This a picture of the garden at first planting in March. It is 40' x 12' box 12" deep. I tilled the dirt on the ground 6-8" deep and tilled in mulch prior to adding the soil mix. The soil is 1/3 mulch, 1/3 native soil and 1/3 manure (supposedly).
The ph was up near 8 when I started so I added organic sulphur to bring down the pH. When startedplanting it was down to 7.5. A little high yet, but sulphur was not completly dissolved.
As you can see I installed a watering system. There are four stations that I manually operate to water the plants. Each row of sprinkler tubing has 14 spray heads. The watering system cost over $160.00 and I think I could have done the watering different and saved a lot.
To the left of the box, along the wall, I put up trellis. My idea was to grow zucchini, cucumbers, and beans on the treillis. For some reason it did not work. The plants would wither and die. Some of the squash and cucumbers did produce a little on the ground.
I get sun from the right to left of the picture. No shade! I have lots of peppers, some tomatoes, 12 eggplants and had one mellon. Not much for the time and money inveted except I have a lot of enjoyment. I'm looking forward to "getting it right".
Replies
Hey Robert,
I think you have a good start, I use straw for mulch and after awhile it just seems to go away. I have a ? about your watering system. What would you do different? I've been contemplating one for my garden but I am still in the design part so any info you have that you would change about yours would be appreciated.
Hi, Aaron, I'll get back with as soon as I get my camera back from my daughter in San Francisco. Maybe a day or so. I have chickens as well and are enjoying them immensely. I'll send pictures of them as well.
Hi Robert - It looks like you have the problem I am grappling with: Lack of canopy shade! How about mulching with (organic) straw? The "Extreme Gardening Guy" talks about using 6-8" of straw or other mulch... to keep the soil cooler and to reduce evaporation and to protect the roots. Also, I like working with cob (straw mixed with soil & water) so I would probably plaster the entire wall with several inches of straw/mud plaster to reduce the heat. Have you planted any trees yet? I'm planning on peach trees because they grow so fast and produce so fast, too. Lots of luck - just think of all the abundance your raised beds will produce one day!
In case any of you are interested in getting a cheap source of plant shading: I went to Home Depot last night and bought 80" x 80" burlap squares in the garden section. I have no idea how long they will last, but they were large enough that was able to shade an entire 12 row with the two I purchased. $4.88 ea. I hope they will get me by for the rest of this summer.
Good for you, Robert - post a picture of how you used them? I'm sure a lot of folks would like to see what you did.
Anthea, I have not planted any trees yet. Plastering the wall could be interesting! My trellis stands two feet away from the wall. I have faith that my next crop will be abundant.
I got all the 3" tree support poles to build the trellis from the "Freecycle/phoenix" site. They cost me nothing. It might something all of you might be interested in. Just do a Google search for freecycle/Phoenix.
Hi Robert, good pictures! You did put a lot of work into the garden. In the other pictures I see a lot of 'exposed' soil, meaning not a lot of soil canopy. Can you apply a 1-2 inch layer of dried mulch like leaves etc. to the soil around the plants (keep about 2 inches away from the actual base of each plants as best as you can)? Something light and airy which will help insulate the soil and retain more moisture. I talk about the soil canopy because of 1) the heat intensity on the soil top 3 inches or so, and 2) the moisture evaporation which results in the need for more water.
I know that mulch on top of the soil would help. I had concerns for this however because the mulch that was in my soil was so full of non-composted wood shreadings that it has yet to all break down.
I have been told that the composting of this material adds a lot of heat at root level and also drawns the nitrogen from the soil.
If I add a lot of mulch (garden and wood mulch) 2" thick what will happen when I till all this in again for my fall garden? Is straw a good option? Will it break down faster once tilled in?
I had thought that for this fall I would till in a lot of finished composted material. This would give better water retention and more nutrients.
I just went halves with my neighbor for a Yard Machines 5 hp shreader. We bought it used, but the shreader looks brand new. ($250.00 for a $700.00 machine). Neither of us have a lot of landscaping material but we found a landscaper that will supply us with material whenever we want some. We will do our own composting.
I sure wish I had my Michigan soil out here!
A couple of points, Robert.
A lot of the mulch sold here is unbroken down wood - it really is mulch and not compost - there is a difference that is not paid attention to. Compost is completely broken down matter so that it "looks" like soil. Mulch is a top layering media which can eventually break down and compost but is more about weed control, moisture retention and soil cooling, initially and later compost.
Straw would be fine and will not break down as fast as standard yard waste -- it can take several years in fact for straw to break down. If I were going to do something like that, in the fall I would pull all the dry/uncomposted material off to the side and only till in the composted base. Year to year our tree leaves compost down in 'about' 8 months or so (basically when we pull this years leaf fall into the well, last years if pretty well composted at that point). So essentially the leaves are on-site composting in the tree wells as opposed to in a pile with other things. We have not had issues with nutrient deficiency doing this.
Wonderful that you got a shreader. So, if you decide to shread your yard waste or the landscapers you do want to: either use it as a soil-cooling-moisture-retaining top layer OR compost it with other matter in a compost pile and use when composting is completed.
Hope all that helps clarify. If you have not seen my notes on just how hot the soil surface and other surfaces are in our summer heat - about 180 degrees on a typical summer afternoon for the top 3 inches of exposed soil, sides of containers, asphalt, concrete, block walls etc. In other words hot enough to fry things and keep too much heat at the soil level for happy plants.