inheriting garden beds

hi-we inherited 5 beautiful garden beds that I believe have sat empty for years. I also do not know if they were growing vegetables or flowers in them. All the beds need at least 8″ of new compost/soil, but my question is…..should I be concerned what the quality is of the existing beds, or just focus on my new compost? I don’t want to be growing food for my family that’s sitting on top of years of miracle grow or other contaminates. I have a company that will test the soil, but I believe they only will tell me about pH, nitrogen, etc….what do u suggest? I’d like to avoid removing all their existing soil, but dont want to make foolish mistake. thanks!

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1 Comment To "inheriting garden beds"

#1 Comment By Downtoearthdigs On 04/05/2017 @ 9:25 pm

First, a soil test is an excellent way to start!
Your County Extension Office will do a soil test for a few dollars.
This is the starting point and save time and money in prepping your garden beds for the growing season.

Here is a link to locate your nearest office.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search/ ^[1]

Here are some links on soil amendments and the best soils for vegetable beds.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-vegetable-gardens.htm ^[2]
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm ^[3]
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/organic/the-importance-of-soil-for-an-organic-garden.htm ^[4]
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm ^[5]

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URLs in this post:

[1] https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search/: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search/

[2] https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-vegetable-gardens.htm: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-vegetable-gardens.htm

[3] https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm

[4] https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/organic/the-importance-of-soil-for-an-organic-garden.htm: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/organic/the-importance-of-soil-for-an-organic-garden.htm

[5] https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm

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