Well rotted compost and organic plant matter

[mlywly]

My parent's back yard is filled with what seems to be excellent organic, composted plant matter. Thier property lies on a (off-shoot?!?), of the Manatee river in FL. There are many large Oak trees, a few Cypress trees, Philodendron and, lots of larger Ferns living on the floor. My question is this... the soil looks incredibly rich and wonderful. I am getting ready to create a raised organic bed ( 7x9) and I REALLY have to amend my 'plot'. Currently the only 'dirt' I have in my yard is good ole FL sand! Thanks in advance for advice. K--

[J.C.]

My first advice would be to make your raised bed not wider than 4 feet. If you make it wider than that, you will have to walk on it to reach the middle plants and if organic is your bag, walking on your soil is a no, no. 4x12 would be better. I didn't see a question but I assume you're asking if you could use some of their soil. If that's the question, I'd say to do some soil tests on it first.

Another thing you could do is check this out. There's a good soil recipe there.