Thanks Ellendra (I hope I'm still on the ping list). I picked this up the other day, it's a special extra issue from Fine Gardening mag. Actually, I don't think I'd ever heard of FG.
Posted on 02/10/2012 2:56:54 PM PST by Ellendra
Arrowhead, I do miss the snow, really. We did have have a bit, here, in our little hollow last winter, about 2 inches but it was gone by 1400 hours. I’ll bet the ride through the hill country was beautiful.
Ok Red, I’ll rotate the tomatoe plants, because they may be good sized by the time the mesquites begin to bud. They should be good and strong.
Ok, I’ll have the soil tested then see what they recommend. We have a nice A&M county agent and he’ll have to explain everything found in the beds.
I have no idea.
For Christmas I gave my daughter-in-law an 8’ x 12’ x 12” cedar raised plsnter. Imagine my son and I will put it together next month, fill it in, and plant stuff, mostly from seed I’ve grown indoors. No doubt the filler will settle.
Planted last Fall and growing nicely through the Winter in my little garden are broccoli, cabbage,snap and snow peas, garlic (first time and doing really well), and several hundred Texas Sweet and Red onions, in hand-turned amended soil.
We’re in what passes for the rainy season in San Antonio. When I pick onions (every other one so the alternates grow full size)the soil is so compacted about a quarter break off at ground level and I dig the bulbs up with my fingers. This is in over several years’ well amended soil.
I do not compost. Not from kitchen or yard, anyway. I cheat. I buy liquid compost and drench every inch of my little garden before I transplant . . . which will probably be in about four weeks . . . I say, crossing fingers.
Others posting in this thread are far more experienced and more successful than me, but except for the whims of nature (weather: too much or too little rain; too cold; or, too hot) my results have been rather good for a backyard gardner. Biggest problem has been bugs, pests and plant disease. I’m still figuring out how to defeat those three.
When my daughter-in-law’s brand new raised garden settles, I suppose we’ll drench it with store-bought liquid compost and fill it in with with store-bought garden soil. In the Fall, I imagine we’ll hand turn the soil, give it a liquid compost bath, add a bag or two of pre-fertilized garden soil, and see what happens.
My garden space consists of two in-ground sections: one about 12’ x 25’; one 4’ x 8’; 15 15-gallon pots (5 growing Mexican Lime, Mandarin Orange, Meyer Lemon and a really pitiful avocado tree which does not produce fruit, yet, but refuses to die); 10 5-gallon buckets; and 4 Earth Boxes (though folks in the thread can tell you how to make your own just as good or better, I think next week I’ll buy two more. They work!).
Compacting is natural. Unless roots are exposed by the settling, I add nothing. Will be most interested to read what others advise.
Oh, I do add epson salt when transplanting (along with fertilizer and worm castings). Last Spring, for the first time in years, almost all varieties of my first tomatoes were stricken with blossom end rot. Some really experienced people say there is nothing to be done about BER. After adding Epsom Salt to the mix, didn’t have a problem with the Fall tomatoes. Ask me later how my maters did this Spring.
Really excited about my daughter’s-in-law raised garden. I think I’m more excited than she, and she is really excited. Maybe we’ll do pictures!
You really should think about composting your yard waste - grass clippings leaves etc. One of the biggest benefits to real compost is that it improves your soil structure and conditions the soil. it also increases the water-holding capacity of soil, reducing the frequency you need to water. Adding compost improves sandy and clay soils. Plant growth nutrients in compost include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They are mostly in an organic form, and they release slowly and are less subject to leaching.
Where did you get your worm casings? I’ve made one site for night crawlers. I haven’t dug around to see if they’ve take up residence, yet.
I'm about to learn how my worm population fares. Last Spring the soil was loaded with healthy looking worms. In the Fall when I hand turned the ground there were not so many -- that I could see, anyway. The product description says the castings "may" include worm eggs. Hope so!
Thanks, Red_Devil.
I know you’re right. But doesn’t composting take a lot of time, like months? I certainly have space for a small composting pile.
Especially this year I will not have a lot of lawn waste. Last summer’s drought and watering restrictions left the backyard a patchwork of dead cover. When things warm up I desperately need to lay down new grass. And, I’ve already churned up my leaves with my mulching mower—the lawn probably needs the compost more, at least for this year.
Your advice is undeniably persuasive. Just need to figure out how to get it done. Thanks, again.
Thank you Racehorse.
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