Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I want to start my vegetable garden within the week and have a question about doing so in the clay soil that exists here. I do not want to go to the extent of a raised bed garden at this time, but would like to create planting beds in the shape of what will be raised bed gardens down the road. Is it possible to till the existing clay soil and add some amendments, yet be able to grow a successful crop of tomatoes, cukes and squash? As time goes by, I will build the sides around the gardens and add better soil as I can. Also, I am a bit behind and I am hoping it is not too late to plant such things in a week or two in our climate.
I want to start my vegetable garden within the week and have a question about doing so in the clay soil that exists here. I do not want to go to the extent of a raised bed garden at this time, but would like to create planting beds in the shape of what will be raised bed gardens down the road. Is it possible to till the existing clay soil and add some amendments, yet be able to grow a successful crop of tomatoes, cukes and squash? As time goes by, I will build the sides around the gardens and add better soil as I can. Also, I am a bit behind and I am hoping it is not too late to plant such things in a week or two in our climate.
have you considered planting in pots instead? A wine barrel 1/2 will do nicely for cukes and squash. Or you can grow them from hanging baskets.
I tried what you are talking about last year and had very little success. But I have a lot where all the good soil was taken by the developer.
I want to start my vegetable garden within the week and have a question about doing so in the clay soil that exists here. I do not want to go to the extent of a raised bed garden at this time, but would like to create planting beds in the shape of what will be raised bed gardens down the road. Is it possible to till the existing clay soil and add some amendments, yet be able to grow a successful crop of tomatoes, cukes and squash? As time goes by, I will build the sides around the gardens and add better soil as I can. Also, I am a bit behind and I am hoping it is not too late to plant such things in a week or two in our climate.
I think so as long as you break up the clay soil at least 6"-8" and mix in lots of compost. I made a small quick and dirty raised bed by digging into my clay soil and adding compost last year. I just mounded up the soil and don't have any rocks or wood retaining it in place. I had good success growing lettuce in the fall. Now I am using the same bed to grow herbs, cucumbers, tomatos, and a peony plant. The jury is still out on how well they do this summer but I am confident it will work out alright.
Once the plants are a little bigger I plan to cover the bed with some inexpensive hardwood mulch to help keep in the moisture during the hot and sunny months ahead. Here are a few pics of my quick and dirty herb garden.
Quick and easy raise bed made from breaking up clay earth and adding several bags of compost.
English Thyme
Flat Leaf Parsley
Italian Oregano
Bush type cucumber
Romaine Lettuce I grew in the fall in same location.
Nice garden! Also, take a look at the Square Foot Garden option. We have done that with major sucess to plant everything from flowers, to herbs to watermelons The nice thing about the SFG is that you don't have to dig up the soil and worry about what has been there in terms of pesticides, weed killers, fertilizers, etc. Everything will be organic. There is some start up cost specially with the vermiculate but it is so worth the time & money. The best way to grow pretty much anything IMO! And I don't have much of a green thumb...
have you considered planting in pots instead? A wine barrel 1/2 will do nicely for cukes and squash. Or you can grow them from hanging baskets.
I tried what you are talking about last year and had very little success. But I have a lot where all the good soil was taken by the developer.
I don't want much expense at first, so buying pots won't work. I want to start with something I can expand. Eventually, it will all be raised, but I want to do it a little at a time.
Update for those that are interested.
I created a small semi-raised bed garden.
I will make it deeper in the fall.
Starting the small garden late was not that big of a deal.
The plants grew fast and we have been eating cukes and squash already.
I have loads of tomatoes, but they are still green.
The only issue is the fast growth rate, combined with hot temps has been causing some blossom end rot.
I am trying to manage it the best I can with proper watering, but there will be some loss.
Next year should be better, as I expand the gardens and plant a little earlier.
We bought 1 bag of cheap soil from Walmart for about $1.97 and mixed it with our existing clay soil, right in the lawn, and planted 7 tomato plants. We're already having a bumper crop. If you can find tomato plants that are already grown (versus seeds), I think it'll work.
I want to start my vegetable garden within the week and have a question about doing so in the clay soil that exists here. I do not want to go to the extent of a raised bed garden at this time, but would like to create planting beds in the shape of what will be raised bed gardens down the road. Is it possible to till the existing clay soil and add some amendments, yet be able to grow a successful crop of tomatoes, cukes and squash? As time goes by, I will build the sides around the gardens and add better soil as I can. Also, I am a bit behind and I am hoping it is not too late to plant such things in a week or two in our climate.
We have done this for 10-15 years. Every few years we till the yard so that we create diagonally arranged furrows. We plant the vegetables at the crest of the furrows and the water stays longer at the dips in the furrows. We only have a .20 acre yard and our plot for vegetables was 10'x20'. It was easily a 1 day project. Are you going to start summer veggies now? You better get started quickly. But you may still have time for colder season varieties for the fall. Here is a larger scale version of what we did.
I know this is an old post, but you can also do a Lasagna Garden. Google it for more info and you'll find detailed instructions. It's super easy and gets better as the months and years go on. It requires no tilling and you can turn it into a raised bed if and when you want to. I started one lasagna garden this year that I put pumpkin plants into right away. They did so well that I now have a bunch of big orange pumpkins... only problem is that it's July.
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