"Fiddler" wrote in message
oups.com...
Greetings All,

Just wanted to introduce myself and meet the gang. I'm starting a
garden this year on the west side of my 2 acre property. I've looked
at all of the conventional methods of earth gardening and have
determined that my garden sight needs a lot of work before I can plant.

Right now, it's under about 2 inches of water from the 3 inch rainfall

Why? Is your soil a clay base, of is it because your yard is lower than
theneighbors? If it is clay, your raised gardens will require you to bring
in dirt rather than use what you have there.


we had over the weekend. With this in mind, raised beds and good
drainage seems the only option and the time and expense involved with
having that ready for spring planting is a little bit of a problem.
I've ordered my seeds and built my seed starting rack but I'm now
thinking that maybe Hydroponics is the way to go this year and work on
the garden plot between now and the fall. Lots of compost material
with a two acre yard.

First I would decide what I wanted to grow. Raised beds will allow you to
plant things that you will never move again, such as asparagus, artichokes,
etc. (I dont move my garlic bed either). Also wastch the entire area for
the availability of 6 to 8 hours of sunshine a day. Plant things requiring
"full sun" in those areas.

Since the plot that I am considering is covered with Bermuda grass, I

Get rid of that first. If you dont it will come back to haunt you. The one
I am familiar with comes back from seed, not roots. To eliminate that,
spray it with a grass killer such as "Over the Top". Then after you have
killed the existing plants, I use a seed sterilant such as Preen.


am considering raised beds in a 12" to 18" frame. The problem with
this is finding enough good garden soil and organic material to fill
the beds and still have time to get them planted.

Work on one or two. Do what you can this year and then do another one or
two for next year.


I bought a book on
lasagna gardening and think this is promising. The author says you can
plant in the beds as soon as they are built.

You didnt say where you live, but I would think weather would plat an
important part in deciding when you would plant.

Good luck and let us know how you did. Dwayne

I would love to hear from
anyone that have overcome similar problems and the methods they used.

Since I'm new to this group, your opinions would be invaluable in
determining
a proper course. I'll admit, Hydroponics is a complete paradigm shift
for me as I grew up in the cotton fields. I look forward to hearing
from you and hope that I can add something to the group.


Best Regards


Bob (Fiddler) Sawyer