Garden Help

[humblehunter22]

Touching base to try to get some input.

This year thankfully before the proverbial "crap" hit the fan with the housing market my wife & I purchased our house with just over an acre of land, I would venture to say a little over 1/4 acre of it I would classify as "workable" land that is exposed to what 1 would consider enough sunlight to do anything with. It is rural property with no immediate neighbors or hoa's to worry about so my intent is to get as much worth out of the property as possible & establish what I can effectively for a garden on the areas of the property that would be ideal for conditions. That being said I have the typical red Ga clay soil, so I tested the waters out for this year and purchased about 2 pallets worth of enriched top soil & potting soil mix to "blend" in with the red clay soil & planted a small variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peppers, & 2 different kinds of beans.

That being said I want to expand the garden space this off season & looking to see if anyone has any outside the box resources in terms of being able to find top soil/potting soil mix for a decent price compared to like lowes or home depot where I have initially been purchasing from? Lumber is to ridiculous for me to consider building out a bunch of raised beds so more along the lines I have been creating in ground beds removing & relocating about 10-14 inches of the clay soil then coming back in with the top soil mixture filling the spaces back in that way. So I believe is what I will do in the other spaces is clear out the areas & fill back in with the mixture? Just mainly looking if there are any other options to get it for a better price vs 12 dollars or more per 50 lb bag.

 

[fishfryer]

Touching base to try to get some input.

This year thankfully before the proverbial "crap" hit the fan with the housing market my wife & I purchased our house with just over an acre of land, I would venture to say a little over 1/4 acre of it I would classify as "workable" land that is exposed to what 1 would consider enough sunlight to do anything with. It is rural property with no immediate neighbors or hoa's to worry about so my intent is to get as much worth out of the property as possible & establish what I can effectively for a garden on the areas of the property that would be ideal for conditions. That being said I have the typical red Ga clay soil, so I tested the waters out for this year and purchased about 2 pallets worth of enriched top soil & potting soil mix to "blend" in with the red clay soil & planted a small variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peppers, & 2 different kinds of beans.

That being said I want to expand the garden space this off season & looking to see if anyone has any outside the box resources in terms of being able to find top soil/potting soil mix for a decent price compared to like lowes or home depot where I have initially been purchasing from? Lumber is to ridiculous for me to consider building out a bunch of raised beds so more along the lines I have been creating in ground beds removing & relocating about 10-14 inches of the clay soil then coming back in with the top soil mixture filling the spaces back in that way. So I believe is what I will do in the other spaces is clear out the areas & fill back in with the mixture? Just mainly looking if there are any other options to get it for a better price vs 12 dollars or more per 50 lb bag.

Start composting! Ride the subdivision roads in the fall, get all the leaves you can haul. Layer the leaves with thin covering of balanced fertilizer, keep it damp and turn it over to make it go through a heat. Put leaves in garden till in when you’re not using it for a crop. Keep all vegetable and fruit scraps, put in compost pile or till into garden. Keep it up over the years. That red clay will become excellent garden soil. Watch out for herbicides in grass clippings etc.

 

[JustUs4All]

Compost is great, sand can also be added and mixed into the clay.

 

[humblehunter22]

Compost is great, sand can also be added and mixed into the clay.

Yes I have a small scale compost bin started already, as well I purchased a bag attachment for my mower & I am piling up saving the lawn clippings to let that do it's thing as well. This fall I intend on purchasing a larger sized compost bin. My small scale "garden" is doing good surprisingly nowhere near the volume of a decent sized set up but have gotten a good idea of plans for next growing season.

 

[JustUs4All]

You can compost in a pile in the yard. You just need to turn the material over periodically.

 

[fishfryer]

You can compost in a pile in the yard. You just need to turn the material over periodically.

Yep

 

[sportsman94]

If you’re going through the trouble of removing the clay already you can get a tree trimming service to put loads of free wood chips in the holes and let them break down. If you wanted even quicker results, get a 10x10 dog kennel and some chickens and let them do the work of adding nitrogen and turning over the wood chips. It will essentially compost in place. If you create a few different 10 x 10 beds then you can just rotate the chickens onto different ones each season. I don’t have a picture, but I built my moms chicken coop/run on red clay and filled the run with wood chips. There is now a 3-5 inch layer of black compost in there underneath the wood chips, and we just add more when the compost is all you see.

I realize this doesn’t help you much immediately, but would be a way to expand in the future

 

[Dustin Pate]

All good ideas above. I'd also add, think about planting a cover crop this winter. You can turn it under come spring and it will provide multiple benefits.

 

[fishfryer]

If you’re going through the trouble of removing the clay already you can get a tree trimming service to put loads of free wood chips in the holes and let them break down. If you wanted even quicker results, get a 10x10 dog kennel and some chickens and let them do the work of adding nitrogen and turning over the wood chips. It will essentially compost in place. If you create a few different 10 x 10 beds then you can just rotate the chickens onto different ones each season. I don’t have a picture, but I built my moms chicken coop/run on red clay and filled the run with wood chips. There is now a 3-5 inch layer of black compost in there underneath the wood chips, and we just add more when the compost is all you see.

I realize this doesn’t help you much immediately, but would be a way to expand in the future

Humus,plant material, compost, green manure all turn dirt into garden soil

 

[livinoutdoors]

X2 on the cover crop. Plant rye and red clover then mow it down in mid spring. If you can find a chicken farmer close by get a load of chicken litter and mix it in. DO NOT buy composted cow or horse manure. Look up grazon to see why. Wood chips are good. I like em much better after they are composted. Takes a looooong time. DO NOT till in fresh wood chips. All that said sometimes clay soil is a good thing. Right now we are in a bit of a drought. I have two plots that are sandy loam. One has corn in it. Its almost dead. I have one plot thats near a creeak bottom. Its heavy clay. It looks great right now. Good luck! And good on you for growin some food!

 

[B. White]

If you’re going through the trouble of removing the clay already you can get a tree trimming service to put loads of free wood chips in the holes and let them break down. If you wanted even quicker results, get a 10x10 dog kennel and some chickens and let them do the work of adding nitrogen and turning over the wood chips. It will essentially compost in place. If you create a few different 10 x 10 beds then you can just rotate the chickens onto different ones each season. I don’t have a picture, but I built my moms chicken coop/run on red clay and filled the run with wood chips. There is now a 3-5 inch layer of black compost in there underneath the wood chips, and we just add more when the compost is all you see.

I realize this doesn’t help you much immediately, but would be a way to expand in the future

I'd go with wood chips and some patience to let them break down as you add other compost. They will be free, or close to it. Everything I see says it takes about 4 yrs to break down and not to till them in until they break down, since they pull nitrogen from the soil.....But, I don't do good with directions and like to experiment.

I had a low spot and had a load that was partially rotted, but still had a lot of chips. Tilled them in around March and planted buckwheat in that area. It did not grow where the most chips were, but I did not add any fertilizer. I cut it and scattered some ammon. nitrate on it.

Tilled it again and came back with iron and clay peas. You can see the amount of wood and color difference close up and the clay further away. This time I have the opposite growth that I did with buckwheat a few months earlier. Is it the nitrogen or because it was tilled again? I don't know yet. Still playing.

 

[westcobbdog]

Touching base to try to get some input.

This year thankfully before the proverbial "crap" hit the fan with the housing market my wife & I purchased our house with just over an acre of land, I would venture to say a little over 1/4 acre of it I would classify as "workable" land that is exposed to what 1 would consider enough sunlight to do anything with. It is rural property with no immediate neighbors or hoa's to worry about so my intent is to get as much worth out of the property as possible & establish what I can effectively for a garden on the areas of the property that would be ideal for conditions. That being said I have the typical red Ga clay soil, so I tested the waters out for this year and purchased about 2 pallets worth of enriched top soil & potting soil mix to "blend" in with the red clay soil & planted a small variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peppers, & 2 different kinds of beans.

That being said I want to expand the garden space this off season & looking to see if anyone has any outside the box resources in terms of being able to find top soil/potting soil mix for a decent price compared to like lowes or home depot where I have initially been purchasing from? Lumber is to ridiculous for me to consider building out a bunch of raised beds so more along the lines I have been creating in ground beds removing & relocating about 10-14 inches of the clay soil then coming back in with the top soil mixture filling the spaces back in that way. So I believe is what I will do in the other spaces is clear out the areas & fill back in with the mixture? Just mainly looking if there are any other options to get it for a better price vs 12 dollars or more per 50 lb bag.

Home Depot and Lowes can have Top soil with herbicides in it, big time.

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

A properly limed and fertilized clay soil will support any of what you've been growing without the work of stripping clay to uncover more clay. It'd be cheaper to buy a dump truck load of top soil or a super sack of cotton compost than buying garden soil from Lowes or home Depot.

 

[humblehunter22]

Thanks for the input & feedback. This growing period it was more of a "half-cocked" & rushed set up just to see what direction I would need to go in heading into the fall & winter. Definitely going to look into the wood chips, as mentioned currently composting on a small scale level, also doing a natural compost pile with my lawn clippings with 2 piles started that I will continue to build on & work over as time passes.

 

[ddavis1120]

Like others have said red clay can be amended and will be a very productive growing medium. One thing to consider is instead of expanding your garden, make sure you maximize the space you are using. Drip tape and maximizing the vertical space can be very productive for growing most vegetables. I think it is a better investment of time and resources to get as much out of a garden footprint as possible.

 

[fishfryer]

Like others have said red clay can be amended and will be a very productive growing medium. One thing to consider is instead of expanding your garden, make sure you maximize the space you are using. Drip tape and maximizing the vertical space can be very productive for growing most vegetables. I think it is a better investment of time and resources to get as much out of a garden footprint as possible.

Some folks make a lot of high quality food on a very small garden spot.

 

[sportsman94]

I also believe gypsum is supposed to help on clay soils. I can’t remember the how/why/what behind it and don’t know if it’s true, but may be worth looking in to

 

[Canuck5]

Keep something growing in your soil year round, if you can and keep it covered, as well, if you can.

 

[livinoutdoors]

I really am a believer in what @Canuck5 is sayin. Using cover crops has done wonders for my garden plots. Reading this forum and using the ideas that the deer farmers and food plotters use has helped a bunch!

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

Gypsum is only good for providing calcium so unless you are growing peanuts in your garden its not going to do anything else.

I don't know who made that temp chart but they are way off