This ought to be a good one.....who is from BYC??

ADDICTED to BYC! I had a question on gardening and thought I'd try TEG since the link was right there at the bottom of the page... Now I'm having a go at exploring this site. I think I feel another addiction coming on...............
 
Actually, I summed it up in the last post I made and was waiting on a reply there (OP asked if anyone was planning next year's garden, I'm too new here to remember the forum!) I live in west central Alabama (Zone 7b) and have gardened (mostly flowers and a few veggies) for all of my adult life. Our new land was once a riverbed. The soil is sand, literally, sand. I have been using sheet composting to build plantable beds and it is slow going. I have had tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash, flowers (long list) in the last couple of years, but didn't get anything planted last spring because of a combination of job change (to midnight shift :sick ) and the heat coming on early and intensly. I have just started back this month and am working on sheet composting some new beds in the backyard for next spring. My problem is not a bad one, I guess, but is frustrating. I am growing lots of plant and few flowers or veggies (I couldn't help myself, I put in some late tomatoes, marigolds and asters.) I was wondering what I could add to tone down the fertility of the soil. I never thought I would type that statement! My beds are/were layered with grass clippings, dry leaves, horse manure, pine shavings and chicken manure. I am used to gardening in red clay, this sand and now pure organic matter is all very new to me!

edited for punctuation
 
Wisher, maybe a couple of really large planters with soil for you to get started on those maters or peppers that your missing!

Your not TOO far from me, I know these things are available around your parts ;)
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I grew a ton of stuff in here... you could easily do two VERY healthy & happy tomatoes and get a LOT of food from it. Something like this could tide you over until you get your other beds ready. You can take half the material from the hot beds and add it to some top soil or something mixed with sand, in big pots or troughs.

This is a water trough for horses, it rusted out and sprung a leak. Too bad for the owner to fix, so they got a new trough and I happened to get a new planter! It's nearly 3' tall and it's just GREAT not to have to bend over to dig or plant too btw, a nice benefit!

:welcome again!
 
Great find! What (if anything) did you put in the bottom for drainage? Is it good dirt all the way to the bottom?

I have a spot next to the driveway that grows tomatoes and peppers well. I gave it the year off for rotation purposes, although I don't have another place to plant tomatoes! It's raining here today, but I may try to get a pic of my newest planting area. It shows how the plants are growing like crazy, but not producing. I was thinking of lettuce. If I can grow too much plant, maybe lettuce would be killer in these beds. Do you think the lettuce would be great or would it grow too fast, too, and be tough or bitter or something? I don't know anything about growing lettuce. My dad always grew lettuce, but for some reason, I never have.....hummmm. :hu
 
Because it's broken & rusted out it has a couple of holes, so we didn't add any more holes or anything. We removed the plug it comes with as well. There is a 2" layer of rocks found around the yard so that the holes don't get too compacted. After that.. we layerd in, sand, clay, top soil, compost, and some woodchips and repeated until full (not necessarily in that order). So yep... I USUALLY cheat on these sorts of things, and only half fill them, but honestly it was totally worth it.

I suspect if you fertilize & be festidiously clean about any dropped fruits & veg, picking out any bugs, you can grow in that driveway bed year after year without rotation. But a few big pots wouldn't hurt too.

I grow lettuce here all the time, for the space, I prefer baby spinach, more nutrients just as good and grows very well. Picking in 50 days from seed is also a really nice bonus for me. Both seem though to grow well just about anywhere. Lettuce gets bitter when it starts to bolt or flower, just taste a leaf before you pick to tell. I can't imagine that it could grow too fast or anything... you should give it a try and take notes or good photos of the experiences to look back on next year at this time. :)

Have you visited your local Agriculture department and getting some guidance? They certainly know your area & it's conditions well. Here we can get a soil test and they will let us know what we need to add to make everything "just right"... although I've never actually done this myself, I'm more of a trial and error gal I guess... doesnt' make sense really, I should do it the easy way and just get the test!
 
County Extension Office? Nope, never used it! I am that "trial and error" type as well.

Where are you in the Smokies? Anywhere near the National Park? I try to get up that way once a year but don't always make it. My last visit was to Gatlinburg in July of last year. My stepdaughter had her wedding up there. I can't say that summer is my favorite time of year to visit but my three boys made me promise to come back during hot weather, sometime, to tube down Little River or the Ocoee. I must admit, that is tempting. I, like everyone else in the world, prefer to see the mountains in the fall. I don't have a trip planned for this fall, yet, but we may make it for a long weekend or something. How's the color going to be this year?
 
My backyard is both the National Park & Cherokee National Forest... I'm IN them mountains, and Gatlinburg is 40 minutes down one road, Knoxville 40 minutes down another, Johnson City or Bristol, TN 40 min down another... same as Asheville, NC.. but 1 hour down the road. We have a GREAT location.

Rafting is amazing you should do it.

We predict a later color spread this year, although, at the higher elevations the colors are starting to turn already. :) So... mid to late October for peak I am guessing.
 
I was just thinking. One of our favorite trips happened about three years ago. We hiked to Abrams Falls (back end of Cade's Cove) and had a blast! All of my photo's from that trip were in a box in storage and were taken by the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa back in April. I guess we will have to do that trip again soon so we can retake those photos!
 
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