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Post by azlonerider on Jan 4, 2011 22:12:02 GMT -4
RR, we are sand and rock here, with a little cheap dirt mixed in.... Compost, COMPOST, COMPOST, and pick out the rocks, then compost some more.....
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Post by rAcErRicK on Jan 4, 2011 23:00:13 GMT -4
Yep, understood Andy, but being only one here, there isn't much to use for compost. A neighbor about 200yds away has a patch of real dirt that he gardens on, but I cannot find one place that has ANY at all ! I thot I'd get some big boxes and put them down like Rick mentioned, and mebe some grass clippings on top of that, and bring a few loads of dirt on top. A few layers of that, mebe by spring I'll have a patch, ya think ? Or would it be better to till it first? I can get a tiller real easy. I'm not kiddin', there are real sea shells here just below the very thin layer of topsoil. They are of course hundreds of years old, but they are there. This place is called the "sand ridge", it goes from just a few miles south of here to about 50 miles north. All sugar sand, ideal for orange groves, but not much else. Now, east a couple of miles is a rich brown/black muck, that is big time rich soil, the caladium capital of the world, and some farming not too far away.
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Post by azlonerider on Jan 4, 2011 23:47:37 GMT -4
RR, check local landscaping companies, many of them sell composted material from an organic source. The last 3 years I've bought 3 yards each year. This year I'm going to use the compost we've made and buy probably 4 yards of compost because I've expanded my garden.
I would till what you have, spread the cardboard and clippings, let it set for a season, ensuring it's moist then till it again.
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Post by rAcErRicK on Jan 5, 2011 0:02:27 GMT -4
Gotcha', thanks Andy. I'm sure I will eventually find a source for some good dirt. I know a lot of people, been here me whole life. Could get a small pickup load at the time from a lot of places. There are several commercial mulching places nearby too.
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Jan 5, 2011 0:18:23 GMT -4
You can never have too much organic matter, visit some farms and see about hauling off a bunch of their older manure that has been sitting in the sun for a year, most farms are glad to get rid of it, most have to pay someone to haul it away, lots and lots of mulch and straw tilled in as well. If you have a source for topsoil of some of the black gunky stuff, haul some in, or better yet, have a 10 wheeler load delivered.
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Post by Martin on Jan 5, 2011 2:00:57 GMT -4
You can never have too much organic matter..... You can on my windy mountain....stuff will blow over and uproot if there's too much compost/organic matter and the roots aren't well secured....not good!! LOL ~Martin
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Post by ☼ ЯÏĊk ☺ on Jan 5, 2011 7:38:22 GMT -4
just buy 1,200 'mater cages, a roll of twine, and a really big brick. MacGyver it. lol
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Jan 5, 2011 10:21:05 GMT -4
You can never have too much organic matter..... You can on my windy mountain....stuff will blow over and uproot if there's too much compost/organic matter and the roots aren't well secured....not good!! LOL ~Martin My garden would never last up on the cliff with you, you can thrust your arm halfway to your elbow in my garden after tilling.
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Post by lauriel on Jan 5, 2011 11:16:06 GMT -4
I have HEAVY clay soil here. I do all raised bed gardening. I go to all the construction sites and ask for the leftover wood pieces. I have 10 beds and have yet to buy any lumber for them. The city of fargo has compost for $10 a pickup load every spring and fall. I did haul in some clean fill dirt and mixed it 50-50 with the compost. I grow my potatoes in straw. I use plastic snow fence to make an enclosure and put down cardboard, then potatos ,cover with straw. When the grow out of the straw cover again. I do this until they start to bloom. I have also used garbage cans and 5 gal buckets the same way, just make sure you have good drainage. The potatoes are easy to harvest. You can also grow lots of things in 5 gal buckets, I get them free from a local grocery store bakery. A really good site for info on raised bed gardening is THE SQUARE FOOT GARDEN.
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Post by rAcErRicK on Jan 5, 2011 13:08:14 GMT -4
Thanks for the site and the info LaurieL, good stuff there.
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Post by ☼ ЯÏĊk ☺ on Jan 5, 2011 13:37:54 GMT -4
I tried the straw method in a HUGE tractor tire last year. I'll do it this season too. Worked great. Been using the tire for winter compost, come spring it'll thaw out quick and cook down fast, I hope. If not, I own a shovel.
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