[EQAndyBuzz]

Down in San Antonio. Anything Incan put in the ground now? Still have some beets, carrots and lettuce that went through the winter frosts here and reared still growing.

Anyway, as a noob who is in year two of 4x4’s, what can I do now to prepare soil for upcoming season. Last year I got beautiful plants but no fruit. What can I do differently?

[JRandomFreeper]

Your freeze days should be just about over. I'd start looking at putting stuff out after the vernal equinox on the 20th.

I'm not familiar with raised beds, so one of the others that does raised beds can probably answer what you need to do with them.

For my big garden, now that I'm no-till, I put down about 8" of compostables and mulch. I'll just move that stuff back out of the way when I get ready to plant.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

I started out with a raised sq. ft. garden. It sounds like your mix doesn’t provide enough potassium, or phosphorus to me. You might want to add some organic fertilizer that has 15 30 15. Each sq. foot will need a generous helping of compost when you are ready to plant.

I would plant these beds in the fall with winter grains such as cereal rye, winter wheat, or hairy vetch. In February, sow any bare batches with red clover. Then in the spring turn it under about 4 weeks before planting for “green compost”.

[sockmonkey]

For San Antonio, here is a Spring Garden calendar from Fanick’s..
http://www.fanicknursery.com/Downloads/2014/Calendar_2014.pdf

Also, tomorrow, Fankick’s is having their:

Spring Vegetable seminar
March 8, 2014
Starting at 10:30am to noon
David Rodriguez from the Agri-life Extension service will show you how to properly plant, grow and harvest your vegetables. David has a ton of experience in gardening and would love to share his knowledge and passion of vegetables with you.

They are located at:
1025 Holmgreen Road
San Antonio, TX. 78220

http://www.fanickgardencenter.com/

[Sarajevo]

Increase your soil depth in your raised beds to 12". If you can, get a truck load of horse manure or good top soil to fill them. You can plant in fresh horse manure. Install drip watering to save on water. Try a shadier location. Many plants go dormant in the heat of San Antonio summers.
Above all, check your soil pH. The San Antonio area is notorious for high pH soil which locks nutrients in the soil. You can acidify it with soil sulfur or ammonium sulfate. Try 3% rock phosphate (available at Rainbow Gardens or the Barrel House on Rte 16)to enhance flowering and growth. You can also use Super Phosphate or Triple Super Phosphate, but be careful how much of the concentrated form you use.