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rlmeals

Garden washed out!!!

rlmeals
12 years ago

Hi, y'all! I'm a newbie, and I don't even know where to BEGIN to search for the answer here, I'm just hoping y'all can help me save my garden!!! We had torrential rains here a couple weeks ago that pretty much washed out my entire garden, ugh. So now I know it's probably too late "technically" to plant, but would I be wasting my seeds if I went ahead and started more and transplanted them in the garden after it dries out (it's literally a big mud pit right now)? I've also thought about changing it to a container garden, just forgetting about the plowed land and planting in pots or a raised bed, or anything else I can find. Really, I just don't know what to do at this point. This is my first garden since I was very young...and even then, I just helped, so I never really knew how to do all that stuff. I was desperate to have a garden this year because we're trying to eat clean and our food bill is way too high. Please help!

The varieties I have are as follows (they're all heirloom seeds):

Calabrese Broccoli

Provider Bean (green bean)

Green Oakleaf Lettuce

Scarlet Nantes Carrots

Yellow of Parma Onions

California Wonder Pepper (green bell)

Green Arrow Pea

Hale's Best Melon Cantaloupe

Early Jalapeno Pepper

Chris Cross Watermelon

Amish Paste Tomato

Reid's Yellow Dent Corn

I'm sorry if these newbie questions have been answered, I'm hoping I'm not being annoying coming in here like this, but I sure would love any help y'all could give me!

Comments (8)

  • bi11me
    12 years ago

    It is never too late to plant, you just have to plant the right things at the right time. The thing you need to address first is the drainage issue that got you to this point, because you are likely to see a few more hard rains between the next planting and the subsequent harvest. It may be that your garden is in the wrong place, or that your soil conditions aren't optimal, or that you need more organic matter or raised beds, but there is no point in replanting until you fix the underlying problem - washing out is just the symptom of what really needs to be corrected.

  • Edymnion
    12 years ago

    Yeah, that was my biggest concern as well. If it flooded after one heavy rain, it is going to flood after EVERY heavy rain. Replanting will just end in failure next time there's a cloud buster that ruins it all over again.

  • rlmeals
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Okay, thank y'all. I'm all for doing a raised bed, I have another area I can put it in. I was using an existing garden spot that my in-laws have used for years with no problem. I thought the reason it washed out was maybe because the plants hadn't been in the ground but for just a few days when it rained. I can move the garden, or do containers, or make a raised bed, I just didn't know if I could restart all these seeds again and still plant a decent garden this late in the season (since many things needed to be planted from early Feb to mid-March).

  • ltilton
    12 years ago

    Your best bets are the beans, tomatoes, peppers, melons. Corn doesn't transplant too well and the other stuff are cool season crops that will probably not do well in the heat of TX, once you'll be able to get them in the ground.

    Save them for fall.

  • harveyhorses
    12 years ago

    Wow sorry about your garden.
    I went for raised beds for just that reason. I am just west of Richmond Va, close to the river, so we get some storms rolling through that are just amazing. Last night, 1 1/2 in almost two hours. 5 miles away they got 1/4 inch. Now that I have started them, I love them, but they fit my needs. Good luck!

  • Edymnion
    12 years ago

    You can also look specifically for strains with short maturation lengths. They're usually fairly easy to spot with things like "Early Bird" tacked onto the name somewhere. Just check the seed packets or look online, the fewer days required to maturity, the better.

    Although at this point its still early enough to just replant everything and still be more or less okay.

  • nancyjane_gardener
    12 years ago

    I think there's a Texas gardening forum here someplace. You might check it out. Nancy

  • elisa_z5
    12 years ago

    Don't give up!
    Great advice already on here. I'd add the possibility of using mulch -- straw or hay or whatever you can get your hands on. I always lay lots of hay over my potato rows (after they're hilled) and when my neighbors have been washed away, mine stay put.

    Good luck -- the growing season is very young and you should be able to solve this.