My Ozarks garden

I officially have everything in the ground, 37 tomatoes, 8 okra, 8 different varieties of peppers, 3 zucchini/squash, many herbs and flowers (including a new milkweed patch), 14 cucumbers, 16 beans, 1 melon, a bed of strawberries, 6 asparagus starts, greens (spinach, lettuce, arugula and kale), onions, leeks and garlic. My sweet potato slips will be in and ready to be planted in late May and will go in the empty bed made of landscaping blocks. I'll fill it with dirt in the next few weeks . Here's some pics!  Tonight we'll make more tomato cages and start clearing rocks and weeds from the garden in preparation for wood chip mulch and sawdust walkways.


I'm welcome to ideas for the area in the first and last pic, in and around the sweet potato bed. I may lose 3 tomato plants if I don't get it corrected quickly. It's not draining well and I'm seeing standing water after rain.  My thought was gypsum and heavy mulch.

Very nice!  As a newbie, I don't have much in the way of suggestions for you, just shared concern.  Given all the rain we have had in the Ozarks this winter/spring, we have had a fair amount of standing water as well in the last week.  

I heavily mulched my garden area with around 6" wood chips last fall/winter.  Given that it is elevated, it doesn't have standing water, and is definitely nicer to walk on.  However, when all of the surrounding soil is waterlogged, I expect that the soil under the wood chips is probably also waterlogged.  This was supported by my experience when I dug the mulch aside to build a bed, revealing saturated heavy clay.

I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be though.  I'm trying to look at it as an advantage, particularly if the mulch preserves the moisture in the soil for longer.

so pretty!!!
great idea with the pavers for sweet potatoes. I've been trying to grow in bags, didn't think about making a dedicated "hole" for them. excellent idea.

Beautiful gardens, and magnificent scenery. It looks like your water issue could be easily remedied with a Swale; you appear to have plenty of slope and space, a little redirection of water flow might fix the problem.

What a great looking garden!

Beautiful garden setup Heather, I'm going to second Dan's suggestion of creating a swale to keep water from flooding the beds.
I'm also going to suggest that you build mounds with the mulch around your tomato plants, the stalks will send out more roots into those and you can slowly build them up so there will always be tomato roots above any standing water.
We've gotten so much rain and over a longer period of time (Feb. and still coming in waves) than the 30 year historical records I have been keeping.
A swale doesn't have to be deep it is really better to have them wide, or you could use a line of straw bales which would give you not only the swale line but more planting area that is up off the soil proper.
And the bales will help condition the soil beneath them so it could be a win/win for you.

Redhawk

Thank you all so much. I wanted to wait and post pics once everything is nicely mulched and weeded, but just getting to this point was so much work that I wanted to show it off. I really appreciate the replies and compliments! I forgot that I also have snow peas and malabar spinach growing on my trellis'd arch in front of the stairway to the GH. The kids are excited for those to start producing, they like to eat them straight off the vine. I planted 9 snow peas this year in the hopes that enough will actually make it back to the house for me to make stir fry with.


I was hoping to start working on a solution to the water problem tonight, but we're getting slammed by a huge storm that will dump up to 3" of rain on us today.  It'll make for muddy work! Maybe I should just start digging a pond and throw some fish in it!  ;)  I wish I were experienced enough to know where to build the swale.  The area I've marked with a red line seems to be the best route, especially since the green line represents where I think most of the water may be coming into the swamped area from. It'll require A LOT of dirt work, tho. Anyone see a better route from the pics I've posted? I've posted another pic to help understand the layout of the slope coming into the tomato area.

Up against the bottom of that wall stays pretty murkey.. if you dig down the hole fills with water and doesn't drain. I'm considering a large area/row of "Turtlehead" plants and blue flag iris' since both like wetland conditions. I've also got some canna bulbs sitting in the garage that I'm going to throw in there tonight and cover with compost.  

Since your house sits on a rise, I would imagine that most of the water comes down that slope so If you built a shallow swale on the house side of your paver walk way and ran it with the bottom contour of that rise the house is built on, I think it would most likely solve the garden problem.

With all the storms we are going to be getting for the next 4 to 6 days, it would be better to wait to try earth works but if you can get some straw bales you could do a line of those and at least slow down the water.
Our ground is already so saturated the best we can do right now is either divert or slow down water flows (I live on the third ridge of the Ouachita Mountains, right off the Trail of Tears).

If you can't get bales and should you have enough mulch or compost on hand, you could use that to lay down a temporary berm, that would help and it would be faster and easier than digging in wet soil.

Redhawk

I wanted to wait and post pics once everything is nicely mulched and weeded, but just getting to this point was so much work that I wanted to show it off.  

Thanks for not waiting. That is a beautiful garden as it is. One of things I enjoy most about this site is before & after pictures of projects like this. I especially like the arched garden entry. Let us know how it all turns out. Looks like it will do very well if the rains don't interfere too much for too long.

Oh man, what a gorgeous area you get to call home, Redhawk!  I'd love to visit the Ozark National Forest soon, Arkansas has so much natural beauty. We love to hike, fish and camp, but with 3 kids, 2 dogs, full time jobs, a garden and all that goes in between, it's hard to get away.  We have a place on Tablerock lake, which is only about 40 minutes from our house, that we like to get away to and spend time fishing, jet-skiing and swimming.

Good plan for now with the straw bales. I've got 3 bales right now, I can have my husband pick up a few more today on his way home. I've also got an entire dump bed load of composting wood chips..

It's hard to see on the picture, but I had them build a wide swale when constructing the retaining wall, exactly as you've described. In the pic looking towards the house, it's where the green grass meets the yellow straw and it's about 6-8' wide, very shallow. It works really well to catch and route everything running off the yard.  The problem is that it doesn't catch the runoff garden-side of the flower bed. There's a good 10' slope leading right into the garden. That's where I'll try to focus my swale once everything dries out.  For now, in addition to the straw bale diversion, I''m gonna go periodically remove standing water around the tomato plants with my shop vac!!!  

Mike Barkley wrote:

I wanted to wait and post pics once everything is nicely mulched and weeded, but just getting to this point was so much work that I wanted to show it off.  

Thanks for not waiting. That is a beautiful garden as it is. One of things I enjoy most about this site is before & after pictures of projects like this. I especially like the arched garden entry. Let us know how it all turns out. Looks like it will do very well if the rains don't interfere too much for too long.

I'll plan on keeping this thread alive throughout the season! My next big project, aside from the water issue, is getting the area fenced off to keep the deer and dogs out. Most of the infrastructure is there, just need to re-set a few corner posts and put it all back up. The chickens will be happy to be able to roam the garden area! Speaking of that, I've considered instead of letting them roam and having to fence off areas they should stay out of, simply building runs all the way around the side and back perimeters of the garden instead. Then they could eat all the bugs making their way in and out and keep the fence line free of weeds!

Seconding Redhawk's thoughts on straw bales, you can use them to divert the water where you think you might need to put a swale, and move them around until you figure out where is best, then places your swales accordingly. Gives you both current flood protection and data to work with. And a pond might not be a bad idea, the dry seasons here are just as weird as the flood seasons.

LOVELY LOVELY work you have done!! My compliments!!

After sitting and staring at my swamp area for hours, studying the lay of the land and spot checking holes for seeping water, I got busy on what I hope is the best solution.  Against the wall, I planted perennials that like wet feet (iris', elephant ears, canna bulbs, calla lillies, and a few others I picked up at a local nursery). When planting, instead of digging a hole, I sat the plants on top of the existing soil and built up the bed using compost and wood chips, then lined it with leaves so to keep down weeds. They all seem happy so far.  For the remaining area I forked the soil where possible, spread gypsum pellets, then added about 4" of compost, 6" of straw, and another 2-3" of rotting wood chips that were crawling with earthworms. I won't use the area this year for any plantings, but instead keep adding layers of organics and browns and hoping it permeates the clay underneath so it'll begin draining properly. If it doesn't work, I'm not out anything but time and organics and I'll dig a french drain next spring to take the excess water out the back. I also have a plan for a swale up above the area, but it'll require a lot of dirt and time, so it's on the to-do list.

Please excuse my poor quality pics, I'd rather buy plants than a new phone/camera!  As you can kinda see, the tomatoes all got a big dose of mulch!

Hey friends! Ive been lurking around for a while, silently working on our home and gardens, cooking and eating lots of food and spending time with family..

I'm really wanting to put a plan together for some new bee hives this spring, but bees may be ambitious for this year, as I've got a couple more things I want to get done first.

Looking back at this thread reminds me of where the area started! It's crazy to look out and see the transformation. We got the fence up, which we're super proud of, and finally finished the hoophouse. Ill try to take some new pics and update my thread here.

I'm getting ready to start a few seedlings - onions, leeks and lettuces.  I've also got a yard or two of compost that needs moved today.

What's everyone else do in the winter?

We had a pretty big 2020 around the homestead. We had a large shop built (in the background), for which we ran all the electric and water, we built ourselves a 10'x10' garden shed, built a garden perimeter fence and lined it with buried hardware cloth for maximum predator protection and finally got our low tunnel put up so that I can use it for greens and starting seeds.

I've still got some final touches to do, but it's coming together. In the pics, you can kinda see a solution for the water intrusion problem I posted about earlier in this thread. I built a Swale, using limestone rocks, tons of new soil and planted bulbs to line the front of the garden fence.

Oh, and we got a new doggy - Kaiser. He's our second GSD and I just love him to pieces.

Hi Heather,
Just wanted to say your garden is looking really good to me.  And that looks like a happy dog!  Sounds like you-all have been doing a LOT of work and some great investments, including in hardware cloth.    We are in mid-west-northern Arkansas.  Hope you have a really great garden this year!

Y'all have worked hard on these projects. BZ and a hand salute to y'all! It looks real good and you should be proud!
I was thinking of having bees as well. I was just going to make a few top bar hives, scent them with scout bee attractant and secure them in a tree 8 or 10 feet off the ground. I wasn't going to bother them, just let them do their thing. I'm not as much interested in honey as I am preserving honey bees...yet.

I attacked water flow with a pool with inlet and outlet, and a number of 'channels' to get the water away.

Hey y'all! I've been MIA for too long, but a resolution of mine this year is to spend more time on the Permies forum and less time anywhere else on the internet. :)

I've been busy, as usual. The greenhouse got a double layer of poly with a blower in between the layers. It's working nicely, and is currently keeping us stocked with more greens than we're eating. Starting onion, leek and a few other seeds is on the list for this month.

Another project I'm planning is building a screen for sifting wood ash from our wood fireplace. I currently use the ash for the chicken dust bath and on the driveway and walkways as needed. I've found that my husband likes to chop our wood in very big pieces and doesn't often cut me any smaller pieces to get the fire started, so I'm going to start collecting the little pieces of charcoal from the ash and use them as fire starters. I'm also considering learning how to make soap, but that's not on the books, officially, yet.

In the coming months, I'll be adding a bee hive in the garden. We have a great little place in our hometown that does bee classes each spring and has an army of mentors. I'm really excited about it. Beekeeping for Dummies is my current reading matierial!

On the list today - build a flat carrier of sorts to put on the tractor forks so I can take the trash down to the bottom of our driveway to be collected, without having to lift them into the back of the truck. With my 40th birthday coming up, my back just doesn't deal with those heavy, dead lifts anymore.

Michael Moreken wrote:I attacked water flow with a pool with inlet and outlet, and a number of 'channels' to get the water away.

Nice! I'd love to see a pic!

It's hard to believe my water problem was only a year ago!  Since then, I've managed it by adding gypsum and LOTS of organic material to the boggy spots. I also got a lot of water loving plants established and they seem to soak up much of the runoff before it gets to the garden. And in true "me" fashion, I went ahead and created another problem when I cleared another area (50'x40') that is sloped that I'm planning raised beds on. My solution (for now) is to dig a french drain ditch at the top and run it down the sides (messing with the idea of water collection at the bottom, but we'll see. We've got a ton of leftover pvc from our shop project, and after that, we learned just how easy running water lines really is.

Heather, since you're so busy, and planning (as am I) to start beekeeping, this year, you might be interested in this thread, too! I'm finding it very interesting, and frankly, think it will be far more doable than conventional beekeeping,  at least for me. https://permies.com/wiki/140839/Keeping-Bees-Smile-Fedor-Lazutin