For 3 yrs. early blight has done in our tomatoes in raised beds (ridge top WV garden) and last year our peppers too.
The chemical sprays recommended by the garden centers haven't worked and I hate to use them. Is there a way to get rid of the problem before the plants are in the ground?

Hi and welcome to NGA!

The way to fix it is to replace all your soil. Remove it from the raised bed then spray the borders and the bed with a 25% bleach solution if the bed is surrounded by wood or any other structure. Let it all dry out and put in new soil.

I guess I'm not surprised, but . . .Ouch! It has taken me 20 years to create the soil in those beds: LOTS of compost combined with our heavy clay to make a loose, nutrient rich soil that drains well. Can the contaminated soil be used for anythings else? Lawn? Flowers? Any vegetables? And how far from the raised beds should it be removed? Thanks for the help.

I would plant anything I wanted in that garden... except tomatoes or peppers.

Some people grow their maters in pots, other people search for resistant varieties.

If you can't plant something else in the bed, another thing you might try is solarization of the soil - but it's usually a last ditch effort. You'll need to get something like visqueen plastic that is large enough to cover the bed entirely.

First remove every bit of leafy detritus you can from the bed then water it down really well and put the plastic on top of it pulling it tight and smooth. Make sure there are no gaps between the soil and the plastic and anchor the plastic so it won't move. Your weather and how much sun the bed gets determines how long to leave the plastic on. The idea is to heat it up enough to kill all the micro organisms a few inches down. I'd give it 6 weeks at least.