23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
just keep this in mind ...
rototilling sand into clay.. is just about making cement ... or adobe bricks ...
when it rains like heck.. where does the water go.. IN the soil ... or runs away???
dont foget.. for vining type plants like you note ... you can make a small bed of good soil ... and use the sand area for the vines .... if you get my drift
your cheapest alternative.. might be to get a yard or two of good soil delivered.. and move it back there... and make a raised bed of about 12 inches after it settles....which might mean putting 15 to 18 inches to allow settling ...
many of the things listed above.. can nickle and dime you into spending much more.. than you ever intend.. by the time you collect it all ...
but.. if you can find it for free.. and have a truck.. and add you own free labor.. many good suggestions above . ..
but all that said... just plant some seeds in spring... who knows ... maybe this is much to do about nothing.. since we can see.. smell.. feel your soil ... and you might be making a mountain out of a mole hill .. it gets tricky when we rely on the words of a neophyte ... when making presumptions ...
but it all starts with that perk test...
ken
ps: yes.. many of us.. can smell a good or bad soil .... go figure ... a soil that does not drain well... will have a rotting smell... swamp like ....
PPS: btw... while you are perking.. make a snowball of the soil ... it should hold together for a moment or two.. and then start decompressing.. and fall apart... i call that.. a friable soil ... crumbly .... and what follows.. is that water flows thru it .... and that will confirm the perk test ... why havent you done it yet ....???
Here is a link that might be useful: link
Thanks ib is the perk test today is about an hour for the water to drain from about a 12 inch hole good? I think I'm gonna scrape some of the sand off and add organic matter then add more in the spring and till. Thanks for all the help. Also I heard that planting hot peppers along with other veggies will help deter rabbits. There aren't too many rabbits around here but I see them every now and then. I don't want to have to put o'l thumper on the dinner table if u get what I'm sayin. I have a dog too which helps keep them away, but that brings me to my next point. The past couple years we've had moles in our yard and our dog goes crazy trying to get them so he digs a lot. How can I deter him and the moles from the garden as well especially since I am planting some root veggies like carrots and onions. I'm more worried about the dog getting in there but getting the moles away would be good too
The variety is the main contributing factor - different varieties have different genetic markers for thinner or thicker walls. The growing conditions provided is the next biggest factor. Inconsistent soil moisture levels, in ground vs. in containers, nutrients provided, and ambient air temp extremes can all contribute to the wall thickness as the peppers mature. Those you buy at the store are usually grown in very different environments than yours given your location.
Many growers prefer the thinner walled peppers so it is a personal preference.
Dave
If you pick the peppers too early they'll also be thin walled. I've had the thin walled problem too, so this year I put my peppers under plastic mulch and was careful to water them enough. The first peppers I harvested were bitter and thin, I finally figured out that I was picking them too young. Once they matured they had thick walls and were very sweet, better than anything I've ever bought at the store. I planted a rainbow mix from Peaceful Valley so I could compare. The orange peppers were the sweetest, but they were all pretty good.
Some growers here in zone 6 use shade cloth to protect peppers from full sun. I was prepared to cover mine but they didn't need it. In zone 9 though, you might want to consider it.
Had similar issue in spring with lettuce - ended up to be an army worm. Just one - but it killed a plant a day. I went through the top half inch of the soil with my fingers and found it dreaming near still alive plant. Killed it - and damage stopped.
I have seen English gardeners planting parsnips in cardboard tubes (toilet tissue or paper towel tubes) and transplanting those to the garden. Seems like it should work because the tube would protect the taproot from disturbance during transplanting.
I plant the germinating seeds in a prepared bed over which I am likely to place a cloth shade cover for a few days. Sometimes I also place strips of wet newspaper between the rows to prevent weeds for the first few weeks. Even with pre-germinating the seeds, it takes a few weeks for the stand to establish well.
Many say you can't transplant rutabagas, but that's not true, either.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I looked up everything you guys/gals posted. Next year I am going to go with everything I planted this year because I have leftover seeds and I am happy with the melons they produced. I am also planning on adding Ali Baba, Yellow Moon And Stars, and Charleston Gray to the list for next year. I wish I had room for more :). Yellow Moon And Stars looks so beautiful, I can't wait to try it.
This post was edited by Christacharlene on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 23:45
Thanks every one for all the info.
So, I planted some of the winter leafy stuff, first time doing winter garden. I am in Dallas. Early September, we had a week when night temps dipped down into 60s. After that i planted these things. Since then day temps have been up and down, highs between 80s - 90s, but the night temps have been in high 50s to low 60s.
Over the first 3 weeks of September I planted various kales/collards, spinach, cabbage, mustards, Chinese cabbage, broccolli etc. The only things that germinated were radishes, turnips, beets. Most others did not germinate at all. Thinking that i planted them too deep, I replanted most of them, not so deep this time. Since then, a few things have germinated very sparsely. In 3-4 weeks since germination, none of them have really grown much. Most don't even have the first set of true leaves.
Cause?: Is this temperature related? Or may be this is normal. Should I plant some more seeds when the temps go down or the ones that are already in the ground will germinate then. The first frost will be around Nov 15.
thanks.
Lets get this straight:
OP ordered seeds , not seedlings. So the first ID of any onion family seeds is BLACK color, rough shaped. It does not mater what color, variety of onion.
SECOND:
It is probably too late to start onions from seeds in zone 7. It should have been sown like 40 days ago, to germinate and grow a little and overwinter.
THIRD:
You have to order the right variety for your LATITUDE.
There 3 kinds of onions: (1) Short Day (Like for way down south) . (2) Intermediate Day: where longest days are 14-15 hours (that would be like central USA) (3) Long Day: where summer days are Very long, like in northern states and Canada. Onion growing is more tricky than one might think.
I would personally plant onion plants in the spring time (sold at BBS in bunches like scallions).
I would suggest that you post in "Alliums Forum" for more expert ideas.
It can be done, IFF it has not been for a long time: If vinegar has penetrated into the peppers already it cannot be reversed.
== drain the liquid
== rinse with distilled water
== make brine with ditilled water ( 3 TBS sea salt in one quart of distilled water"
ADDITIONALY, add plain yogurt whey to get is started quicker. Yougur whey has "Lactic Acid", produced by the batcerium called "Lactobacillus ". So adding yogurt whey you are in fact introducing lacto fermentation culture.
JMO
Zackey, that's true, commercial citrus was all over central FL. We tested the new garden site at a lakeside place a few years ago and it was oddly high in copper (though not toxically high) until one remembers copper sulfate's use as a fungicide. It was very high as compared to normal for central fl sand (almost zero).
Our property was a cow pasture before we moved here. My hubby doesn't want to soil test and I do. An on going battle.They mixed all kinds of soil in and took down trees. Built up our lot with soil removed to make the neighbors pond. God only know what we have.
Our temps are supposed to (finally) drop out of the 80s!
I still have to put several beds to rest. I keep a couple with radish and greens etc, but compost and cover several and try to clean up the weeds, which kinda got out of control this year! Nancy
About 50% of our veggie gardens are now at rest though there are still a few sickly tomato and eggplants hanging on. The other 50% is now fall crops. If winter doesn't come on too strong or too quickly here we'll have some nice broc, cabb, peas, asst greens and root crops going until Dec, ending with carrots into Feb. Just have to keep one step ahead of the deer.
Ground nests are fairly easy to deal with, provided they are not adjacent to anything flammable. Go out at night with some rubbing alcohol, a stout metal bucket/bowl/kettle, and some matches. Quickly dump the alcohol into the hole, stand back, and throw a match to light it. Once lit, quickly tamp the metal container of your choice over the hole, pressing it into the soil to seal the edges. The flames will deplete the oxygen, which along with the hot fumes, will kill the nest.
Also what type of pests you have in your area. We have zillions of gophers, so we have to do raised beds (for example)
Rabbits, gophers, voles, etc etc etc Nancy
Look into square foot gardening and/or EarthBoxes if you are just starting out. These are easy entry points into veggie gardening that are well documented and will get you hooked.
Here is one of my 4'x4' SFG beds that I planted out in early September. Bringing in excellent greens from it right now: