Hey guys & gals, many of you have asked what I do to get my soil ready for the spring and fall so I decided to put a little something together to share with you. I took a lot of advice from helpful friends and added in my own research to come up with this recipe and it has done wonders for me this year.

First, you need to have compost. Now I am not going to be a compost snob and say you must make your own. I know some people can't do it for whatever reason...not enough space, neighborhood regulations and so on...that’s okay, but if you really want the good stuff check Craigslist or call a local farm. Most of the time they have very good composted manures that are very cheap!

When I start to fill my beds (4x4 square beds and the long ones are 3x12) with compost and composted manure I also add peat moss, mushroom compost and 4-6 cups of Dolomite lime mixed in very well. If it's available to you, you can also add vermiculite or perlite which will help hold in moisture and make the soil lighter. Just make sure you mix everything in evenly.

Next I gather all the plants I plan on planting and the amendments I add to the soil when I plant them. I mix these amendments in a bucket with 50% compost so that I can put 2 cups of the mixture into each planting hole before adding in the plant. The recipe you should use is: ½ cup Dolomite lime ¼ cup rock phosphate ¼ cup Epsom salt ½ cup dry molasses ( also works great at keeping ants out of the garden) 2 cups Texas green sand 2 cups garden tone ( Most of the items I found at the local farm/feed store or at any of the big box stores. You can also order them online)

After adding the amendments and the plant, be sure to water it well and that's it! Just remember that sometime in the middle of the growing year take the same mixture and scratch it in around all of your plants to give them an extra boost! I am sure there are many ways to improve your soil but this is what works for me. I hope this will also help you to grow a strong and productive garden. If you have any questions regarding this recipe or the methods I use please leave a comment below or you can contact me directly at Thesmalltowngardener@gmail.com .