Jacob Myers

I have a 4ft x 13ft raised bed that has quite a few fire ants in it. I don't see any mounds, though the soil is heavily mulched with leaves so maybe the mounds hidden? I'm wondering if I should let the fire ants be or try to remove them. I haven't planted my seeds/transplants into the garden yet but will very soon. I want all the beneficial insects, so I hesitate to use something like diatomaceous earth all over the bed. What should I do?

-Paranoid in Texas

Hi, I am new to gardening. I'm trying to make transplants indoors and found a cool diy project to make a self-watering container using wicking (drawing the water up into the seed containers). My question is, is this a less-than-ideal way to water the seedlings? I've been reading that plants like deep, infrequent waterings rather than a continuous supply like this would provide. But do deep, infrequent waterings apply to seedlings and baby plants as they do to plants out in the garden?

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like in my situation, I will be needing a fence. Chicken wire and branches I've hauled from the woods next to me will be cheap enough. My yards too small to plant a decoy growth area. I also will be transplanting, but only for the varieties that really require it (tomatoes, etc).

One more thing. I may make a new thread for this since it is so critical, but I just realized that here at the beginning of February, where I set up my raised garden gets total shade from the house after 2:30 pm I feel like an idiot for making the bed here. But, is there still hope? I am in Dallas, TX, so the sun will be pretty intense soon, and I think by late March, my bed will probably get about 5 hours of solid sun (10am-3pm) and dappled sun earlier in the morning. Is this enough for tomatoes? Or will this bed only be useful for kale, broccoli, and other partial-shade tolerant plants?

Thanks.

I am a complete newbie (though I've read a lot) on gardening. I have made a 4'x13' raised bed out of recycled products filled with old horse manure, mulched leaves, and soil. Now that I am about to plant, I am considering many options, and don't know which ones are worth doing.

1. I live right next to the woods and have a ton of squirrels, raccoons, etc. Should I invest in a fence for the raised bed (ie chicken wire), or is this probably unnecessary?
2. Is it worth growing indoors and transplanting into the garden? I've been told the spring growing season in Dallas is short due to hot weather coming early and transplanting is invaluable.

Please let me know your thoughts.

So I dug the foot or so into the ground for the garden bed yesterday. Now I understand why people like no-till gardening so much! It must have taken me 6 hours I'll pretty much be using Mike's plan to fill the bed back in. I did read this though:

The soil in most of Texas is clay with a high pH level and is hence alkaline.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6006056_soil-ph-factors-texas.html

So, I'll be skipping the lime treatment. Less to buy
The layers will look like this:

-TOP-
Leaves 2"
Compost 1-2" (either buy or use my month old compost pile - probably a mix of my compost and some bags of vermicompost)
Topsoil 2"

-REPEAT-
Leaves/Lime 1-2"
Subsoil 1"
-END REPEAT-

Newspaper 1/4-1"
Manure 1'
-BOTTOM-

I'll start another thread on what I plan to plant. Y'alls suggestions are really helpful.

Thanks Mike. That was very helpful, particularly about the lime with the leaves. I think many of the leaves I'm using are from oak trees, so I'm sure I'll be picking some lime up

Now, the manure I have is pretty well composted, but the leaves are recently freshly shredded, and the lime will be fresh when laid as well. How long should I wait to plant after making the bed? Should I plant a cover crop for a season perhaps to get things settled a bit?

What percentage of manure would be considered safe? Currently, I have manure and mulched leaves (and a little bit of compost early in its decomposition). Surely, this isn't enough variety to fill the bed, even if I dig up and mix in the soil as I build the bed up. What would be a good addition to these ingredients to 'balance things out'?

Thanks for the replies. They've been very helpful. The manure I have seems to be very far along in the decomposition process. It pretty much looks like dark, loamy soil, smells like earthy soil, and parts even had grass/weeds growing on it. But good point on the weed seeds! I will definitely bury it. I probably won't bury wood under this bed though as it is 10 feet from the house, and I don't want a termite infestation! I will use this concept on the next bed I do about 35 feet from the house. A few questions I have:

First, is a pH test valuable when I'm adding in so much foreign material? What if I tested the soil, it came back fine, but all the leaves I throw in make the soil acidic? Wouldn't I have to wait until the 'new' soil has settled in, then do tests?

Second, should I try to get more diverse materials to throw in? Just horse manure, soil, leaves, and my tiny compost pile seems like limited ingredients (and grass later when people are mowing there lawns).

Third, there were a few fire ants in the horse manure I brought in. Should I take any preventative measures to prevent infestation?

Fourth, approximately how much water will I be using to water this bed in the heat of summer in Dallas, TX, growing very dense amounts of veggies? Again, the garden bed is 48 sq ft. I ask because I am about to buy rain barrels which will hopefully provide for all the water needed for my garden/compost pile. The containers are 275 gallon each. I understand this is highly variable. Ballpark estimates are fine.

Fifth, is it possible to plant things in this come late Feb/early March? Should I bypass the spring growing season, and throw in a cover crop like crimson clover to further prepare the soil for the summer crop?

Thanks!

Thanks!

Hi, I've never planted a thing in my life, so I'm a bit overwhelmed right now. I finished reading Gaia's Garden, am halfway through "How to Grow More Vegetables..." - John Jeavons and halfway through "All New Square Foot Gardening" -Mel Bartholomew. About Me:

*live in a small suburban lot in Dallas, TX
*starting with one small raised bed (4'x12'x1')
*doing intensive gardening
*goal to spend no $$

I'm currently trying to prepare my bed's soil. Regarding soil concerns, I have access to:

* tons of free 2-3 month old horse manure (lucky, I Know )
* assorted mulched leaves, not sure what types, just started converting to leaf mold
*some rotting wood/tons of twigs/branches (but I don't want to wait a year before being able to plant, tying up nitrogen is a concern)
*newly composting fruits/veggies/urine (only a couple weeks along).
*current topsoil in bed, which seems to be somewhat loamy up to 3-4 inches down, then turns to red clay. I mixed it with water and softener, and when it settled it appeared to be 1/3 sand, 1/3 silt (or a little less), 1/3 clay.

My understanding is that good soil is 1/3 humus, 1/3 organic matter (compost), 1/3 sand/silt/clay, based on the concept of Mel's Mix. My plan is to steal some topsoil from the woods (better than buying it bagged from a store?) , scrape off the top 3 inches of my topsoil from inside my bed, and use this combination as my topsoil element. I will then mix 2 parts topsoil to 1 part compost/horse manure. I will lay down newspaper, then fill the bed 9 inches with the topsoil mix (3 inches below ground to 6 inches above). The top 6 inches I will fill with leaf mulch/mold.

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Maybe instead I should just follow Gaia's Garden's "Ultimate Sheet Mulch" recipe? That is, use the existing soil, get a soil test, add amendments (which I'll have to buy :<), thin layer of manure, newspaper, thin layer of manure, 8/12 inches of organic matter (leaves/old horse manure?), 1-2 inches of compost, 2 inches of seedless mulch (more leaves?).

I've got a ton more questions, but I don't want to throw too many out at once.