Hello,
I am in my second season of clumsily fumbling my way through learning how to grow vegetables. I have had some moderate success by just jumping in, but I am now wanting to learn more and I thought soil management would be a good place to start. I was hoping for some recommendations of online or book resources (or guidance from an expert community) on the topic of soil management for vegetable gardening. Here are some of the specifics of my situation:
- I'm in central Florida (Sarasota area)
- I grow in raised beds, pots, and hanging baskets.
- I cook my own compost.
- I have built shade barriers.
Here is some information I'm specifically looking for:
- Are there general guidelines for how often to fertilize during a grow cycle?
- What is the best way to rebuild soil after a growing season? (do I just add fertilizer? Add composted soil? if so, how much? Do I have to start with all new soil? etc)
- Are there resources that provide both a step-by-step process (I learn best by doing ) as well as more in-depth discussions of soil management?
- Do any of the experienced veggie gardeners on this forum have systems that you use in between plantings to rebuild your soil? If so, would you share them?
Thank you in advance for your help.
-C
p.s.
If I missed a forum post on this topic, I'm apologize. I don't mean to clutter up the forum with a conversation that has already happened.
