mounded rows or not

Ok, Who makes mounded rows in their garden and who plants on the flat ground. And tell me why you do it your way. I have in the past mounded the row up, but my 92 year old neighbor who swears by the moon. plants on a flat surface, no mounding.

I'm wanting to try it the flat way this year, I don't have water standing in my garden usually.

kathy_ann

I tried both ways last year with my corn. The corn in the flat rows did much better because the mounded rows dried out too fast in our dry hot climate. Some of my veggies were in raised beds and they really did well. The issue in our area is water retention in the soil since it gets so hot and dry. It can really be hard on seedlings if they even dry out a little bit. I think it depends on what kind of weather you get as to whether raised rows work or not.

Angela

I tried mounding years ago with little improvemeent over flat planting. I finally figured that as long as I was doing all that work, I might as well try raised beds. Haven't looked back. I now grow all my vegetables in raised beds. About the only long tools I need are a good spading fork, a rake and a hoe. I do have a mantis tiller should I get lazy.

RBB

I also live in a hot dry area, dry air too, with about 20% humidity at best, and wind that just sucks the life out of things. No raised beds or mounded rows here. I think it depends a lot of your humidity, wether it rains in the summer, wind, things like that. I hope this helps you figure it out. Maybe you could try a row or two next to the same crop on flat ground so you can compare the results.

Raisedbedbob, that's a neat DG name, thanks everybody for helping with this, we live in Arkansas, it does get real dry in the summer here, and I think I'm going to give flat row planting a try this year to see if it makes a diff. Also wanted to ask raisedbedbob, about your mantis tiller, I wanted to buy one last year, but a friend has a small tiller similar and he said it was a crock he had to pull it backwards to get any traction in the ground, is the mantis the same way.

thanks again
kathy_ann

There are a few vegetables that benefit greatly from listing. Sweet potatoes are one of them. In heavier soils, watermelons also benefit from a wide low list. (List = long low mound)

Sweetpotatoes for sure...and standard taters, too.

I plant with both methods here, "flat" rows and "raised rows". The idea is to have a nice friable soil that retains water and encourages good root growth keeping in mind some plants grow roots deeper than others.

I'll plant my corn on flat rows, then when it is up 8 inches or so will go between the rows and throw soil up next to the stalks. This not only encourages more root growth but in the process tends to stabilize the corn, helping to keep it from lodging during high winds. The extra root growth also brings more water to the plant. (Plus the process is also weeding/cultivating.)

Plants that will grow to have much foliage (tomatoes, for example) (I don't prune suckers) can be grown on raised rows. In our clay, nearly "hard pan" soil, the hilling of the raised rows provides a more friable medium. By the time the hot months roll around the foliage of the plants are protecting the ground from direct sun, and also the drying effect from the sun.

kathy ann...I forget where you said you were. Often-times knowing locations will really help with giving answers. (You can do this on your Menu page, probably under Preferences.)

Raised beds are the only way to go.....

Kathy_ann, Yes, you do have to pull the Mantis tiller backward. It semed odd at first, but I'm used to it now. The disadvantage is that most of the people I know don't have eyes in the backs of their heads (including me) so I end up looking over my shoulder a lot. An advantage is that you don't walk where you just tilled. I really is amazing how strong this machine is. Honda makes a portable walk behind tiller that has a 4 stroke motor. I have no experience with it, but I bet it aint cheap.

RBB

thanks horseshoe, I've been wondering why I didn't have my zone and where I was from under my name and everybody else did. I'm real new to DG I'm getting the hang of it though LOL

kathy_ann

kathy ann...you're welcome.

Arkansas? Cool! (I once thought of moving there, years ago.) We have a pretty cool member here also in Arkansas. Her name is Bitty. Keep an eye out for her...who knows, maybe she lives right up the road from you!

By the way, in case I haven't said it before...
A hearty welcome to DG! Best place on the 'Net!

thanks for the welcome horsehoe> I like arkansas, it's one of the safest states I think, LOL safe from hurricanes, most tornados, earthquakes. LOL We don't get too much dissasters around here.

kathy_ann

Aw,thanks for the complement Horseshoe.

This message was edited May 19, 2005 10:29 AM

good to meet you too bittysgarden , make your own broom ha? so cool. I make goatmilk soaps/lotions creams, lip balms, and all that other good stuff. I use to sell it, but now I just do it for the fun of it. I trade alot of it for plants. LOL I'm overwhelmed now with too many plants.

kathy_ann

Hi, I raise my veggies on flat ground. Could I have that recipe for goat milk soap? We make decorative soap for ourselves and I have been wanting to try it.
Thanks

Hi Bluegrass452

Well, I have lots of recipes for making soap, as I make the recipes up myself. I could give you several recipes, but Do you have the oils that I used in these recipes and do you know how to switch the oils out and run it through the calculator again, after you use a diff oil than in my recipe? I give my recipes out all the time, but most of the time they don't have the same oils I have, and one needs to be changed out. let's see if I can find one real fast that I know traced fast and turned out well, I can vouch for them turning out well as hot process soaps, I don't do cold process soaps that often

here's one I scented with purely herbal fo

l5 oz olive oil
4 oz jojoba oil
l0 oz coconut oil
l0 oz palm kernal oil
4 oz shea butter
5 oz sunflower oil
l8 oz goatmilk
frozen and busted up in small pieces
6.67 oz lye, I pour my lye right on top of the frozen pieces of milk, this way when it dissolves it is a nice creamy color or yellow color, not a burnt orange you might get with using reg. goatmilk not frozen or slushy.


if you need any more help with this recipe let me know. I'll check back later on

kathy_ann