So I started up a compost pile on accident trying to fill this raised bed with some yard clippings first so I didn’t need to buy as much soil. It ended up becoming fun and I decided to not plant anything and just keep up on compositing. However, it looks like we’ll be moving out of state around October now. Do you think I’d be able to just top it off with soil now and still grow something successfully? There are still bits of food and cardboard floating around in there. I’m in southern Wisconsin if that matters at all. I might be about to miss the good planting window. Thanks for any ideas or advice!
by SortWide6106
7 Comments
Yup.
Should be possible. Depending on the items it shouldn’t get hot enough to kill plants, it’ll be a type of vermicompost instead. You can plant tomatoes, peppers, etc and have a good harvest. Idk about root vegetables though
Absolutely! I do this in all my beds and from what I’ve seen people recommend this exact thing to save on soil. I think that method is called huglekulture (German spelling, good luck). It may soak up nitrogen but that’s not really too much of a problem to overcome.
Definitely. Give it a good aeration mix, add your dirt, and plant away. The microbes will continue breaking it down as your plants grow into it and stay moist from what you water your plants with. The roots will break it down even more as they start accessing the nutrients in it.
Hard to tell from the pic, but I’m guessing you have 4-5 inches of space if you level everything. You don’t really want unfinished compost near your plants’ roots because the decomposition will tie up nitrogen, so it won’t be available to the plants. Some plants have relatively shallow roots, and they might be less affected. If I wanted to plant there, I’d direct sow things like radishes, spinach, and lettuce. I wouldn’t plant tomatoes or peppers there because they are less likely to work and it’s a bigger loss if you lose some seedlings vs a portion of a seed packet.
For sure! Depending on what didn’t break down, I’ve had some weeds pop up, or a stray potato or onion. The main issue is as it breaks down, the soil level will sink! I did this in my raised bed and soon found myself having to lean over and crawl halfway in the bin to get to my plants. You could start stuff and then transplant? But for a shallow bin like that I’m sure you’re fine.
When I see someone post a question about something I am already doing there’s just a moment of worry when I think what if I’ve been doing it wrong and didn’t know.
Glad this is a good thing to do.