"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[LadyKotaDoria]

My problem, aside from DH being a lil lay with starting projects, is dirt.  Seems to expensive to start tings when the only thing i know is to either stick it in the ground... or buy these small yet horribly expensive bags of dirt.  I WANT so badly to make gardening year round and canning things to last the year my 'thing'.  But I have no clues how to start, begin, or do it successfully.   I know, I know....  Need to just buy a book.  But, half the books contained information that wouldnt apply to us with our Louisiana weather... so wasted money.  Any advice?

I do not buy dirt or mulch anymore in bags. That is why God made pick up trucks. A 1/2 ton (150, 1500 ) can carry at lest 1/2 a yard of most dirt. Depends on moisture. Where I get my sand, top soil and mulch is at landscaping stone, and aggregate. They will weigh you empty, and full. It is always cheaper. One time I went to get mulch, I saw them filling the big bags with sand for the Home Depot, they charge twice as much.
BYC is a good place to find out what grows here. You have chickens, you have Great fertilizer and a happy work team to turn your dirt, clean up your beds and turn you soil, eat the cut worms and bugs. To start a small 1 raised bed, fill bed with dirt mix, or turn you soil over to start. I am do not know your soil, the ph, and salt, it is important but not complicated. You will find people to help figuring out how much or even if you need mulch, peat, top soil, or/and sand you need, if any. All you may need to do is turn your soil. My grandmother believed in weekly feedings. She used aged manure. Every week she worked in small amount. Today we have all kinds of fertilizers that will not burn your plants. A lot of plants need calcium, some plants add nitrogen, some love sandy soil, you can learn as you go. Throw all the books away if they confuse you. The people will be there when you need them. Prayer works, Be open, have faith, and live expectantly.

 

[mzstre]

My problem, aside from DH being a lil lay with starting projects, is dirt.  Seems to expensive to start tings when the only thing i know is to either stick it in the ground... or buy these small yet horribly expensive bags of dirt.  I WANT so badly to make gardening year round and canning things to last the year my 'thing'.  But I have no clues how to start, begin, or do it successfully.   I know, I know....  Need to just buy a book.  But, half the books contained information that wouldnt apply to us with our Louisiana weather... so wasted money.  Any advice?

It will really depend on what type of garden you want. Your soil amendments would be different in a tilled earth garden versus a raised bed or container garden. I chose raised beds for the ease of maintenance. They were a bit of work to build and fill, but I truly prefer them. My soil mixture is an attempt to replicate the Amazonian terra preta soil (very interesting if you haven't stumbled across it yet). I mixed bulk garden soil from the local landscape center with small fired clay pellets (like used on baseball fields) and very small diameter (about 1/4") hardwood charcoal/bio char that was premixed with horse manure. It has been the most amazing and productive soil I have grown in. The charcoal when pre-mixed with horse manure (or other composted manures) absorb nitrogen and nutrients and slowly release it throughout the season. The fired clay pellets never break down. They keep the soil loose and also absorb water. The soil does not become saturated, but it retains a more even moisture. I add additional composted manure once per year to maintain the fertility of the soil. It may be too much work to mix it for a large scale garden, but it wasn't bad for my 150 sq ft of garden beds.

 

[foreverlearning]

I do not buy dirt or mulch anymore in bags. That is why God made pick up trucks. A 1/2 ton (150, 1500 ) can carry at lest 1/2 a yard of most dirt. Depends on moisture. Where I get my sand, top soil and mulch is at landscaping stone, and aggregate. They will weigh you empty, and full. It is always cheaper. One time I went to get mulch, I saw them filling the big bags with sand for the Home Depot, they charge twice as much.
BYC is a good place to find out what grows here. You have chickens, you have Great fertilizer and a happy work team to turn your dirt, clean up your beds and turn you soil, eat the cut worms and bugs. To start a small 1 raised bed, fill bed with dirt mix, or turn you soil over to start. I am do not know your soil, the ph, and salt, it is important but not complicated. You will find people to help figuring out how much or even if you need mulch, peat, top soil, or/and sand you need, if any. All you may need to do is turn your soil. My grandmother believed in weekly feedings. She used aged manure. Every week she worked in small amount. Today we have all kinds of fertilizers that will not burn your plants. A lot of plants need calcium, some plants add nitrogen, some love sandy soil, you can learn as you go. Throw all the books away if they confuse you. The people will be there when you need them. Prayer works, Be open, have faith, and live expectantly.

The biggest problems we have here are drainage, silk worms, and in some areas clay dirt. The silk worms come late summer and early fall. They drop out of the trees in droves and can kill both trees and your plants. Any good property here is on a slope with a drainage pond, but even with that this year we are getting hit so hard with rain that it makes it hard to plant in the ground. People here work decades on fixing the clay dirt for planting in the ground or make raised planters.

 

[Angelicisi]

I have some great tips on starting up that are cheap and simple and kept our animals (originally I only hardened for the animals to have organic now we plant to feed 6 people and animals). They helped me while we built our raised beds and worked so well I still do many of them. I'll try and put the ideas together in pics. My mom sends me most ideas via pictures and I try them cuz I have space to do multiple things and are what works.

My problem, aside from DH being a lil lay with starting projects, is dirt.  Seems to expensive to start tings when the only thing i know is to either stick it in the ground... or buy these small yet horribly expensive bags of dirt.  I WANT so badly to make gardening year round and canning things to last the year my 'thing'.  But I have no clues how to start, begin, or do it successfully.   I know, I know....  Need to just buy a book.  But, half the books contained information that wouldnt apply to us with our Louisiana weather... so wasted money.  Any advice?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Good morning Peeps. It was a cold night last night. So cold that a little nuisance decided to visit me and ate a few chicken eggs. Needless to say, he never made it back home.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

My problem, aside from DH being a lil lay with starting projects, is dirt. Seems to expensive to start tings when the only thing i know is to either stick it in the ground... or buy these small yet horribly expensive bags of dirt. I WANT so badly to make gardening year round and canning things to last the year my 'thing'. But I have no clues how to start, begin, or do it successfully. I know, I know.... Need to just buy a book. But, half the books contained information that wouldnt apply to us with our Louisiana weather... so wasted money. Any advice?

What's on the floor of your chicken coop is the best fertilizer you could ask for! Mulch is your friend also. Start a mulch pile - coffee grounds, chopped leaves, vegetable clippings - don't put any weeds or seeds in it. Turn it once a week or so. Let it "cook" and when it gets nice & black add it to your garden area.

You can find a ton of information relevant to our area on the LSU Ag Center website -- everything from container gardening to what varieties work best in our area -- www.lsuagcenter.com
You can also find out who your local Ag agent is & they will help you. We have them come out every couple of years & advise us on our citrus trees, gardens etc. They do not charge for this service.

www.tomatoville.com has a ton of information also.

 

[Angelicisi]

I made my own dirt the 1st two years, now I make compost and dump it in the gardens in fall with leaf mould bags, it makes dirt too Only bought 4-5 bags of premium so over the last few years. I also look for free dirt on craigslist and often its spent garden soil! Perfect because I have creatures! I can add poo and compost and all sorts of things to make it amazing again.

For dirt to fill 3 to 5 temporary raised beds (depending on size)

I Buy one bag of great soil, fluffy-high in nutes. One large bag of sand, coarse. Add clay chucks from the ground on the property broken up (about 5 of those same size bags worth. I dump loads of rabbit waste into it, about half a bag of chicken old bedding, and a bag of leaves from the yard. I turn this and turn this and then plop in my make shift raised beds (pallets), plant my lettuces, broccoli , cabbage, chards, mustard greens in them and have a instant garden.

The mix I use makes 4 pallet gardens on ground or 6 pallet gardens upright.

For ground beds
I bring them to the spot I want my veggies. I pull every other board out, use the board I pulled on the bottom for the gap below it and fill them well with dirt. Line my seeds and done.

Upright beds I used for herbs. Propped pallets against wall. Pulled every other board out and nailed it to the bottom of board below it forming a long box, dump dirt in and plant.

They last one season on the ground sometimes 2 and 2 or 3 seasons upright. They wood does deteriorate but there's plenty of time to get a few crops in.

I have some great tips on starting up that are cheap and simple and kept our animals (originally I only hardened for the animals to have organic now we plant to feed 6 people and animals). They helped me while we built our raised beds and worked so well I still do many of them. I'll try and put the ideas together in pics. My mom sends me most ideas via pictures and I try them cuz I have space to do multiple things and are what works.

 

[Angelicisi]

Score! Another one bites the dust ...

Good morning Peeps. It was a cold night last night. So cold that a little nuisance decided to visit me and ate a few chicken eggs. Needless to say, he never made it back home.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Morning peeps! Good shot Julie! I have to start setting our live trap again -- I think they are starting to snoop around. 'Tiz the season.

Happy Mardi Gras! We are all wearing our beads at work today. The "Cheerleaders and Antique Car" parade kicks off at 4:30 right in front of our building so we get to go watch & catch beads. Next year I plan to put our 1930 Model A Ford in the parade!

All 18 of my tomato plants are up this morning & putting on their first set of leaves. I hope this is a bumper year for my garden. I'm planting tomatoes, cukes, two kinds of pole beans (rattlesnake and purple pod), maybe some eggplant and zucchini and two kinds of peppers (bell & some New Mexico Hatch chilis a balloonist we know who lives in Albuquerque gave us) & maybe some canteloupe.

We're going to re-establish our defunct asparagus patch and also put in some strawberries. And it's time to get my herbs started back up.

I'm ready for the time change!

 

[TerriLaChicks]

I made my own dirt the 1st two years, now I make compost and dump it in the gardens in fall with leaf mould bags, it makes dirt too Only bought 4-5 bags of premium so over the last few years. I also look for free dirt on craigslist and often its spent garden soil! Perfect because I have creatures! I can add poo and compost and all sorts of things to make it amazing again.

For dirt to fill 3 to 5 temporary raised beds (depending on size)

I Buy one bag of great soil, fluffy-high in nutes. One large bag of sand, coarse. Add clay chucks from the ground on the property broken up (about 5 of those same size bags worth. I dump loads of rabbit waste into it, about half a bag of chicken old bedding, and a bag of leaves from the yard. I turn this and turn this and then plop in my make shift raised beds (pallets), plant my lettuces, broccoli , cabbage, chards, mustard greens in them and have a instant garden.

The mix I use makes 4 pallet gardens on ground or 6 pallet gardens upright.

For ground beds
I bring them to the spot I want my veggies. I pull every other board out, use the board I pulled on the bottom for the gap below it and fill them well with dirt. Line my seeds and done.

Upright beds I used for herbs. Propped pallets against wall. Pulled every other board out and nailed it to the bottom of board below it forming a long box, dump dirt in and plant.

They last one season on the ground sometimes 2 and 2 or 3 seasons upright. They wood does deteriorate but there's plenty of time to get a few crops in.

NICE use of pallets! I like that! I am going to try this!
I scored an old partially broken ladder I'm going to use to trellis my cukes on.