Dark, rich soil...

Can any of you remember the quality of the soil we use to be able to grow our gardens in? I am appalled at the lack of good soil in some major cities, towns etc. Veges grown in rich, dark soil are so much sweeter and succelent. I read a farmers co-op newsletter yesterday and they were complaining about lousy soil which made crops not as healthy or beautiful. My garden this year will be in a large box off the ground filled with Nursery Store rich soil. It is somewhat costly but the vegetables grown in it are exceptionally tasty and I save so much money growing my own.
Do any of you have to enrich your soil or do you live where the soil is still good???

Since I live in Florida, growing a garden in the soil is useless. We have to use boxes like you do because the soil is part sand. I've never done a garden like that since I am originally from Northern Illinois. Used to grow beautiful gardens right in the dark, black, nutrient rich soil. I love home grown vegetables. What are you planning on growing this year?

Soil here is useless for growing anything but cactus. We have to add so much stuff to the soil to get anything else to grow. The only way to have a garden is to dig out a trench and fill it with potting soil stuff. We're talking about doing raised beds for some home-grown vegetables or a greenhouse for winter. We have caliche here that is sometimes just a few inches below the surface - that stuff is as hard as cement and impossible to dig through.

We too have to fight both sand and that horrid caliche beneath is, just like in Arizona Yonuh... When first moving here years ago, and unaware of the soil I tried one garden after another to no avail. I believe the only thing I ever planted that grew and is bigger and more beautiful now than ever are the Oleander bushes, with either pink, crimson or white huge flowers. They grow anywhere, and I mean anywhere. They line the divider in the middle of most of our highways. No one cares for them but yet they thrive and grow. Oh, and they smell so good...

There was a movie with Michelle Phiefer called WHITE OLEANDER, where she murdered her husbands by grinding the white flower of an Oleander into their milk; the plants are deadly poison and signs say DO NOT allow your aqnimals to eat or chew on these plants.

This year I have the upside down hanging baskets on my patio for regular and tiny tomatoes. I am having a above ground planter box made for cucumbers, squash and whatever else I can think of. Good luck with whatever anyone does as a gardener.

The soil here isn't too bad; I think it's better than a lot of
places. Corn, tomatoes, lettuce, and grapes seem to grow good
on our soil. Mostly, we grow our own flowers and buy veggies at the Farmers' Market. Our soil is dark and rich looking. I like
those upside down hanging baskets for growing tiny tomatoes.
Might try that this year, Chats.

Yonuh, your story about the Arizona soil reminded me of when my mother and step-father moved to Green Valley, AZ about 15 years ago.

My step-father is an avid gardener, and had grown beautiful flower gardens when they lived in Wisconsin.

So when they arrived, he decided he wanted to install an irrigation system so that he could grow roses. According to my mother, he spent days in the garden area with a jack hammer, loosening the soil enough to bury the pipes.

He succeeded, and they now have a huge grapefruit tree in their yard, as well as lovely rose gardens. I am sure this is part of what helped them sell their home in the last month. The new owners are moving in from Ohio. (Which would indicate they are used to seeing gardens with roses and other temperate condition flowers in them.)

By the way, he does appreciate the natural plants of the area as well; he's also been active in a local arid garden club all these years.

I don't know what kind of soil we have here in our yard in NW Illinois, but this is an area with a lot of rock outcroppings, and ground they refer to as "karst," so I expect any garden I would start would have to begin with augmented soil.

I have been giving a bit of thought to the hanging tomato plants, so those of you who have them, please keep us informed as to how they work out.