Soil preparation for leafy greens

    

I plan to divide the crops into the four beds according to what type of plant they are and what their needs are. One bed, for example, will have all the leafy greens in it.

Leafy green vegetables such as Lolla Rosa Lettuce, Paris Island Lettuce, Viroflay Spinach, Lacinato Kale, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Arugula, Cilantro, Golden Acres Cabbage, Flat Leaf Parsley and Large Leaf Basil differ among themselves in appearance as well as in taste. However, they also have certain things in common. For one thing, they all love fertile soil which is rich in organic matter and has lots of nutrient called nitrogen in it. Nitrogen is what matters the most to leafy greens. This particular nutrient helps leaf vegetables produce chlorophyll and perform photosynthesis. As a result, the plants grow and develop quality leaves quickly. 

• ADD COMPOSTED MANURE Animal waste is high in nitrogen; it’s so high that you typically cannot add animal waste directly to the soil, or it will burn your plants. The type of manure that you use varies in its “hotness,” so you need to compost it before adding it to your garden for at least six months. You can toss the manure right in with your food and garden waste in your compost. Chicken manure is considered the hottest manure, so you definitely need to compost it first. Cow manure, along with goat and rabbit droppings, isn’t as hot, and you could add them to your soil with a reduced chance of burning. It’s typically safer to compost, especially rabbit droppings, before applying them to the soil.
• PLANT NITROGEN-FIXING PLANTS Some plants are considered nitrogen-fixing plants, which means that they’ll add nitrogen to your soil as they grow. The two main ones to add to your beds are beans and legumes. Instead of absorbing the nitrogen from the soil, they fix the nutrients. So, consider growing beans and legumes where you previously grew nitrogen-hungry plants in the previous year. However, you may need to cut back or avoid fertilizing the garden beds or areas where you grew bean crops in the previous year. You might end up with too much nitrogen in the soil. 
• MIX COFFEE GROUNDS IN THE SOIL Coffee grounds are an excellent source of nitrogen. You can either add them to your compost pile or mix the grounds directly into your soil. It takes time for them to break down and release into the soil, but a bonus is that coffee grounds help to aerate the ground and improve drainage.
• USE FISH EMULSION Another nitrogen-rich fertilizer is called fish emulsion; it has an NPK ratio of 5:1:1. That means, while it does provide nitrogen to your plants, the dose isn’t high enough to burn your plants. Another benefit to using fish emulsion is that it also contains various other micronutrients that benefit your plants. Most garden centers sell fish emulsion in a concentrated form that needs to be mixed with water. The average ratio is 2-3 tablespoons of fish emulsion for every one gallon of water. Then, you pour it on the soil or spray the leaves of your plants. Or, if you happen to have a fish tank, use the water when you clean the tank in your garden.
• SPREAD GRASS CLIPPINGS AS MULCH In the summertime, you can apply grass clippings in your garden bed as an organic mulch. As the grass clippings decompose, they leech nitrogen back into your soil. 
• USE AN ACTUAL PLANT FERTILIZER When you select a plant fertilizer, look for one with a high first number in the NPK ratio. The ratio is displayed on the package of the fertilizer, looking something like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. The first number indicates the amount of nitrogen, so using one with a larger first number gives a significant boost to your soil. However, a negative is that chemical fertilizers do tend to fade away faster and can also burn your plants by providing too much nitrogen at once. The organic ones usually have lower numbers, but take longer to be absorbed.