Another new SFGer in NC

Hi fellow gardeners! I can relate to Heidi's post. Our yard is also pure clay. We had successful SFGs for a few years in NY. Then when we first moved here 3 years ago, we tried to use Mel's wisdom to help the clay - blending his perfect soil ingredients with the existing clay. It was not successful. Too messy to work in, stained our hands, roots couldn't get through it. So we're starting fresh. Today we removed the sod from a strip along the side of our yard about 30' by 2'. I'm excited that by devoting a little narrow strip we'll never miss, we'll get lots of good garden space. We're going to try making the box about 10" deep to make it easier to grow carrots and potatoes. Has anyone ever tried that?

When is a good time to plant peas from seed here? Looking forward to learning from everyone.

joyfulmommy

Welcome! I am not in NC but I enjoy reading the posts from everyone everywhere. You are going to love it here!

Goosegirl

According to the worker at Logan Trading you can plant peas now.

Heidi

Welcome. I'm over nearer the NC coast and 1 zone warmer. I planted some peas in a 1 1/2 x 2 plastice tub two weeks ago. They are up about an inch now.

Kay

Joyfulmommy wrote: when we first moved here 3 years ago, we tried to use Mel's wisdom to help the clay - blending his perfect soil ingredients with the existing clay. It was not successful. Too messy to work in, stained our hands, roots couldn't get through it. So we're starting fresh. Today we removed the sod from a strip along the side of our yard about 30' by 2'. I'm excited that by devoting a little narrow strip we'll never miss, we'll get lots of good garden space. We're going to try making the box about 10" deep to make it easier to grow carrots and potatoes. Has anyone ever tried that?

Joyfulmomy. So glad to have you here.
It sounds like you may have been using the original Square Foot Gardening book. Did you know there was an ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING book that came out around 2006? In it, Mel made SFG even easier, one of his major changes was instead of amending your exisiting soil, you create a new soil made of peat moss, vermiculite and blended compost and place that on top of your existing soil (and you don't mix it in). That way, you don't care whether your existing soil is clay, sand or any other "bad" type of soil.

Mel's new book also addresses the depth issue. 6 inches of Mel's Mix is enough for most of your crops. If you need a deeper depth for things like carrots and potatoes, you can build a "High Rise", an open bottomed box that is 6 or 8 inches high and place it on top of just the area where you need the greater depth.

Below is a link to our own SFG Foundation. They offer a bottomless square that you place over 1 Sq Ft of your garden and fill that with Mel's Mix.
Top Hat

We have also had members create their own bottomless high rise or top hat. I personally will be adding a high rise that is one foot by four feet (all across one side of my 4 X 4 SFG) so that I can grow several varieties of carrots over the summer. One type I am trying, Deep Purple, can grow 12 to 14 inches long!

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy yourself and grow some veggies.

Where in NC are you? There are 3 or 4 different hardiness zones that run through the state. Each one is going to have different start dates.

I'm out in WNC. I'm in zone 6b. I start my seeds and plant my plants about 2-3 weeks later than the folks out in Raleigh.

I am just south of Raleigh. I finally (today!) planted my cauliflower, cabbage, parsley, broccoli and kale seedlings. I seeded lettuce, beets, swiss chard, peas and onions. This is my first garden and I'm pretty excited about it. If it should fail the whole southeast might hear me wail. .

I think Raleigh is in zone 7 but I am in 8.

Heidi