Experimental Garden. Will Anything Grow?

[Finchbreeder]

Raised beds made of old water tanks cut in half - or for the "trendy" brand new ones that look like thats what they are.
These are used a lot here and work well - for the opposite reason to yours.
We have so little rain - that we need to drench the beds regularly to grow anything.
Goodluck.

 

[AubreyJo76]

We have similar soil in my area of California. In the summer, we can get up to 118.

I've got 3 compost tumblers, and put tons of weeds (that arent for chicken treats) and any garden waste in them, along with coffee, paper, chicken poop, leaves, spent beer, etc in them. I trim and lay (WELL DRIED OUT*) branches at the bottom of beds to take up space... And it's worked well for me. (Google Hugelkultur -- but mine's in raised beds... I fill the bottoms of my huge porch pots this way, too.)

I made a "compost sifter" out of leftover project wood and 1/2 inch welded wire and topped the raised beds out of a mix of lotsa local dirt and compost. I'm up to 5 4x8 beds. In the spring, I do go get some raised bed soil and just move the old soil aside, plant and then top the entire bed with amender or aged compost.


Anytime I plant a tree, bush or anything in the yard, I sift out the rocks from the dirt I dig out of the hole, and use the dirt "hole" as if it is a clay pot... then fill with commerical mix and top with the rocks for "mulch". My front yard is full or roses, lavendar, sage, irises and tons of other plants. (I have been here 15 years, so it's a continual work in progress.) Near those plants, I have big barrels full of herbs and flowers so I can easily grab them as I make dinner.

For my raised beds, the only way I can get a good garden yeild is from using a drip system. Anything else washes the smaller seeds away. It also saves tons of time. Anytime I try to water (even with a mister or watering can) I can't grow from seed in the yard, except by accident. (Volunteer sunflowers, random pumpkins/squash).

I mulch and add compost during the growing season as it's ready. I do buy some fertilizer here and there if plants look sad or stop producing. Most of my "fertilizer" is from my compost tumbler drippings. I have one of those double barrel raised ones, and every couple weeks, whatever's leaked in it, I water down and add pour between plants.

I'd like to be able to plant in ground, but we have so many moles/voles that they eat up roots. All of my beds are wood and have welded wire bottoms.





* Don't use freshly cut tree branches in your beds. Some trees will take root and grow in your beds or hugelkultur! Which is great if you want to propogate "free" plants, like green stems from roses and crepe myrtles!

 

[chicken opey]

TLDR Version: Hard clay and rock ground. Gets super wet when it rains a lot. Does drain eventually though. Gets full sun in most of the area. What can I Grow here? If I can't get veggies going I might just make a fruit tree orchard next year.

Full Story:
I have this space I want to try to grow something in. It's 60% rocks held together by clay. My dad tilled the area to loosen it all up. As you can see, it gets flooded when it rains. I'm in central Tennessee. So you know the rains we've had in the areas the last few days.
It seems people do a lot of corn, which is something I am trying in the back area. I put in some potatoes closer to the front in the picture where you see the trenches. I'm kind of worried they are just going to drown now. I did put in trenches for drainage, which it is doing now. But so much rain is dropping. Which should be less of an issue in the summer.
I put in carrots, radishes, broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage. All of which I read can handle clay soil. So far none of them have sprouted a thing. It's been about 3 weeks.
I wanted to try sunflowers mixed in with the corn. I wanted to do cucumbers where you see the cattle panels. Under the cucumbers, I wanted to get some shade plants going. Maybe broccoli and lettuce or herbs. Closer to the raised beds I wanted to try different peppers.
The previous years I've used raised beds, but soil is expensive and I can only do so many a year. Then the raised beds fall apart. This year I am trying to figure out what can grow well in the soil and lean into those plants. If I can't get a good harvest from this I may just start planting fruit trees in the area.
Any suggestions?

I have lots of clay, no rocks.
I spent 3 years now amending the soil. I used cover crop, hairy vetch (terminate and use as green manure).
But, if you don’t do something about the water it will wash away all your efforts
My section does get water, not as much as yours, and I decided to go w raised rows. That has helped w the water in mine. I left the grass in paths so we don’t break our necks on the wet clay.
Beans and corn were what we grew first year and squash. None of it was great btw. Each year it’s getting better. I found a couple of parsnips this year which is a good sign bc root veggies hate clay.

BTW, my raised beds are just pulling the dirt up - like 12”. I imagined since so much clay I was making a long clay pot. I would then put top soil down middle where I put seeds/plants