Amending sandy soil

[Chic Rustler]

Have you looked into Premier 1 electric poultry netting.  Awesome stuff that provides an easily moved electric run.  I used it for several years, until hawk predation required that I build a covered run.  I think that PM charger is the same one I use.  It's about 30 years old, and still working very well.

I seen a guy on youtube use that stuff. Whats a set up like that cost? I would love to have one!

 

[Intheswamp]

Have you looked into Premier 1 electric poultry netting. Awesome stuff that provides an easily moved electric run. I used it for several years, until hawk predation required that I build a covered run. I think that PM charger is the same one I use. It's about 30 years old, and still working very well.

<chuckle> I hope mine will last 30 years.....and I'm the one keeping the weeds clear. Of course I'll be 90 years old but that shouldn't keep me from running my tiller...should it?

 

[sheldon farms]

I have sandy soil also. Great for drainage, but a nightmare to keep watered in the heat of summer! My husband order a truck load of clay...BIG mistake. I can't get it incorporated, so it sits on top and makes a slippery, sloppy mess when wet. Your best bet is to keep incorporating organic matter, like compost, mulch, cover crops in the off season, etc. Where are you in Texas? I am just north of Bryan-College Station. I grow the heck out of tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and cucumbers. I can't seem to get the hang of green beans or green peppers (but I grew awesome jalapenos with very little effort last year.) I planted carrots, but got only a couple of little ones, so it wasn't worth the effort. I tried watermelons one year, but they took up too much space.

My best advice, other than have fun with it, is to jot down notes every few days. It doesn't have to be any fancy, just make notes about the weather, what dates you planted, names of varieties, how things are growing, what worked or didn't. You might think you will remember next year, but I promise, you won't! When you are standing in the garden center looking at all those tempting plants and seeds, it help to have notes to remember which tomato tasted great, grew well, etc. You might also check with your local co-op or extension service to see if they do soil testing. No need to spend money adding amendments that your soil already contains, or you might need to tweak a little here or there to get the best produce. Read, surf the net, and network. Gardening people LOVE to talk gardening!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Clay + sand = concrete.

 

[junebuggena]

Mulch, mulch, mulch. Layers and layers of the stuff. Leaf litter in the fall, hay from cleaning out the coop, rabbit litter boxes, grass clippings, it all goes into the beds. My vegetable beds are basically compost piles in the fall/winter.

 

[Kellycbf]

I would suggest that you plan a rainy day trip to the library. get a bunch of gardening books out, look them over. Decide which gardening style matches your personality best. Decide how much work you want to do, and how much time you want to spend gardening. You also should decide how you plan to manage all of the produce that will be getting harvested. No sense growing it if you don't have a harvest management plan.

I agree with this, but I think it is great that you got stuff in the garden this year. That was us last summer. We tried what I would call a salsa garden with strawberries. It was my first attempt at gardening in 16 +years. I did not do a ton of research but I knew going in that anything we would be able to eat would be a blessing. I learned a lot through that experience. I read a lot of books over the winter. I also doubled the size of the garden last fall. I still feel like it is a little bit of an experiment and I am OK with that. We learn as we experience new things and try new things. So, keep on keeping on. Work with what you have. Spring is such a busy time in the yard, take advantage of that time. When it is too hot or during the winter, research and watch videos and learn from others.

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Agreed. I would never put off gardening until I'd had a chance to thoroughly research the "how to" of gardening. And the learning process is a life long adventure. There's enough info on most seed packets to at least "get going" in the life long adventure. And I'm never more than 15' away from some good gardening books!

 

[Chic Rustler]

So what do u guys know about compost? I built a bin 6 months ago out of old pallets. Its 3x6. I have been putting everything i think may compost in there. So far its mostly been house scraps, leaves, horse apples and rabbit manure. Its filled to the top and dropped to about half 3 times.


Today i figured i would clean out the chicken coop. I ended up with a wheelbarrow full of manure and pine shavings that i mixed in with the other stuff. I wet it down and turned it. Its starting to get some dirt like stuff in there. Im hoping it will heat up good and hot to kill the horse apple seeds (that wasnt a good idea)


Some other things went in there as well since i have started up the homestead. I had to have something useful to do with the fully developed eggs that didnt hatch. Then we lost a couple chicks so they went in there. When i processed a rooster i figured it was also a good place for all the feathers and such. There may even be a bunny in there that didnt make it past 4 weeks. Im not sure if composting animals is a no no but theres no smell and i figured i would let that be a 2 year pile.



Anyway im rambling. Got any good compost ideas?

 

[lazy gardener]

Technically, any type of meat product should not go into the compost b/c it can attract the wrong kind of animal attention. However, I'm guilty of tossing the occasional mouse or chipmunk into the pile. Simply keep feeding the pile. flip it if you want some exercise. Keep it moist. Stop flipping it or adding to it when it's getting finished. While waiting for one pile to finish up, start an other one. Or bypass the compost pile altogether and sheet compost instead. Or trench compost.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Whats sheet and trench composting?