-
Drainage – My garden Cesspool.
I’m not sure if it was the mucky shplucky smell, the dead zone, the disease on my tomatoes or the lake under the bean tunnel that give it away. But it has become very apparent that the garden has drainage issues. On our sloped lot, most of the runoff cuts around the south side of the house through the garden before making it down to the street and eventually into the Neuse River. The garden sits in a low spot that retains the water on its downward track. Considering we’ve had several years of drought, I figured it would be good that it served as a catch basin during storms;…
-
Preparing the Soil in Raised Beds
If you haven’t already added compost to your soil for the upcoming season, now might be a good time to do so while it is unseasonably warm and the soil is workable. In raised beds, getting soil tested may not be necessary if you are using more topsoil, compost and supplements than the naturally occurring soil. Personally, I have not had my soils tested, but as I expand beyond the raised beds this year, I probably will. Last year, I had pretty good results with the combination I used in my raised beds. I took cues from “Square Foot Gardening” and from my pocketbook. Following is approximately what I used…
-
Container Gardening Tips
16″d, 20″w plastic pots and saucers from Big Lots: $11 ea. Last year I grew several containers of tomatoes and peppers. The Anaheim, Cayenne, and Jalapeño peppers (in 10” deep pots) did great. The Patio Tomato (in a 16” deep pot) was very bushy, produced well and didn’t need vertical support, but the birds often beat me to the crop. The better boys (in 12” deep wood barrels) were no good and gave me only 1 tomato, likely because they were planted too late and the roots needed deeper soil. This year I will be planting containers of Tomatoes (small varieties), Peppers (mixed variety), Onions, Lettuce, Garlic, Carrots, Potatoes and…
