On 3/4/2015 6:00 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:


Was going to start amending the last raised bed today, got another !@#$%
cold front moving in and it might freeze by the end of the week. Drat!
my pear tree is currently in full bloom, might mean another year with no
pears. Have to go to town and buy some dirt.
The last actual freeze took out a neighbor's peaches, blossoms and
leaves; again. I examined the little tree today and, although it has
new leaves, none of the fruit and only eight of the differentiated buds
survived and the flowers from three of those are deformed. I don't fool
with them. I'm conflicted every year as we approach spring: I'd like
for weather to remain cool enough—but not cold—for carrots, broccoli or
cauliflower (as examples) but am eager for the first _fresh_ zipper
cream crowders with okra in them or fresh snap beans. The fall mustard
greens that get most-of-the-day sun are beginning to bloom but those in
the magnolia shade still hold their own. I'm thinking the weather's
already too warm for planting more to be worthwhile but still may
scattet a few more seeds under the tree.

Never thought I would be
buying dirt but we live on six inches of river sand atop five feet of
Houston gumbo clay so we have to amend everything we plant.
IMO, mushroom compost's the thing to use until you save up enough
money to buy a truck and schmooz local dairymen or auction barn
operators (it's the cattlemen's association, here) out of their gold.

This is Texas partner, someone already has the franchise to get
everything. No mushroom farms nearby, got some once from a peddler
coming through with a bunch bagged up. Seems they raised the mushrooms
on pristine horse manure that was clean of all the drugs people feed
their critters. Was good stuff, but none of the small or large garden
centers here carry mushroom compost and it is expensive to ship.
Dunno whether you've been here, but Florida is sand or swamp.
Yup, used to fly into Naval Air Stations all over Florida and, in later
years had friends on both coasts of Florida so got to see a lot of it. I
think if I ever moved there it would about where you are as most of
southern Florida is liable to develop sink holes with nothing but a
little layer of dirt over fossilized coral.
The
nearest similitude to topsoil or humus is in hardwood hammocks and the
little remaining native forest, which never was exactly monumental.
Concentrating on each bed singularly until it was "right", in spring
'09, I began rejuvenating raised beds installed by my wife in May, 1997.
Had no home-brew compost on hand and relied almost exclusively, on
mushroom compost to provide what we OFs used to call "tilth" for the
first few seasons. The nearest independent seed-feed-hay-etc. woman was
more than willing to make a deal on a larger than average purchase at a
price which approached those of handy homeowner (Lowe's, Home Desperate)
within a few pennies. The drive was a bit further (NIF) but the
transaction much pleasanter and I was going there, anyway, to pick up
alfalfa pellets and wheat straw. Of course, YMMV.

I can't even find alfalfa pellets or rice straw around here. Years ago
they had a place down on the Neches River where the rice mills dropped
their hulls off to rot and it would catch on fire occasionally. Rice
hull ash seemed to concentrate all the minerals so I would go by there
every day on my way home from work and get a pickup load. That was good
stuff! Used to be Texas was number 2 in rice farming behind California,
not so much nowadays. California, Arkansas, Louisiana, and one of the
Carolina's are growing more. We live on what used to be a big wooded
area that was wrapped around a farm. Now it is all subdivisions with big
houses on small lots and lots of concrete. Last time we lived in Houston
area they had about 2 million folks here, now its over five million and
more are moving in daily. I don't get on the roads until after nine am
and before 3 pm because of the traffic.