Planting where white cedars removed

[Raw penny]

I am planting a new to me veggie garden. The previous owner removed a white cedar hedge @ 5 years ago, put in some topsoil and said the only thing she had success growing was tomatoes. Any suggestions to amending the bed? I am in Ottawa in an area where the soil is ordinarily alkaline, but I suspect her problem was acidity from the 20 years of cedar.

[kelly_m]

Not sure of the exact science of the whole thing, but yes, you will still be dealing with acidic soil. Cedars being cedars, have a roots that will not decompose for a long time. In ten years, you will could probably dig up that area and find all sorts of bits of cedar!

You would have to amend the soil....something with hi nitrogen...although I believe I have read that Lime is good for neutralizing acidity.

[Dumbo]

The bigger garden centres may perform free basic soil tests. pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium. I *think* this coming Saturday it's free on the Gatineau side at a place called Emery (or it was this past Saturday, I don't recall now).

If not, then walmart sells the basic test kit for around 8$.