Gardening Questions

[tkuehn5410]

I raise 70 pound black diamond watermelons and tomato plants yielding 20-30 pounds per plant. Raised beds are a joke. You're better to spend time with a deep till on a tiller rental and then use cottonseed compost, humus, cow manure, or a 3way blend. Fertilize every 7-14 days with a triple 13 or miracle grow... 3ways are lots of fun and usually result in a satisfied gardener who puts in the extra effort.

[Trumpkin]

Lots to process here! Thanks for the help guys. Briar, I'll text ya about those peppers.

[macguyverberry]

I just harvested a mess of Chili Pequins...aka Texas Bird Pepper... off a fence row...still blooming mid winter and barely a leaf. Official Wild Pepper of Texas. Ill give you some Senor...por gratis. You know where to find me.

FYI...raised beds are good but get the soil gets hotter and dries out quicker...IMO. Weed control can be easier...bermuda grass eventually wins. Raised beds have theirs ups and down.

I like my wifes cousins method of planting veggies around a five gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. Every couple of days depending on rainfall...he’d go out...fill up the bucket and be done.

Lowes and Home DePot have many irrigation options that are easily plug and programmably chug.

Did you plant your pepper plants or are they native? Any idea where to buy the plants themselves?

[Briar Friar]

Did you plant your pepper plants or are they native? Any idea where to buy the plants themselves?

Cultivated. Ive been looking in nurserys but never find them. Plant the whole fruit and theyll go gangbuster...no doubt.

Trumpkin...swiss chard grows here year round and is an excellent leafy vegetable for cooked greens or fresh salad . Im not sure of varieties that are best but...theyll freeze down in hard freezes but come back and theyll bolt in the summer heat...but whatever...theyll keep growing. Also...most leafy greens are bitter straight out of the ground and will mellow out most bitterness with some refridgeration overnight.

[johnpaul]

Gardening is a labor of love. If you don't take good care of it then it will just be a huge waste of money with little to nothing to show for it.

[locolobo]

I have just gotten into raised beds, First 2 were made with 1x6 (actually 3/4x 5.5) cedar fence pickets from Lowes. Then found they had true 2x6 cedar lumber that are 12' @ $20 each. Bought 3 boards and got 2, 6'x3' beds for the same price as the pickets. But I want to go higher than 6" so I will be buying more boards to go to 12" tall.
Also check into cinder blocks. Can build permanent beds for just a few $ more. Just more hassle than wood to set up. Gonna try one soon.
Raised beds DO have their own problems/ techniques. but I find they're worth the learning curve. Easier to water, I dig them with a fork and not a tiller, easier to mulch, Not disturbing the natural soil so the natural soil organisms do not get disturbed as much, and on and on.
I still have most of the garden in rows, using tiller too prepare the soil, and grow stuff all year long. Using the beds to do most of my winter stuff, Greens and such but if my raised beds continue to pay off I will be doing more of them.
I agree with the county ag extension service. They know what will grow in your area and most have a Master gardener program. This is People in your county who are "experts" @ gardening in the same conditions you are experiencing. They usually have a monthly meeting and occasionally have meet & greet, symposiums where you can share experiences, ask questions etc.
Good luck!

[Stoof]

Rocktippedstick mentioned the natural gardener. That is a great place to start. Those folks will make it easy for you. It's a cool spot too. Worth checking out.

[Ishi&Elvis]

East or west of I35, different story depending on what side of the Balcones Escarpment you are on. Raised beds are great, use cedar siding as suggested. Go to Lowes and pick through the cedar pickets they sell that are too crooked to sell for fence work. Use them for your siding, no chemicals in those and they last a good while. Lowes also has irrigation packages that are great for gardening for around $35 and they are well worth it, and you can add on if need be. Like others have mentioned, the Natural Gardener out in Bee Caves is great for getting material, top soil, compost, decomposed granite, etc for your fill in the beds. They can be a tremendous resource for you. They have gardening shows on every Saturday morning on KLBJ 590AM. Good luck, it is addictive, but fun and fulfilling.

[bowmansdad]

I transitioned to corrugated metal raised beds a few years ago. I’ve got them on rubber mats to keep the weeds from coming up through the bottom and use metal frames to run my tomatoes and beans on. If you can find mushroom compost, fill your beds with it and just add every year, you can thank me later. After I plant, I cover the beds with newspaper and cover it with cottonseed compost to keep the weeds down. I’m cheap so I fertilize every 2 or 3 weeks with triple 13. Now if I could find a way to keep the durn stink bugs and hornworms under control I’d be good. I have 4 3X8 beds and 2 3X3 beds, watering and weeding takes 10 minutes at the max.

[scotty]

Might look through last years thread. I just started a new one for this year.

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=679335&highlight=gardening

[Man]

I went to raised beds with cinder blocks. I also dug out the dirt below the raised bed for added depth. I didn't put a weed guard down. Last year I put all my lawn clipping from each week into the garden. That smothered out and prevented weeds from popping up, while also keeping the soil from drying out. We also put our kitchen scraps directly into the garden bypassing the whole composting thing. We also filled each garden with Red wigglers. Each year our gardens soil gets richer and richer and things seems to grow a lot faster, bigger and healthier.

[Man]

Thee first year was an investment with the starter soil, worms and cinder blocks. But its paying for itself in fresh orgranic foods. No plans to spend any more money on fertilizers, soils or anything. Will make use of what we have and can create on our own if/when we need to.