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  • ray22

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    Would really depend on the type of soil you have but long leaf greens do well. Tomatoes and strawberries are a favorite of mine.
     

    Charlie

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    'Top of the hill, Kerr County!
    Asparagus takes a while to get started but nothing beats home garden asparagus, especially the fact you can break some off to eat and they'll regrow back to eatin' size in a week or less! Saute'ed in butter .................... hmmmm!
     

    mitchntx

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    Jan 15, 2012
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    The wife and I put this together last year.

    http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/off-topic-chat/46309-busy-busy-week.html

    Had really good luck, although I the the placement was a bad choice.

    In May we had a tornado and hail storm come through and basically stripped a tree immediately west of the garden spot.
    Once the tree was removed, the garden spot was in full sun from about 1100 till 1900.

    Not good for tomatoes.

    But squash and peppers did well.
     

    Elbe

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    Jan 12, 2012
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    San Antonio
    Get a soil test now from Texas A&M and then you know what you need to add to the soil to make it fertile. They make a little container where you collect a sample and send to their lab and they analyze it and mail you a report.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Get a soil test now from Texas A&M and then you know what you need to add to the soil to make it fertile. They make a little container where you collect a sample and send to their lab and they analyze it and mail you a report.

    Appreciate the suggestion. Im going to have to do some sort of raised bed or containers. We dont have much soil to speak of here.

    -Without Life there can be no Liberty-
     

    Elbe

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    I had a container garden too, but tore out the grass below and rented a tiller to turn over the soil. After the container sides were in, I put in a mixture of bagged soil and mushroom compost, mixed with the existing soil.

    I made the mistake of planting too many different items in too small a space. Container gardens can't hold much.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Basically, I have a small sunny backyard with poor/shallow soil.

    So it will either be raised beds or containers for me.

    Mitch, awesome gun safe.

    How did the vertical garden work out for you?
     

    Sapper740

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    I assume vegetable, not ornamental? I use raised beds filled with compost from Denton County which mixes sterilized biosolids with mulch and compost. They call it Dyno Dirt for good reason, vegetables thrive in this nutrient rich soil. Mix in nematodes to kill the grubs which will appear and add Actino-Iron as a natural fungicide to prevent root rot. These are all natural methods to boost both quality and quantity of your crops. Next, get a copy of Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening which is every Texas gardener's "Bible". My wife and I grow tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, Jalapenos, melons, squash, bell peppers and herbs every year and it's wonderful to have fresh veggies from the back yard. You'll need to put a chicken wire fence around the beds to keep the rabbits out and mosquito nets over the tomatoes to keep the birds off them when fruit appears.
     

    breakingcontact

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    I assume vegetable, not ornamental? I use raised beds filled with compost from Denton County which mixes sterilized biosolids with mulch and compost. They call it Dyno Dirt for good reason, vegetables thrive in this nutrient rich soil. Mix in nematodes to kill the grubs which will appear and add Actino-Iron as a natural fungicide to prevent root rot. These are all natural methods to boost both quality and quantity of your crops. Next, get a copy of Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening which is every Texas gardener's "Bible". My wife and I grow tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, Jalapenos, melons, squash, bell peppers and herbs every year and it's wonderful to have fresh veggies from the back yard. You'll need to put a chicken wire fence around the beds to keep the rabbits out and mosquito nets over the tomatoes to keep the birds off them when fruit appears.

    Nice, thanks for the info.

    I definitely want to keep it natural.

    Vegetables. I have no use for fancy flowers.
     

    Sapper740

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    This Spring my wife and I will plant heirloom seeds for the first time so we can acquaint ourselves with the process of harvesting seeds from each year's crop to plant the next. To date, and as far as I know GURT (Genetic Use Restriction Technology) aka "Suicide Seeds" has not been commercialized yet but the U.S.D.A. and international seed companies keep pushing it's adoption. What better way to control the sheeple than by absolute control over the food supply so that one cannot re-propagate vegetables?
     

    breakingcontact

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    Sapper ill order that garden book you mentioned.

    What kind of wood and fasteners should I use to build the raised beds? Treated wood and galvanized hardware sounds bad for food I want to eat.
    I'm going to need a lot of dirt but it looks like you got special dirt. I'm thinking a truck or trailer load an not a million 40 pounds bags.


    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
     

    Mexican_Hippie

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    It's best to start amending the soil before you plant. Do the test kit from A&M and plant some cover crops to get some organic material into your beds before you start planting.

    It can freeze up until the start of April in north Texas.

    I plant lavender and other flowers in throughout the open spaces to attract predators and also help deter bugs.
     

    HighplainsMudder

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    Jan 14, 2014
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    Lubbock
    Marigolds and garlic also help with the bugs. Okra, squash, bell peppers, blackeye peas, green beans, red beans, tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, radish. Wife isn't into canning yet but we put a lot in freezer for the winter. You can run cantaloupes and cucumbers up on trestles, lol..even ran watermelons up once but you have to build a bra under them to support them. FYI you can start carrots late and pick thru the winter along with onions. Enjoy
     

    Sapper740

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    Sapper ill order that garden book you mentioned.

    What kind of wood and fasteners should I use to build the raised beds? Treated wood and galvanized hardware sounds bad for food I want to eat.
    I'm going to need a lot of dirt but it looks like you got special dirt. I'm thinking a truck or trailer load an not a million 40 pounds bags.


    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
    You won't regret purchasing that book. We buy our raised beds from Orcaboard.com which is plastic lumber made from recycled milk jugs and is 100% toxin free and are guaranteed for 50 years. Their beds are 4' X 8' X 5 1/2" which works out to slightly less than 2 cu. yds. per. I built a large plywood box to put on my autohauler trailer to save money by buying in bulk from the Denton County compost sales, I'm sure Travis Co. woud have something similar. We've been adding one bed a year as we learn what grows well in North Texas and expected yields. Good luck!
     

    Sapper740

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    It's best to start amending the soil before you plant. Do the test kit from A&M and plant some cover crops to get some organic material into your beds before you start planting.

    It can freeze up until the start of April in north Texas.

    I plant lavender and other flowers in throughout the open spaces to attract predators and also help deter bugs.
    Have you found an effective method of controlling Horn-worm infestations? We plant flowering herbs to attract braconid Wasps but it doesn't work. Hand-picking is effective but time consuming and nasty.
     
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