Soil

Yesterday was a productive day out in the garden. Largest dilemma: I'm running out of soil. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising since my garden is in containers rather than in the ground. I could simply be utilizing my backyard soil...but that opens up the door to numerous other challenges that I'd rather not face, such as tilling/destroying some of my current landscaping and my garden being destroyed by my dogs. I much prefer that my container garden can weave itself into my current backyard configuration.

But the soil! There never seems to be quite enough! It so quickly disappears, leaving me with a partially filled pot or half-naked plant. Although I have utilized both old soil and some backyard soil (thanks to a few new fence posts!), it seems as though I am constantly buying soil, and I would rather not be buying something that exists on its own in my backyard. My garbage can potatoes in particular have had voracious appetites for soil. Bucket after bucket, dumped in an attempt to cover the tender, green seedlings. Their beguiling ways deceive me, however; just when I think one more bucket should do it, they stand a little bit taller and request yet another. I don't know how much more soil my bank account can afford! Before you know it, I will be cutting water and electricity in order to fund my garden. So much for home gardening being a way to save money!

On another note, ss I've been doing some container gardening for a few years, I'm beginning to wonder how seriously I need to consider crop rotation. This year, I mixed some old soil together with fresh soil and a natural fertilizer. I'm hoping to add in some compost at some point, too. The trouble with my compost is that I have a hard time accessing the new soil. I have an in-ground compost, so the soil is always one of two places: completely buried beneath the fresh scraps or churned in with the fresh scraps. I have not discovered a successful way to access the new soil. Sounds like an adventure--for another day.