composting Tips.

See also
Lasagna Gardening 101

How to build a lasagna garden

That explains why I couldn't move a half full of dirt trash can.

Hmm not sure which Im going to do yet , bags would be nice cause I could limit the amount due to the wt factors of lifting , but worried about them ripping open over time.
I have 2 extra cans and I think that would be best to store with less mess...hmm I'll have to think about this one.

I would build a bin or two but space is a factor , maybe one for mixing and composting of this yrs leaves

I have another ?
My in-laws live up north in the woods ..lots of decomposed (oak,maple) leaves over the yrs .
Thinking the next time I go up is to grab a few bags/totes of it and let that sit in the bags till spring then add it to the soil when spring prep arrives.
Leaving it in the bags till spring should kill anything thats in there no?

Then start a new pile with this yrs leaves for next summers composting.

I tried a little compost pile this spring , but with clay for dirt, limited greens and not enough browns it didnt do well. This yrs leaves would give me a good start for next yrs pile to get it going.

We will be putting a few things in the ground next yr so some of the leaves will get turned into those areas this fall.

snow