Amending Soil and Building Borders for Beds

[jerryinfla]

I expanded my garden plot with 3 more 4' X 8' beds this winter. First I had to move a sprinkler head and reroute the underground feeder line because it ran directly through the area I planned to work. As in other beds, I removed the topsoil, set it aside then dug out and disposed of about a foot of subsoil. Then I filled the hole back up with a mixture of spent mushroom substrate and the topsoil that I had set aside. I built borders for beds on my driveway using 2" X 6" X 8' treated pine lumber braced in each corner with a 4" X 4" block. Then I transported the framed borders to the garden plot on a wagon train. After I got the borders set, I leveled them and worked compost, rabbit manure and cottonseed meal into the soil of the last two beds. I had already planted potatoes in the first bed and the other two are reserved for tomato transplants some of which would be in the ground by now but a late freeze is forecast for tonight and tomorrow night. As we all know it's a lot easier to bring tomatoes in pots inside to protect them than to try and protect them after they're planted in the garden. Here are some photos of the soil amending and border building processes and the finished garden plot.

[TightenUp]

looks fantastic

[Redbaron]

The energy and effort you put into it puts a lazy gardener like me to shame. The results are awesome though, I must admit.

[jerryinfla]

Jeff and Scott - I'm pleased with the way it looks too -- I'm just hoping that in time it will be as good as it looks. Right now I have RKNs, nutrients are out of balance and the pH is too alkaline. I'm sure the RKNs were already in the soil and pH was too high to begin with then adding spent mushroom substrate probably exacerbated both the pH and nutrient imbalance problems. I'll be adding more homemade compost and cottonseed meal frequently plus limiting crops to veggies that are not known RKN hosts. Then in time I just might have a relatively pest free, productive garden. We'll see

[peppero]

looks great jerry, you do nice work. jon

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by jerryinfla

Jeff and Scott - I'm pleased with the way it looks too -- I'm just hoping that in time it will be as good as it looks. Right now I have RKNs, nutrients are out of balance and the pH is too alkaline. I'm sure the RKNs were already in the soil and pH was too high to begin with then adding spent mushroom substrate probably exacerbated both the pH and nutrient imbalance problems. I'll be adding more homemade compost and cottonseed meal frequently plus limiting crops to veggies that are not known RKN hosts. Then in time I just might have a relatively pest free, productive garden. We'll see

i took over my dads garden and found the PH to be very high. turns out he had a local guy add mushroom compost about 5 yrs in a row. i tried to lower it during the growing season while the plants were still small but i think the rapid PH change screwed with them because all the fruit ripened very uneven that year. so bad it wasnt even edible.

i like your plan to stick wth homemade compost. i found 2 local sources for rabbit manure and take all my brother-in-laws grass clippings. i also have tons of trees so the brown leaves get piled up high in the fall. this is only year 2 for me so i finally have enough finished compost to add to all 4 of the gardens i look after.

i'll also be trying cottonseed meal but alfalfa meal as well. i think about a month before plant out but i have a little more research to do on the timing

are there any RKN resistant tomato varieties? i know grafting has been gaining popularity but not sure if that would help either.

[jerryinfla]

Jeff - There are a few hybrid tomatoes that are supposedly RKN resistant but no heirlooms that I've found. I like the taste of First Prize and Lemon Boy, my wife likes Big Beef and none show signs of RKN infestation in my soil. All three taste better than store bought tomatoes but none are in the ballpark with some heirlooms. I'm trialing 12 new hybrids this season and hopefully one or more will be on future grow lists -- tasty, non host for RKNs, and productive. This will only be my third year of Florida gardening so I still have a lot to learn.

[dice]

One grower posting here (I do not remember exactly who) said
that Granny Cantrell was the only heirloom not showing any
root-knot nematode damage in his garden:
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

You might try it and verify that for yourself if looking for
heirloom flavor in RKN country (and if it is not too late
ripening for your growing season).

[jerryinfla]

Thanks for that info, dice! It's too late to start new seedlings for our Spring season but we have a second tomato growing season in Fall. I'll see if I can find some Granny Cantrell seeds and trial them either this Fall or next Spring.

[Crandrew]

Looking awesome Jerry!

[dice]

[Granny Cantrell]

That plant might have been simply lucky for some reason,
so you do not really know until you test it in your garden.
(Only costs growing a plant or two to find out, though.)