Garden Plans for 2023

[thankful_k]

So, I need to get my garden ready for next year. I have no idea what I'm doing. None. No clue. Attached are pics of the area. Right now, it's overgrown, but the goats are helping me out with it

Where I am
I am in far north central Texas, south of Wichita Falls, USDA zone 7a/8b. Elevation is about 1100', we get about 34" of rain per year.

My Needs
I am one person, living alone, but I want to have capacity for 2-3 people. I want to prioritize survival crops with as much calorie density as I can get, while also having a variety, so as to get the vitamin/minerals, etc. So for right now that list is, in this order, potatoes, carrots, beans, corn, okra, cherry/grape tomatoes, spinach, raspberries, strawberries. I want to be as organic and natural as possible. The goal is full nutritional self-sufficiency in case of ... let's just say "bad times".

What I Have

• My garden area is raised beds, made with cinderblocks. Has to be raised beds. In the three long beds to the north I have 160 sqft in each bed, times 3 equals 480 sqft total (not counting the "other" bed, that one is a contingency bed, just because). Around these beds is an 8ft fence made with hog panels, mainly to keep out deer and bigger thieves. Raccoons, rabbits, mice are a lost cause. They're getting in. Hopefully the dog/cats will deter them.
• To the west of the garden is the orchard, with 9 brand-new fruit trees planted this year,(apple/pear/plum)
• On the other end of the property (about 700 ft away) are 15 active honeybee hives.
• I have a great pyrenees dog, two adult male cats, and four spanish-boer goats.

The Very Rough Plan

• Early next year, these raised beds will be filled with a combination of locally sourced topsoil and ... something else, don't know what yet. Compost, potting mix, etc. etc.
• Put up a hoop house covering all three long beds, covered with fine mesh (not plastic), mainly to somewhat control flying insects, pests.
• Install something that isn't drip irrigation(the hard water clogs the little gizmos)

Other Considerations

• The well water here is ridiculously, crazy, stupid hard. Like gravel coming out of the tap, it's nuts.
• Forget about digging in the dirt. 5-6 inches of topsoil, then solid rock everywhere, some the size of trashcans.
• Incidentally, I will also have 9 almond trees (Texas mission and hall's hardy) coming in spring to be planted in various spots around my place
• I want to free-range the chickens. Right now they have an enclosed coop/run
• I work from home, and am here pretty much here all the time

Questions:

1. Do I really even need to do the hoop house? Texas has a pretty long growing season, right? So I should be able to grow enough to eat and can for the winter. Also ... if I cover all the plants, the bees won't be able to get to them. But if I don't cover them, then pests. Or am I going to have pests anyway?
2. What should I mix in with the topsoil to give crops the best chance? Potting mix? Peat moss?

I'm trying to figure out exactly, precisely what to do and not do, so that I can set this up correctly and once. I am too inexperienced to know the difference between snake oil and the truly effective things to buy. And maybe I need to just expect that the first year will just be mostly a failure to learn from (and that's okay).

Perhaps the only way to become competent is to just start doing it!

SW corner looking NE


SW Corner looking north


NE corner looking south


West side looking east:


Diagram

 

[Pearl]

First...your hard water is FULL of minerals and electrolytes!! So is mine, ENJOY!! I have red clay and limestone, only raised beds for me! The gardens I have done I have mixed A LOT of manure in the ground, ALL times if the year!! I also incorporate woods dirt In my beds and gardens too!! Free range chickens will eat EVERYTHING! And I was wondering where you have been, glad you posted!! How long have you lived where you are? You have way worse winters than I do, we are not that far apart. You also have a great salvage yard near you!!

 

[Patchouli]

Try your county extension office, they are usually very helpful.
Are you the one who was asking about native grasses this past spring? How’d that work out for you?

 

[thankful_k]

Try your county extension office, they are usually very helpful.
Are you the one who was asking about native grasses this past spring? How’d that work out for you?

Actually I went with Bermuda, just to get something going RTHN. I have to get the yard sloppy wet, but it's coming in.

 

[thankful_k]

First...your hard water is FULL of minerals and electrolytes!! So is mine, ENJOY!! I have red clay and limestone, only raised beds for me! The gardens I have done I have mixed A LOT of manure in the ground, ALL times if the year!! I also incorporate woods dirt In my beds and gardens too!! Free range chickens will eat EVERYTHING! And I was wondering where you have been, glad you posted!! How long have you lived where you are? You have way worse winters than I do, we are not that far apart. You also have a great salvage yard near you!!

Yes, I will probably need to keep the chickens away from the plants in any case. I moved in full time late 2019.

 

[thankful_k]

Actually being such a newb, may be prudent to hold off on the whole hoop house business. Step 1 ... get plants (that I actually want) to come out of the dirt. I haven't really even done that yet.

 

[joel]

2023??!
I have not finished planting for 2022.
The garden set up looks good.

 

[Pearl]

With it so hot and dry again I am not planting much this fall. Will be getting ready for 2023, adding composted manure, making plans.

 

[Peanut]

I live on the farm where I was born… don’t do raised beds, plenty of tillable land. But I’m in the deep south, summer sun can be brutal. Especially if there’s a mini-drought or unusual heat.

A few years ago I found a product called “Plant Shade”. It’s a UV screen. It’s purchased by the rating. For example – if rated at 40%. It blocks 40% of UV rays reaching your plants. There are many ratings… I use 50% plant shade.

I’ve used it everywhere… It’s great protection. Say you’ve just started plants for a winter garden in August. Young plants, especially things like onions or beets can use a little shade from brutal summer sun. It’s easy to hang a line to suspend the plant shade or make a frame for it.

Another product I use is Azomite. It’s crushed volcanic rock with 80+ minerals and elements. Certified for the organic production of plants and animals. it’s not a fertilizer, will not “burn” plants. It makes and keeps plants healthy, a very big deal. Healthy plants can survive horrible weather or swarms of insects that a plant from mineral depleted soils wouldn’t survive.

My old garden had been used since the 1880’s (family farm). There was noting left in the soil, commercial fertilizers did little. Plants were destined to die slowly from disease or insects. I searched for several years before I found something that would help… azomite.

Plants have plenty of natural defenses against these things… (if they are healthy). An insect is no different than a lion in africa. They go for the weakest prey, always. Get a plant healthy and the insects go else where. It's that simple... I occasionally get hit by a swarm, maybe japanese beetles. Damage to healthy plants is minimal... a little DE and they move on to greener pastures.

I rarely dust for insects these days, not even every year and then I only use diatomaceous earth. Insects or disease are no longer and issue for my old garden. I’ve been using azomite for about 15years. What it’ll do for plants is amazing.

I also use azomite when I have sick or injured livestock, I put it in my chicken feed, dog feed, livestock feed. It’ll keep animals healthy too.

I became the first dealer for azomite in the southeast. A family in Utah owns a whole mountain of chelated volcanic rock. Chelated – minerals are ready to be absorbed by plants or animals.

Many people take it orally also. It helps them detox after chemo. I purchased a license to repackage into 1lb bags I had so many orders for small amounts.

I’m no longer a dealer but still use the product, have about 1000lbs in the barn. It’s expensive to ship but if you live close to a dealer (lots of them now). You can buy it for about $20 a 44lb bag.

There is another similar product that’s liquid concentrate. I’ve never used it but friends have, farmers whose judgment I trust. A company in Oregon is harvesting minerals from seawater. It comes in liquid form, gallon jugs. Since it’s concentrated it’s about 30% of the shipping cost compared to Azomite. The company is… Organic Certified | Sea-Crop

Commercial growers use both of these mineral replacement products by the ton, good stuff.

I wish you luck with the beds... several members use raised beds. Some of their operations are complex. They can answer just about any question you have.

 

[Pearl]

I live on the farm where I was born… don’t do raised beds, plenty of tillable land. But I’m in the deep south, summer sun can be brutal. Especially if there’s a mini-drought or unusual heat.

A few years ago I found a product called “Plant Shade”. It’s a UV screen. It’s purchased by the rating. For example – if rated at 40%. It blocks 40% of UV rays reaching your plants. There are many ratings… I use 50% plant shade.

I’ve used it everywhere… It’s great protection. Say you’ve just started plants for a winter garden in August. Young plants, especially things like onions or beets can use a little shade from brutal summer sun. It’s easy to hang a line to suspend the plant shade or make a frame for it.

Another product I use is Azomite. It’s crushed volcanic rock with 80+ minerals and elements. Certified for the organic production of plants and animals. it’s not a fertilizer, will not “burn” plants. It makes and keeps plants healthy, a very big deal. Healthy plants can survive horrible weather or swarms of insects that a plant from mineral depleted soils wouldn’t survive.

My old garden had been used since the 1880’s (family farm). There was noting left in the soil, commercial fertilizers did little. Plants were destined to die slowly from disease or insects. I searched for several years before I found something that would help… azomite.

Plants have plenty of natural defenses against these things… (if they are healthy). An insect is no different than a lion in africa. They go for the weakest prey, always. You get a plant healthy and the insects go else were. It's that simple...

I rarely dust for insects these days, not even every year and then I only use diatomaceous earth. Insects or disease are no longer and issue for my old garden. I’ve been using azomite for about 15years. What it’ll do for plants is amazing.

I also use azomite when I have sick or injured livestock, I put it in my chicken feed, dog feed, livestock feed. It’ll keep animals healthy too.

I became the first dealer for azomite in the southeast. A family in Utah owns a whole mountain of chelated volcanic rock. Chelated – minerals are ready to be absorbed by plants or animals.

Many people take it orally also. It helps them detox after chemo. I purchased a license to repackage into 1lb bags I had so many orders for small amounts.

I’m no longer a dealer but still use the product, have about 1000lbs in the barn. It’s expensive to ship but if you live close to a dealer (lots of them now). You can buy it for about $20 a 44lb bag.

There is another similar product that’s liquid concentrate. I’ve never used it but friends have, farmers whose judgment I trust. A company in Oregon is harvesting minerals from seawater. It comes in liquid form, gallon jugs. Since it’s concentrated it’s about 30% of the shipping cost compared to Azomite. The company is… Organic Certified | Sea-Crop

Commercial growers use both of these mineral replacement products by the ton, good stuff.

I wish you luck with the beds... several members use raised beds. Some of their operations are complex. They can answer just about any question you have.

Wow, thanks for posting that Peanut!!

 

[Peanut]

Nation wide our crop lands are over 80% mineral depleted. I promoted this product because I saw it work. I was the first guy in the south to buy a ton so they put me on their website. I've seen azomite do surprising things.

Example - one year I ran out while spreading it over a pasture. All summer the cows would walk through knee deep grass to get to the area I spread azomite. They ate that grass into the ground. Once, as a test I planted peas for deer. I purposely put azomite on half. The deer ate the half with azomite first... about a close as I can get to a blind test.

Folks don't usually know how bad our soils really are. I promoted azomite, especially at the farmers market. People would say... "Don't need it! I use horse manure from my neighbor". They don't realize that horse is eating from a mineral depleted pasture. The same minerals missing from the pasture are missing in the manure. And now those same minerals are missing from their garden plants as well as the food they eat from it.

Buy manure by the ton if they want... their plants are still weak, prone to disease and insects... a fertilizer doesn't fix mineral depletion.

 

[Peanut]

For clarification… I sold azomite only to offset the costs of what I used. Example, my best year I sold about 2 tons but I used 6 tons that year. The profit from the sales was used to buy only part of what I used year over year.

 

[joel]

I use chaff compost, azomite, blood mill & grass, leaves in my garden.
I have flat land & a few natural raised beds, no walls, just sloped sides like Robert Rodale did, old school.

 

[thankful_k]

UPDATE: I've cleaned the area up and am gonna have the trencher guy out this week so I can lay irrigation lines.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Peanut]

UPDATE: I've cleaned the area up and am gonna have the trencher guy out this week so I can lay irrigation lines.

Looks great!. Any small farms near you? I have a chisel plow. Most row crop or hay farmers have them. It'll rip up to 3 parallel cuts, 8inches deep x 2inches wide. Run it over twice if you want it deeper. If case the trencher guy is a no show.

 

[thankful_k]

Looks great!. Any small farms near you? I have a chisel plow. Most row crop or hay farmers have them. It'll rip up to 3 parallel cuts, 8inches deep x 2inches wide. Run it over twice if you want it deeper. If case the trencher guy is a no show.

I appreciate the tip, but ... not this dirt! @Pearl might be able to second this, but this dirt here is MURDER. 6 inches of crumbly rocky topsoil, then solid rock, or boulders from the size of basketballs to Volkswagens. Need a tactical nuke to get through it.

There is an advantage though ... Once you DO manage to literally jackhammer a footing pocket into it ... Your building is going NOWHERE. I built my pier & beam house 4 years ago ... not one drywall crack or wonky door, and the footings are concrete blocks only 10-12 inches deep.

 

[joel]

Looks great!. Any small farms near you? I have a chisel plow. Most row crop or hay farmers have them. It'll rip up to 3 parallel cuts, 8inches deep x 2inches wide. Run it over twice if you want it deeper. If case the trencher guy is a no show.

Father would chisel the field every ten years to break the dead pan, so we had good drainage & root penetration.

 

[Peanut]

It's been about 10yrs since I plowed all our pastures. Ground gets packed hard with a herd of cows walking over it.

These are due for another round. My cousin runs cattle here now. I'll have to ask about his big tractor. I'll plow the fields for him if he brings the equipment over. It'll take 3 days with my tractor/plow. I can do it in a day with his.

 

[Bacpacker]

I dont haveva big ripper. We use a single bottom sub soiler. If the ground is right it'll go 14 to 18" deep. I usually do the garden spots every year or two. Sure helps break up the clay and ensures any moisture thru the winter gets deep in the ground for next year

 

[Pearl]

I appreciate the tip, but ... not this dirt! @Pearl might be able to second this, but this dirt here is MURDER. 6 inches of crumbly rocky topsoil, then solid rock, or boulders from the size of basketballs to Volkswagens. Need a tactical nuke to get through it.

There is an advantage though ... Once you DO manage to literally jackhammer a footing pocket into it ... Your building is going NOWHERE. I built my pier & beam house 4 years ago ... not one drywall crack or wonky door, and the footings are concrete blocks only 10-12 inches deep.

All red clay here, the rocky stuff starts just west of me! We CAN dig if it's not too dry!

 

[joel]

I dont haveva big ripper. We use a single bottom sub soiler. If the ground is right it'll go 14 to 18" deep. I usually do the garden spots every year or two. Sure helps break up the clay and ensures any moisture thru the winter gets deep in the ground for next year

Father would disk 6 inches deep, then use a turn plow for 8-10 inches, then disk again, before the last frost day every year, before planting corn in a old pasture. then move to another field this next year.
We only had three pastures on the little Farm.

 

[Ozarks hillbilly]

Still not done with 2022 as my tomatoes finally came in strong. But looking forward to next year I'll have to scale back as work will take me away most weeks and I'll be returning only on the weekends. So just some tomatoes, zucchini, squash and maybe peas.

 

[Neb]

The Princess has plans for me to start replacing the raised beds with something more permanent than the pressure treated 2x6 I used 15-20 years ago. After that long they have turned into dirt. She wants them to be taller and more narrow so that she can reach the center easier. That will require me figuring out how to revise the cages I use to keep the critters out.

I have been running the backyard gardens as a nursery for trees bushes and vines. Most of those will get moved in December which will return a lot of gardens for vegetables.

While salad fixins and beans are planned a massive amount of onions are planned. The Princess has made an onion casserole part of our weekly or biweekly routine. The casserole requires a mountain of onions and we would like to minimize how many onions she has to buy to keep the casseroles going.

So I have big plans and a lot of work ahead of me.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

Neb, look into metal roofing cut to whatever height you want them to be. Just use a 2x4 frame around the top, and to spruce it up, put a 1x4 flat over the top.