Uncomposted eggshells, coffee grounds, and kelpmeal

Hi there,

My name is Angel, and this is my first time posting. I'm hoping for a little advice so here goes....

I am growing tomatoes in pots in a fresh premium garden soil, and have been lightly adding crushed eggshells, coffee grounds and kelpmeal to the top inch of soil. Am I doing anything beneficial or am I just making myself feel good?

Also, what should I do with the soil in the pots at the end of the season? Can I reuse it?

Finally, I just put in a frame for a raised veggie bed and need some advice on filling it this fall. The current plan is to start with good garden soil and then top it with a layer of shredded leaves and maybe a thin layer of straw. I'm not sure if the worms in the ground benieth will migrate up through the 8 inches of soil, so I was thinking of adding some bait worms too.

So am I on the right track? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, it's better than nothing, and organic - which is a plus. As you probably know, the eggshells provide calcium (macronutrient), coffee provides nitrogen - another macronutrient, and kelpmeal provides potash (potassium nitrate) - supplying postassium to the soil. It sounds pretty good so far, for more information on soil fertilizing, see this. At the end of the season, the soil's fine to reuse, but you might want to add some more ferts before you use it again, also - don't replant tomatoes in that same soil, diseases can occur.

About the shredded leaves, make sure they just aren't a layer, as this may block the flow of water - mix the small shredded pieces throughout the soil. Straw is good, make sure it has no weedy seeds though - or else you'll have to pick those out. Worms are always great for soil, they may actually migrate up, if the soil from your bed is directly touching earth, and it's moist.

Have fun.

 

I like to use the soil from the summer's pots in my compost bin. I like to layer a bit of soil over the most recent layer of veggie scraps, and then a layer of the used wood chips from the guinea pig's pen!

If you compost your "spent" soil from pots that way, you refresh and recycle it!