My Garden in the Ozarks

[Hillman]

Use to be there was alot of Grain farming in the Ozarks.Pick rocks all Winter getting ready to plant.Got neighbors now last couple years have been Truck Farming.

Really the soil is pretty good once you get past the rocks.The only thing I see is you have to water more because of it being Sandy.

hillman

[HMcD]

I noticed some folks are having trouble with the honeysuckles. Here is a website that can help; Bush Honeysuckles: Morrow's and Amur Honeysuckle [Lonicera morrowii Gray and L. maackii (Rupr.) Maxim.].
There are other species, including natives, that would make very good additions to your yard without the risk of introducing invasive species. Planting this one (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LORE5), the grape honeysuckle, could help it from disappearing altogether. Another, the yellow honeysuckle (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LOFL), is a personal favorite and many oldtimers remember this one as 'the honeysuckle".

[Silvermouse]

Originally Posted by HMcD

I noticed some folks are having trouble with the honeysuckles. Here is a website that can help; Bush Honeysuckles: Morrow's and Amur Honeysuckle [Lonicera morrowii Gray and L. maackii (Rupr.) Maxim.].
There are other species, including natives, that would make very good additions to your yard without the risk of introducing invasive species. Planting this one (PLANTS Profile for Lonicera reticulata (grape honeysuckle) | USDA PLANTS), the grape honeysuckle, could help it from disappearing altogether. Another, the yellow honeysuckle (PLANTS Profile for Lonicera flava (yellow honeysuckle) | USDA PLANTS), is a personal favorite and many oldtimers remember this one as 'the honeysuckle".

Thanks!

[HMcD]

There is a lot of conflicting information regarding the safety of raised beds constructed of treated wood. The primary treatment of wood is chromated copper arsenate. One study by Texas A&M indicated there was no difference between the amount of arsenic naturally present in soils and the amount in soils contained by CCA-treated wood. If you are concerned about conventional treated wood, check around and see if there is a local supplier for treated wood that doesn't contain arsenic. The most common is Type ACQ-D (alkaline copper quat). For more information in this regards, try;

USDA Forest Products Lab ---> Forest Products Laboratory - USDA Forest Service
or
American Wood Preservers Inst. ---> awpi.org

[Hillman]

I just went down cut some Small Logs tied them together.i know they will rot away in couple years but their cheap and not hard to replace.Then had some Blocks too.

My Garden is small but I'm getting alot off it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/oneshot/003garden2.jpg (broken link)

hillman

[Nu2pomona]

Hillman - that looks like my garden plot back in Wisconsin. There the soil was so sandy I had to use raised beds, too. Only difference was I filled the holes in the blocks with soil, too, and planted lettuce and spinach in them. There is a book called Square Foot Gardens (I think that's the title). You don't need to read the book.

Here in Pomona, I'm using some old utility poles the power company cut in half and left behind after the ice storm in 2007. I hauled them home with my garden tractor and simply set them end to end, with a half pole across the top and the bottom. Then we got some river bottom soil and I worked in lots of grass clippings and shredded leaves. Soil was ok last year, better this year and should be great by next planting. Good soil, like so many things, takes time.