Hello from Texas Hill Country, Canyon Lake

Hi everyone. I live north of San Antonio at Canyon Lake. I am putting in my first garden ever this year, and think the SFG is the way to go. Our land up here is solid rock, so this makes sense to build up.

I've bought the New SFG book, and am reading it now. We are having some ceder trees removed from the back yard so I will have a nice area of sun to build the garden. Also having to put in a fence, as the deer up here eat everything.

So I've found some sources for compost. There is a garden supply that has a mix of horse/turkey/molasses compost for $45 a yard. I will buy cow manure at Lowe's to add to that. I know Mel's book says a mix of 5 manures, but haven't been able to locate another source like rabbit, etc. Any ideas? Not wanting to "cheat" right away, but do you think I can get away with the blend of 4 manures as my compost portion of Mel's mix? I am starting my own compost pile for next year.

Think that's my only question for now.

TejasTerry

Welcome aboard Hill Country friend! I have seen some of the biggest deer in your part of the world....and the scariest armadillo ever (long story there). My family has land on the Frio river up near the headwaters and Prade Ranch. Such a beautiful place!!

Awesome that you are reading the book first. This forum is an outstanding compliment to what you are reading. Fire away with any questions you have and we will do our best to explain or point you in the right direction...or just debate back and forth with extra opinions.

Try as best you can to get all 5 compost sources. It really does make a difference. I don't know about you, but up here, it's nearly impossible to find one source at this time of year. However, in a couple of months (probably sooner for you), all the stores will be stocked up with different things. Also, check craigslist. Depending on how rural you are, you may have to get creative, but it's worth the effort. Doing it "right" the first time is what saves you all the effort on the back end.

Good to have you here. Hope to see more of you!

Hi TejasTerry to the SFG Forum. Using Google, I see there are many farms in your area. I see alpaca & goat farms and a horse boarding stable. Those are good places to hunt up compost/manure. If you have a farmers market, go visit the farmers there, someone may have compost/manure available

Hi from Houston area.. I have found mushroom compost that would work for one of your 5.

There is cow. rabbit, bat check both homedepot or lowes or maybe call around farming supply store and see if they can point you in a good place

Thanks for your welcome!

I am online looking for local farms, and am in the process of emailing some of these people, i.e. alpaca, rabbit farms, etc.

Does anyone know anything about deer droppings? My husband just pointed that out. He said they are basically like goats, eating the same grass, etc. We have deer everywhere. I just need to go out and hunt some up. Looks like this will help with my goal to get some exercise this year!

Deer scat should be good! pretty easy to clean up too. Good for you for finding more local sources!you may just get enough that you don't need to go hunt up deer scat! You are SOOOOO on your way!

TejasTerry wrote:Thanks for your welcome!

I am online looking for local farms, and am in the process of emailing some of these people, i.e. alpaca, rabbit farms, etc.

Does anyone know anything about deer droppings? My husband just pointed that out. He said they are basically like goats, eating the same grass, etc. We have deer everywhere. I just need to go out and hunt some up. Looks like this will help with my goal to get some exercise this year!

Welcome to the forum !!!

Deer and goats are in the same family, their "poops" will look like little round pebbles, google will have pics Im sure. Deer would be a perfect addition to the compost bin.

I found this link click >> http://www.hillcountrymastergardeners.org/resources_averages.htm I dont know if you already have it but it has good information on your zone 8b.

Happy Gardening !!!
Ha-v-v

Thanks for the link to the Hill Country Master Gardeners. I had not seen that yet.

On my way out to hunt for deer poop!

Talk about a needle in a haystack. I hope you aren't tying to find deer poo in the wild with enough volume to use in the compost?

I am just picturing you chasing deer through the Hill Country with a plastic baggy like my neighbors as they walk the dog.....only at a much faster pace.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Talk about a needle in a haystack. I hope you aren't tying to find deer poo in the wild with enough volume to use in the compost?

I am just picturing you chasing deer through the Hill Country with a plastic baggy like my neighbors as they walk the dog.....only at a much faster pace.

LOL, that is a funny thought, but if you saw the deer in our subdivision. We live in the country, but kind of a subdivision. The deer are all tame and will eat out of your hand. I just got in from about 30 minutes of "hunting". There are 2 wooded lots next to us and I got about 3 pounds of poop in that short time...SCORE !!!

So here's a pic of the deer next to our drive way...this is why we have to fence in the back yard for the garden:



[img][/img]

I should have known. You Hill Country people and your salt licks. I remember feeding deer down there. Cracked corn and a block of salt just brought them in so close you could almost ride them like horses.

That being said, if you keep them in the same place long enough, I bet you have more than an adequate "source" for compost. Great score!

Yep:

Just another thought, does your county or do you compost grass & leaves?

sfg4uKim wrote:Just another thought, does your county or do you compost grass & leaves?

I haven't started my compost yet. I have tons of leaves available from the wooded lots next to us. We don't really have formal "landscaping" out here because of the deer. They keep the grass down and we just have to weed eat once or twice a year. Everyone just keeps everything kind of natural.

The problem with county compost, I'm assuming, is the cedar. Again, I'm new to all of this, and will check into it.

TejasTerry wrote:So I've found some sources for compost. There is a garden supply that has a mix of horse/turkey/molasses compost for $45 a yard. I will buy cow manure at Lowe's to add to that. I know Mel's book says a mix of 5 manures, but haven't been able to locate another source like rabbit, etc. Any ideas? Not wanting to "cheat" right away, but do you think I can get away with the blend of 4 manures as my compost portion of Mel's mix? I am starting my own compost pile for next year.

TejasTerry, we are so glad you joined us.

I did notice in your opening post that you were looking for another type of manure to round out your 5 way compost blend. Looks like the deer may help out there, but since Mel recommends 5 sources of compost, may I suggest that you add in something other than manure, such as mushroom compost, food waste compost or forest/yard waste compost so the nutrition is really coming from a wider variety of sources.



Again, Welcome and please keep us posted on your progress.

I did locate some mushroom compost at Lowe's...I will probably use that with the mix.
I have started my own compost pile for kitchen scraps. Will be working on that through the coming year.

On another note, I found a hydroponics store in San Antonio that carries the course vermiculite. Looks like things are going well for the start of my SFG.

Terry

TejasTerry wrote:I have started my own compost pile for kitchen scraps. Will be working on that through the coming year.

On another note, I found a hydroponics store in San Antonio that carries the course vermiculite. Looks like things are going well for the start of my SFG.

Score!