TIL from a farmer in Iowa why my garden soil was so awful

I was at a feed store outside Des Moines last weekend complaining about my tomatoes, and this old farmer told me to stop using bagged topsoil. He said the stuff from the store is basically dead dirt with no microbes, and I should have just mixed in compost from my own yard. Has anyone else found a big difference using local compost over the bagged stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.jana22d ago

Tbh my neighbor tried that and her garden actually grew stuff.

karen_sanchez4922d ago

Bet she didn't follow soil pH recommendations, which is actually the secret.

kimr7422d ago

You know what, @karen_sanchez49, I used to think pH was just garden snob stuff but after my tomatoes went sad last year I measured and sure enough I was way off. Totally changed my mind on how much it actually matters for getting things to grow.