600 billion$ VS Your $; y'all'd best be planning a garden for spring

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Rocks work well to for raising a bed and last forever. Rocks are the other thing we have here in the ground besides clay.

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:

Given my bloodlines the real wonder is that it's taken so long.

That's some pretty dirt indeed HLAC... we've got some of that here, but a few miles down the road it's clay clay clay. Tried to till at our old house once and it was just huge brownish footballs. Our main problem is sunlight. We don't have much. The strip of yard along the road (where all the neighbor's dogs pee)... a bit in the front between the mulberry and the house, up 'til noon anyways until the sun hits the oak... and then a blob in the backyard... may be able to extend that by clearing that one tree, but that's tricky since it's ON the fence and is all confuzzled with the neighbor's cable line. It's neat in a jungly sort of way, but not at all functional as a garden. Oh, did I mention the big silver gas tank and the remains of the hot tub motor/cabinet that are hidden in the bushes? I swear our landlord is a weirdo.

Hopefully I'll be able to do something useful with what I've got... we'll see though.

 

[Rozzie]

PBJmaker - that blackwalnut is not necessarily a death sentence for gardening in its vicinity. This website discusses some veggies that will grow there: http://www.gardenguides.com/128160-vegetables-can-planted-near-black-walnut-tree.html

I did find other lists of flowers & decorative stuff that would.

I'm sure other plants will grow there, too, but it would take more searching for info than I have time to do right now.

I'm hoping to put in a bunch of fruit trees in the spring, plus some hazlenut and almond trees.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
With your being from southern Ohio, I'd say no. There's no reason not to wait until spring because you would not have time to get on a good cover crop to keep your soil from washing away with winter snows' melting from time to time.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Check out the book "Square Foot Gardening" - there's a "New Square Foot Gardening" book out (by same author) that I just bought at the dollar store for $5. But, basically, it says build a 4x4 wooden frame, place on top of ground, fill with equal parts Peat Moss, Vermiculite and Compost - plant away. He recommends dividing the box with a grid on top into equal square foot areas but that's really not necessary.

My entire garden is raised beds - built over ground that was so hard and clay and rocky we couldn't dig in it. So I built long wooden boxes out of 2x4s and 2x6s and filled them with all the "stuff" I clean out of the coops and stables. Everything grows like a weed in deep chicken poop.

It's easy - anyone can do it. I followed a book on companion planting - plant deep roots near shallow roots - shade lovers under tall sun lovers.....

I also made use of an old pile of tires that was found by the old barn and filled them:

 

[PineappleMama]

OHHH now spare tires I have... I mean, in the backyard there are three... that's a great idea... and painted up they're art, not trash.

Which Dollar Store didja find it at? Was it a single store, or a chain? If it was Dollar General, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree then I just might be able to find one here!!

 

[Rozzie]

I've thought of trying the mix from Square Foot Gardening. It seems to me, though, like it would be pretty pricey for anyone who planned on gardening extensively. Makes me wonder how long it would take before the cost of the materials invested would be paid back in vegetables.

So, we've been saving grass clippings and leaves for the compost pile...

 

[Robin'sBrood]

You don't have to have a lot of land or good soil to garden, you can use straw bales for some types of plants...

http://strawbalegardens.com/

http://www.carolinacountry.com/cgardens/thismonth/march09guide/Straw3.09.pdf

I did this one year and had a lot of success with my tomatoes and okra. The squash and other running plants weren't very attractive towards the end of the season, but they did produce for me.

 

[PineappleMama]

VERY cool site Robin, thanks for sharing!!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Bought it at Dollar General last week. But I've pretty much summed up the whole book in my post. It was a very simple idea and he's made a career out of it. He wrote the first one in the early 70s and it revolutionized the concept of "gardening". He says the same thing - why try and work with poor soil? Just make your own compost (or buy it) and start out with beds using good soil.

And yep, tires can be quite handy - here's where I was building my garden. I sank a 4x4, painted three tires and placed around it, ran wire "cables" from the post to stakes in the ground - planted climbing beans/peas.

You'd be surprised at how much you can grow in one small box.

This one had corn and bush beans:

I had to build my garden myself and have to maintain it myself. I didn't own, nor want to use a tractor or tiller so using raised beds and just filling them with the stuff I have to clean out of coops anyway made sense to me. I even dumped a bunch of mulch and straw and wet hay from stables along a back fence and planted potatoes.

It's so fun to just walk in my garden and pick what I want to eat that day: