new garden

We are just moving into a house with 2 very large fenced off garden plots. I plan to put vegetables and fruits in one and then produce and flowers in another. Since we are just now getting in, is there anything I can do to the ground now to get it ready for spring planting? If I put chicken manure on it, will it calm down enough by spring do you think?

The smaller of the two plots has been recently plowed (early last summer) and the soil looks excellent, but the larger, which has some beds marked out, looks like it has been left alone for quite some time. I haven't checked the soil in there, but all the soil I have noticed throughout the yard looks quite good as far as consistency. I have no idea on the nutrient quality of any of it.

Just wondering what I can be doing now to get it ready for all those seeds I'm planning! We live in the pacific northwest.

Thanks,
Gwen

Grab some soil and get a soil test done. Your ag extension office can help you get a test done inexpensively. If you cal them, they will tell you how to get some mail-away sacks/boxes to put your samples in and a questionaire about your planned uses for the garden. The soil test will be done at your closest land grant college (usually) and the results will come back and tell you how much of which nutrients to add for your planned use. It's a really great service and is not expensive at all.

good advice....no need to put the manure on the plots till you see exactly what is needed. Best gardening money you'll ever spend. You may not need manure at all....could be something else entirely.

We had the same question about some of our new gardens--since it was the cold/winter season was there anything to do?--(there must be a thread about it on DG) and someone recommended the soil tests and to keep adding compost, etc., if available.

We had to do our soil tests with test kits from the garden center since our Extension Agents don't do it anymore. Not as good as a professional test, but better than nothing. We had some interesting results, too.

Here's a site where any home gardener (or commercial gardener, for that matter) can get a comprehensive soil test done. Cornell University, a part of which is a land grant college, performs these tests for as little as $15 per sample. The results are very comprehensive, far more than what you would accomplish with a do-it-yourself test kit, because the results will tell you which amendment and how much to add to get your desired soil composition. I can tell you from first-hand experience, they are well worth the cost.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/soiltest/about/how_to_order.asp

That Cornell Lab test link is great. Thanks.