Most vegetables do best in soil that is very high in organic matter. To increase the amount of organic matter in your soil, just add compost or manure. Before planting, apply well-decomposed compost at the rate of 40 to 60 pounds per 100 square feet of garden space. Don’t use compost or manure as a replacement for fertilizer. A healthy vegetable garden needs both.

In addition to the compost recommended above, manure can be used instead of dry fertilizer. Manures vary widely in nutrient concentration and salt content, so take care to not apply too much. Compared with chemically formulated fertilizers, manures are a less precise method of fertilization because sources of manures vary greatly in nutrient and soluble salt content. A safe applica ...