Just use the compost you have and get another truck load if you need it. Definitely want to add something like vermiculite to keep it from getting compressed over time. If you don’t want to use an herbicide, you can shade out the weeds with a tarp or mulch/wood chips. You can also add in some lime and fertilizer when you lay it down to get mixed in and watered in well.
Throw your veggie scraps, wood ashes, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc in there when you’re done with them and you’ll keep it pretty fertile.
You have shallow beds, you must have a strong back. Most Co-Op’s sell bulk potting soil. You can haul it on a tarped trailer or pickup bed. Fill your beds and add a few miracle grow bags. Keep composting and add soil every year. I would tarp your existing soil and add it to the beds over the years, happy gardening and good luck with the organic approach.
Yeah... We have been contributing to a compost pile for over a year now. All our scraps, coffee grounds, etc... have gone in there so we're getting a pretty good sized pile now.
In The Square Foot Gardening Book, Mel recommends a mix called "Mel's Mix" that is 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 Compost and he doesn't end up fertilizing at all. He and his followers have been getting great results using that for years.
So I guess I'm off to the store to get peat moss, vermiculite, and probably manure too, as well as some black plastic.
