Get the soil ready

Now is the time to get the soil ready for the garden. You could actually plant peas and greens now. But it's been a cold early Spring, so it's probably a good idea to wait until next weekend to plant.

After clearing the garden or a space for a new garden, work some aged manure or compost into the soil before planting.  If you want to be scientific, you can get your soil tested at the Oakland County Extension office. oakgov.com/msu/Pages/program_service/garden/soil_testing.aspx

There are a number of places that sell manure, such as horse farms, be sure it is aged. Cook's Farm Dairy in Ortonville sells cow manure.

I heard that Uncle Luke's sells it too, at 6691 Livernois Road in Troy, unclelukes.com/
Commercially packed manure is pre-composted.

South Oakland County Recycling Partners sells screened compost at a very reasonable price. socrra.org/

To make your own compost, see the page on this blog about organic farmers' solutions. 3 challenges of organic gardening 
Here's a quick instruction on how to compost from National Geographic:
greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/compost-correctly-2358.html

People with compromised immune systems should ask their doctor before eating food from gardens where manure has been used.