North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[David Consolvo <fruitopia@nexet.net>]

Thanks for your comments about melon growing.  I use garden beds, and I did
rotate them.  However, I think I gardened too intensely, trying to get too
much out of each bed each year, without replacing enough nutrition.  I
occassionally fertilized, added leaves and manure, and grew clover and other
legumes, but all much too sporadically.  I used to test the soil, but all I
got from the state system was the usual big three or four minerals and pH,
and they were always fine.  I got frustrated that I could never know what
the nitrogen status of the soil was; understand that it is difficult to test
for.  I think that nitrogen is this sandy loam's most substantial weakness
for intensive gardening.  The fruit trees do well though.

Dave Consolvo
Hungrytown, Virginia