{"id":16828,"date":"2021-04-21T08:28:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T12:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=16828"},"modified":"2021-04-21T08:56:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T12:56:33","slug":"raised-bed-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/04\/21\/raised-bed-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"What should I do to prepare my raised bed garden for planting?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>I have a raised garden bed that I have used for two years so far. I was wondering what I should do to prepare it for this year&#8217;s planting? Do I need to change the soil or fortify it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Pamela Hargest, Horticulture Professional<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I encourage you to submit a sample to our lab in Orono for soil testing. You can request a soil test kit to be mailed directly to you on our website, <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/soiltestinglab\/home\/kit-request\/maine-soil-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maine Soil Request<\/a>. If you&#8217;ve never taken a sample before, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2FAAYz-ihnI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a> will explain how to take and send in a sample. You&#8217;ll receive specific recommendations for amending your soil after it&#8217;s been tested. If you have any questions about the results, please contact your <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/county-offices\/all\/\">local Extension office<\/a> and we can walk you through the recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, you might be interested in our <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/victory-gardens-for-me\/video-series\/\">Victory Gardens for ME Video Series<\/a> which is geared towards beginner gardeners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I have a raised garden bed that I have used for two years so far. I was wondering what I should do to prepare it for this year&#8217;s planting? Do I need to change the soil or fortify it? Answer: Pamela Hargest, Horticulture Professional I encourage you to submit a sample to our lab [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,202,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-maintenance","category-soil"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What should I do to prepare my raised bed garden for planting? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/04\/21\/raised-bed-soil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What should I do to prepare my raised bed garden for planting? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I have a raised garden bed that I have used for two years so far. 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