• carey
  • I'm New Here
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  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 2

Topic: Brand-new gardener

I'm a vegan who is gardening for the first time, and I have so many questions. I'll start with what has come up right away. I have six raised beds (2 feet by 4 feet by 9 inches high), with the previous tenants' soil left in there. I have no idea what she was using (I highly doubt it was veganic), so my plan was to shovel out the old soil and put new soil in. Two big questions have come up:

1. I started shoveling the soil out and to my horror found there are tons of earthworms--too many to avoid killing some with my shovel, I am sure! I felt so bad. I stopped digging, came inside and found this forum. Is there any way to do this without killing worms?

2. What should I use for soil in the beds? Currently there is a weed-control mat under the beds (effectively making them containers rather than raised beds, I guess), and I was planning to cut that out so I can have true raised beds. A staff person at the Portland Nursery advised me to use the soil from my yard and add dense bark, pumice, and fertilizer. Does this sound right?

Thank you for any help you can offer!

  • Registered: 2008-07-11
  • Posts: 36

Re: Brand-new gardener

Hi Carey,

Sorry for the slow response.  The number of worms in your bed indicates that the soil is probably very healthy.  The advice from Ptd. Nursery isn't bad, but unnecessary, unless you're worried about not knowing the former gardener's crop rotation schedule and possible buildup of plant diseases (mainly a problem for tomatoes). 

Rather than shovel the current soil out, I'd just add some fresh compost and veganic fertilizer.  Last year I know Ptd. Nursery did have a veganic blend from "Down to Earth".  But you might check out "Concentrates" - in SE Portland, for both what they might have to offer in composts and the "Down to Earth" veganic fert.

  • carey
  • I'm New Here
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  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 2

Re: Brand-new gardener

Thanks, Jill. I'll check out Concentrates to see what they have for compost. I did find vegan fertilizer at Portland Nursery. I didn't realize there was such a thing as vegan-friendly compost, so I'm glad to hear there is. (I will be making my own, but I'm just starting the compost pile, so I won't be able to use it for a while.)

But actually, my concern with the soil that is in the beds currently is that it could have nonorganic and almost surely has nonveganic materials in there. I guess from one point of view, it would be a waste to get rid of completely healthy soil. On the other hand, I would like to be able to say that I raised my first garden veganically, and hold my head up high. (And of course I don't want my vegetables to be chemical-ridden.) Thoughts about this?

Also, if I cut out the weed control mat underneath (now or in the future), I will surely still have to do some digging in there anyway, which will compromise the worms. And with any other digging I do in my yard for planting purposes (I've just moved to a house with a yard for the first time), this issue is going to come up, too. Have you talked with other veganic gardeners about ways to minimize impact to worms? Should I just be as gentle as possible? I realize that worms and probably other small critters do get harmed in the planting of a garden, but I'd like to do the least amount of harm possible.