Garden didn't do so well -advice on no chemical way to help?

[Sumada]

This year our garden plants seemed really slow growing. Peas and beans took forever to start, then they quickly died, from rot I think. Our tomato plants all got blight (I started some heirloom seeds, now I see why people have hybridized!), cukes got powdery mildew, broccoli heads were very small, cauliflower didn't even bloom...I could go on and on. What are we doing wrong?

We always till compost into the garden soil in spring and I composted around the plants with more of our compost. We watered a lot (too much for my liking, but dh usually did it).

Soil seems really clay like this year, so we need something to lighten it up. People have suggested that we burn, plant a cover crop, or just not do anything with it next year. We have had this garden for 8 years. We do rotate where we plant things from year to year.

I'm trying to avoid using chemicals, so any thoughts on a way to do this organically are appreciated!

[SweetSilver]

Have you tried not tilling and just adding compost on the top?  Perhaps the tiller reached farther than usual and reached a clay layer underneath?  Have you researched beneficial fungus, like from Fungi Perfecti?  I've always been curious to try that out.  Do you need to till *every* year?

I'm just thinking of possibilities for you.  This year was a really bad year here for stone fruits.  I don't know anyone who got any and all the trees look terrible.  Tomatoes are bad, too.  Maybe next year will  be better!

[Sumada]

I suppose I should have said where I live - in Wisconsin. Our soil under the topsoil is actually quite sandy. I don't think we ever reach it with the tiller though. We also put some semi-rotted manure on the garden last year and tilled it in. I say semi rotted b/c I could still see some manure and lots of straw was in there as well. I'm wondering if that made it clay-y.

I'll check out the fungus. Sounds interesting.

I thought tilling every year was a good thing. Maybe not?

Other ideas?

[Vaske]

Our plants were very slow, too, but this is our first year gardening.  Our soil is very clayey and dense.  I think a lot of it was the weather this year--the spring was cold and wet, and then we had several very hot spells where we were watering frequently to keep our garden from being fried in the heat.  I'm sure now that we were often overwatering--the corn and tomatoes showed it, we just didn't recognize the signs until too late. 

Also, maybe you need to let the compost and manure rot down more.  It sounds like you have plenty in your soil already, so you could skip tilling in more next spring.  I've heard some plants don't do well when they are over-fertilized. 

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by Sumada 

I suppose I should have said where I live - in Wisconsin. Our soil under the topsoil is actually quite sandy. I don't think we ever reach it with the tiller though. We also put some semi-rotted manure on the garden last year and tilled it in. I say semi rotted b/c I could still see some manure and lots of straw was in there as well. I'm wondering if that made it clay-y.

I'll check out the fungus. Sounds interesting.

I thought tilling every year was a good thing. Maybe not?

Other ideas?

From what I've read, tilling is actually a bad thing- it breaks down the natural soil structure. But don't ask me where I read it, because I have no idea!

[savithny]

There is actually such a thing as too much compost.   Only you know how much you put in, but you might read this:

http://www.composterconnection.com/site/myth-busting.html

They cite this woman, who writes a lot on gardening practices:

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/horticultural%20myths_files/index.html

It's possible to overamend soil, and it's also not good to add fresh manure -- non-rotted manure can actually damage plants.

But it was also, at least in the north, a bad year.    Late spring, wet spring, hot summer, etc.   ALl of that affects the growth cycle and yield of your plants.