Ozark soil gardening? Yeah, right. (suite, farm, best)

[ajf131]

Only thing I know is that it is possible to garden in the Ozarks. I have seen cornfields along Interstate 44 around Rolla, so the soil at least in Missouri can still yield crops in the Ozarks if you are persistent enough. In the Northern half of Missouri, including St. Louis, crops grow easily as the soil here is very rich. I've also seen corn along Interstate 55, so it's possible to grow it. I guess you just have to get the rocks out and irrigate the soil.

[mrschilicook]

Ya need to be on an old river bottom or where the soil has been washed in over the rock layers. My dad has beautiful gardens and grows just about anything, but he's on river bed down on Table rock near the Kings river. Everyone around my area has elevated garden beds where they have brought in top soil. I have pots myself...lots of herbs and chile peppers right now. Beatiful basil, mint, cilantro, oregano, thyme, etc. And onions, tomatoes, turnips, lettuces, beets, beans, etc..all grow very well in this area, but you have to build yourself a good soil base. Even melons do well, but you have to fight the turtles.

[NatGreeneVeg]

Raised Beds are the secret to gardening in the Ozarks. For more garden questions visit Master Gardeners of Greene County.

[Curmudgeon]

Absolutely! Raised garden beds do the trick. Our's give us all the fresh veggies we can eat and give away from early spring through most of fall. This karst topogaphy is mostly only good for forage plants.

[Alphareign]

Plant in river and creek bottoms if you can.

[skunk3]

I have noticed this myself. I am from Indiana originally and it takes very little effort to grow anything there. Where I'm living now in central Missouri it is a pain to grow almost anything. My yard is basically clay and rocks.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by skunk3

I have noticed this myself. I am from Indiana originally and it takes very little effort to grow anything there. Where I'm living now in central Missouri it is a pain to grow almost anything. My yard is basically clay and rocks.

Yeah, this part of the Midwest can be bad for that. Where exactly in Central Missouri are you living? It must be south of the Missouri River, because soil is EXTREMELY fertile in the counties north of the Missouri. You should also be able to grow things in counties immediately south of the river like Moniteau County, Cooper County, and even parts of Cole County, although there are parts of these counties which have soil that's unsuitable for growth.

[BioMechanical]

We have amazing soil in our yard in St. Louis. I could bag this stuff and sell it on EBay.

[brushrunner]

Believe it or not as a kid we raised Row Crops in Southern Missouri mostly to feed our stock,Dairy and Beef Cattle and Hogs.Did well,raised very Big Gardens.

Thing is we spent Winters picking rocks which never see people do any more.The soil will dry out faster if it's sandy but it will grow a Good Crop once you get past the rocks.

brushrunner

[skunk3]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

Yeah, this part of the Midwest can be bad for that. Where exactly in Central Missouri are you living? It must be south of the Missouri River, because soil is EXTREMELY fertile in the counties north of the Missouri. You should also be able to grow things in counties immediately south of the river like Moniteau County, Cooper County, and even parts of Cole County, although there are parts of these counties which have soil that's unsuitable for growth.

I live in central Callaway county. There's very little "soil" in the traditional sense here. Like I said, it's pretty much rocks and clay. When I tilled up my garden plot last year I was amazed... that combined with the drought added up to my garden being a total flop. I think that my best bet would be to make some raised beds. I also need to make a fence around it to keep deer and other animals from raiding!