Patricia Hooton

Thank you for all the information and suggestions. I am in coastal NC (but I do not have sandy soil.

Jami McBride wrote:Yes, do put large wood pieces at the bottom of your bed, but do not put in wood chips. Instead save the chips for topping off the soil in the bed after the plants have reached a few inches well above the soil and chips. 6 - 8" in total height is good.
The wood you put in should be seasoned (aged/old) so as to not draw to much nitrogen from the surrounding soil and plants.

For my first bed on the farm I went around and topped the old tree stumps left by previous land owners. These were well seasoned and worked perfectly. If you don't have access to this type of thing you can advertise in Craigslist as mentioned, that you will haul aged wood laying on the ground. Many people do not like downed branches and logs that have been left to long exposed to the soil for burning in a fireplace/stove, so they just make a burn pile out of them. Sometimes even just driving around and asking can land you a great haul.

You can also add some sand and aged manures or compost to extend the soil volume. I have lots of clay, that's all my soil is.... so I added clay, sand and aged manure to a bit of purchased garden soil extending it 4x - add whole wood in the bottom and a lot of garden beds can be made. I also dressed the top of my beds with aged wood chips I had dumped free on site. If I see a tree service I stop and talk them into dumping at my place

Thanks, I have access to all of that. My problem is clay too. Which is why I am using the raised beds. Our vegetable garden are was getting flooded, and retaining way to much water to where plants were rotting. The beds we had last year worked very well, but trying to cut down cost - didn't think about using the trees that had been left by the loggers!

Casie Becker wrote:I second that suggestion. Also, if you've got transportation you might try looking or posting a request for soil/chips/manure on craigslist. Took less than 24 hours for my family to be contacted by a small horse breeder (small operation, large horses) when we were looking for manure.

I see posts offering 'fill' frequently on craigslist Combine that with manure and give it a little time to settle, you'd be above the quality of most 'top soil' that is sold these days.

I actually have a lot of manure. Added both horse an chicken manure to the last beds up until December, and have just been turning them until planting time (mid February), so figure it is not enough time to do that with the new beds..Perhaps I could fill with manure, wait until my summer planting and add some soil.

Our soil has a lot of clay, and compacts which is why I didn't want to use it. Last year I combined manure with vermiculite, potting soil and peat moss.

Adding logs instead sounds great. We just purchased 25 acres that had been logged, so there is a lot of partially rotted wood on that land!

We currently have 2 raised beds, and are going to add a couple more this year. Last year because we were not composting, I had to buy soil to put in the raised beds - It was quite expensive! This year we have done some composting, but not enough to fill two new beds. I was reading that in order to reduce the amount of soil needed, you can fill the bottom to have way up, with empty water and soda bottles....Has anyone done this? Pros/Cons etc.

Thanks Bill. We are right at the Pitt/Craven line. There is a lot of clay content on our property. The drainage ditch that I talk about is actually Swift Creek, but at the Pitt county end it is really just a drainage ditch. Hoping we can figure out an economical way of at least starting a little pond!

I hope we can. Need to find someone in the area that can tell me what we would need to do, and hoping it isn't too expensive!

There isn't anything to dam....This is a spot that fills up a bit with run off, and that has a couple of puddles that always stay full. I am wondering if we dig down to the water table if it would fill up.

Has your pond stayed full over the last year? I know we have had a lot of rain over the last few months...

Well, I am going to do some reading on using pigs...I have been talking to my husband about raising some pigs, so maybe this is the time to do it. Wonder how many pigs it would take for an area 2-3 acres.

We recently bought 25 acres that surrounds our existing 25 acres. The land was logged about a year ago, and has been left to grow up on its own. I am really wanting to have a pond on the property, but wondering about the feasibility of it...I know cost is expensive. So...I am wondering what possible ways of doing it are. The back corner of the property (about 2-3 acres is in a bit of a valley (our property is very flat!). We are in eastern NC. Anyhow, there are a couple of spots in that area that always have puddles. Over the last few weeks we have had quite a bit of rain, so more of the area is covered in water - some areas are 2-3 feet deep. There are no natural creeks in the area - just a large drainage ditch about 200 feet away, and down hill from this area.

I got thinking about it, because we went fishing/kayaking at a friends swamp/pond area. It is an area that has been flooded by beavers, and covers about 30 or so acres. There were some small drainage ditches that the beaver had dammed up.

SO my question is, would it be possible to flood the low lying area with ground water? Or how could we make it into a pond or swamp area at a reasonable cost...

I have attached pictures of the area.

Any suggestions would be great.