Can ferilization and soil supplements be used instead of changing the soil or is it better to just change it out? That’s a lot of grunt work
I would imagine that crop rotation would work better than anything. Here’s my notes from Patty Leander, a Master Gardener from Austin, TX. Do a search for her tips. She says:
Don’t plant a particular “family” in the same area for 3 years. Families are:
Amaryllis = onion, leek, garlic, shallot
Composite = artichoke, lettuce
Crucifer = arugula, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collars, kale, kohlrai, mustard, radish, turnip
Goosefoot = beets, chard, spinach
Legumes = peas
Umbel = carrots, cilantro, parsley, dill
Eliot Coleman, who wrote Four Season Harvest, has this to say about an optimal 8 year rotation plan:
Potatoes follow sweet corn, which follow cabbage family, which follow peas, which follow tomato, which follow bean, which follow root crops, which follow squash, which follow potatoes.
Fertilization with a well-balanced fertilizer (like 10-10-10,along with micro-nutrients)will do wonders.
But don't forget to use crop rotation to prevent diseases from over-wintering, or re-infecting a newly planted crop.
A good source of calcium is "Bone Meal", which should be incoporated into the soil.
If you have 2 raised beds, alternate or change which bed has the high demand crops ; and switch locations in the bed.
Just for example :Hypothetical Crop Rotation ; 4 year plan
1st year : swiss chard , cabbage, kale, kohlrabi (all are high demand calcium)
2nd year : tomatoes , beets ,peas , onions, herbs , flowers peppers,etc.
3rd year: beans (with nitrogen innoculant), corn, squash, cucumbers,carrots , parsnips, lettuce.
4th year: melons , spinach, tomatoes , onions, etc.
If you continue to plant the same crop in the same location, you are inviteing catastrophic disease to hit and wipe out your entire crop.
Its much better to diversify not only crops , but also locations . Keep a homeade chart of what grew where , and then change them arround to different locations.