Hi, the outside of school program that I'm working with is starting a school garden in the patch of what appears to be grass next to the school. When I dug down to get some soil samples for testing I found that below the thin grass cover, there's a few inches thick layer of soil. We really want to get this garden up and running, does anyone have any suggestions for turning it into a usable food growing garden? Would we have to bulldoze off that layer of gravel? Would it work to rototill and mulch it? Must we build raised beds? Thank you!!
I suspect to have the widest range of options available to you in this instance, raised beds are the way to go. But, others will share their thoughts.
Yes like the other poster has said, raised beds is the easiest way to go. Build some simple wooden forms and get some fresh topsoil/compost and you're ready to plant.
