I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I
plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some
vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has
horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed
same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water
and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean,
dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance
for your advice and your time.

wrote:
I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I
plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some
vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has
horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed
same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water
and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean,
dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance
for your advice and your time.



I am in 5a and use raised beds (most are 4'x8') made from 2"x8"s. I
break up the sod and soil underneath with a tiller then fill the bed
with bagged soil, a half bag (minimum) of peat as well as the necessary
additions of compost, composted manure, bone meal etc. By adding the
bagged soil with the peat, you're creating an ideal medium for your
vegetables. It's best to have at least 8" of soil on top of the clay.
The height will also enable you to create mounds to ensure proper
drainage. At this late date, I imagine you'll only get radishes going.
You might get something out of the rest if the summer lasts into October.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East

wrote in message
ups.com...
I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I
plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some
vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has
horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed
same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water
and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean,
dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance
for your advice and your time.


I have heavy clay silt here on top of plastic clay, this is my treatment:

0) locate vege garden on a slight slope
1) build raised beds
2) add gypsum to break up the clay
3) add much organic matter (manure, compost etc), repeat at least annually,
more often if cropping heavily
4) check pH and add lime if required (clay is often acidic), repeat annually
5) Never, ever, walk on your beds


The result is exceedingly fertile, I can grow almost anything well. The
problems that I have had are not related to drainage.

David

In article . com,
wrote:

I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I
plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some
vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has
horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed
same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water
and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean,
dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance
for your advice and your time.

Asparagus.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

wrote:
I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I
plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some
vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has
horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed
same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water
and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean,
dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance
for your advice and your time.

Obviously it would be best to go raised beds, as others have said. I
would even use patience and fill the beds with manure or compost, even
though some vegetables will not like it initially. The manure or
compost will start a large earthworm population which will do much
turning for you.

The second thing you can do is to leave roots of plants that are not
disease prone in the ground after the plant has died. The larger and
the deeper the root, the more drainage it will create when decaying.
Two vegetables that fit the bill of tolerating heavy clay, being
disease free, and having a large taproot are radicchio or any other
chicory and cardoon.

Thanks to all who replied to my previous message. I have just one more
thing I need to know. How high should the raised bed be?

wrote:

Thanks to all who replied to my previous message. I have just one more
thing I need to know. How high should the raised bed be?



I use 2x8s to surround my bed, so the sides are 8 inches high. The soil
doesn't always come to the rim, so on average, my beds are five or six
inches deep (with the soil under the bed also accessible to the roots).

It's quick and easy to put one together. I get three (untreated) 2x8s,
cut one in half and nail them together in a box. I also mulch around the
beds. It makes a nice path and dissuades slugs and weeds from popping up
in between the beds.

The four foot width makes it easy to access everything growing in the
bed and allows you to easily use row covers or netting if necessary. (I
cut plastic PVC tubing to make mini greenhouses out of them with the row
covers - can keep the temp as high as 4 degrees warmer inside during the
cooler months).

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.

I am in zone 7 but we have very poor drainage and I got a book called lasagna gardening where we put a lot of organic material on top of the ground. we just add more organic material every year then plant the garden. it works very well.