Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any advice. I am doing my best to have a purely organic / natural garden, but I live in South Florida and it is a challenge with extremely sandy soil. The more organic matter I can get in my garden the better, but i live in a county that is pretty much one big city. Finding free stuff or cheap stuff is nearly impossible. There are no farms to ask for manure, hay, and even fall leaves are hard to come buy (trees don't lose all their leaves down here). If you want those you have to buy them. Anyway, someone told me that no cardboard or newspaper should ever get thrown out if I have an organic garden. It should all go in the garden. I've heard of the layering to control weeds with it and layering green and brown. My question is, is cardboard and newspaper really adding anything good to your soil? Is there anything in it that will actually help build real soil out of sand? Should I really be adding a lot or just the layer to control weeds?
It does help feed the worms which helps add organic matter. But there are other ways that may be faster.Are there small grocery stores or markets of any kind close? Over ripe vegetables or trimmings can be added to a simple compost pile you can make yourself with whats available. Even a few bags of cheap potting soil or what they call top soil can be converted to rich compost !! I can get 40 lb bags of potting soil here for $2.50 at my local garden center. What about your local vet ? Many do treat large animals even in metro areas and that would be a source of manure. And then there are riding stables,,just look in the yellow pages or on google. Check feed stores for sources of compostible manure,,chickens,rabbits,,horses or cows! I am sure others here will have more ideas! As to your sandy soil,, you may be surprised at how fertile it is. I am in Texas and my garden is deep sand. It doesn`t take as near as much to get a great garden as you think it does.
Hello, thanks for your ideas. The biggest reason I'm trying to add the most organic matter I can is that root knot nematodes are a huge problem down here. Most of the "experts" (county extention, master gardeners in the area, etc) tell me "oh tough luck, you'll have to grow in containers". In my opinion, containers are useful sometimes, but it's just not the same thing as having a garden. I've been trying to figure out how to combat them, but there doesn't appear to be any good way. Most say add organic matter. Other then that, there are some cover crops that may work or may not. I've tried lots of marigolds how they said, but it didn't do much if anything. Do you have a problem with nematodes in TX?
I have a compost bin, three actually, that made out of plastic trashcans. I compost everything I can. Including grass clippings, leaves, etc. I also mulch with woodchips as much as I can afford. (It's not even easy to get woodchips free down here. I am on lists for tree trimmers to dump their loads, but I'm still waiting.)
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/control-of-root-knot-nematodes-in-the-home-vegetable-garden This should help you. Its for north Carolina but is the same for all the southern states. We do not have a problem here but simple rotation of crops between spring and fall and year to year should keep the problem under control as well as planting resistant varieties. Just read the label when you are shopping for plants and seed. And keep a log of where each type of vegetable is located in your garden. Even moving the plants a few feet from the last location will work. And as a cautionary note,, the mulch you get free from the tree trimmers would not be something I would suggest unless you treat well for additional pests. I got half a truck load once and had more pests that came with the mulch. Ants almost took over the garden. Will never do that again.
Hey, thank you! I never thought about the pests coming with the wood chips. Good point! Everything is just so expensive. I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and both love their veggies. I am doing my best to grow clean chemical free vegetables for them to eat. I am sort of still a beginner when it comes to gardening, but I read everything about natural and organic gardening I can. Unfortunately vegetable gardening is not very popular down here, and organic / natural is even less popular. So it's hard to find people who are like minded. Thank you for all your knowledge
How large is your garden space ? You can also check with your city office,,many now are offering free compost from those tree trimmings and everyones yard waste and some compostible food scraps from restaurants and garbage waste. This is to help the environmental issues from getting rid of all the garbage in towns. Doesn`t hurt to ask. Talk to your neighbors,,lately there has been a boom in backyard chickens even in metro areas. Could be that someone in your neighborhood has chickens and you might get chicken litter there.The bedding mixed with manure would be good to add to your compost pile. Pet store perhaps for rabbit litter !! Just make sure if it comes from a pet store it is not mixed with any other type of manure. And you will need a pesticide,,no question there. Go to your local dollar store and buy a bottle of Sergeants cat flea and tick spray. The active ingredient in it is pyrethrin which is made from chrysanthemums and is approved for organics. You can mix an ounce of that to a standard spray bottle,,like a windex bottle,,plus a squirt of dish soap to keep your plants pest free ! And do not wait till the pests take over,,you can spray a light dusting at any stage of growth as a preventative. I start spraying mine at planting. I am not organic so I use permethrin which is the man made version of the same thing. All very safe.
Yes, I try to find stuff but normally it's a fail. Lol. My city offers nothing (woodchips, organic matter) and I actually wanted to get some chickens..... come to find out they are illegal in my city! If they find out you have chickens they will fine you $75 a day until you get rid of them! Grocery stores won't give old fruits and veggies because they say it's a liability issue. They would rather throw it out so you cant get it.
A green manure crop turned or tilled in might give you more organic material. Locally here in OH, if you ask your electric company, they will often gift you with chipped brush they have to otherwise pay to dispose of.
You are kidding ? You might be better off moving ! Was that from the produce manager or store heads ?
Store manager.... and believe me, a job is the only thing keeping me from moving right now. I would if I could.
My city doesn't allow chickens inside the city limits either, but that hasn't stopped some of our neighbors from having them....until someone complains to the city about the noise or one gets out of a back yard and becomes some one else's dinner. Kroger stores have bags of blemished fruits and veggies on a sale table for 50cents a bag but I can see where they would consider it a liability to give away old produce. In our "Sue" happy country some people are looking for any excuse to make a living off of law suits over anything they can come up with.
They could do the same as our bakery does here !! They have huge bags of old bread and baked goods for 7 dollars a bag. Now I know that many use them themselves ! They are just past the "best by" date. It is sold for animal food and to prevent being sued you must sign when you buy it that it is not for human consumption. So when you sign and you are aware of it,,even if you eat it and get sick you can not come back on the company and sue ! No one has ever become ill. Thats one good thing about small town living,, you can get to know the people at your local grocery store and rarely have problems like that !!
