New farmer needs help

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by Nicky seedling, Mar 28, 2009.

  1. Nicky seedling

    Nicky seedling Member

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    Location:
    Boynton Beach FL
    So i have this plot of land that i intend to plant some veggys to feed my friends and family. The area used to be an onion farm. The ground mostly sand(south west Florida).
    My land area gets alot of sun!
    I really need help, and i am completely new to farming a large plot (70m x 40m)
    I need to know what will grow well, i really want to try tomatoes from seeds, and an assortment of other veggies. What can tolerate high sun and sandy ground?

    Any help is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. Vera eastern wa

    Vera eastern wa Active Member

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    Location:
    Eastern Washington, USA
    For one if the ground is extremely sandy it is not going to hold on to much nutrients or moisture. Taller crops won't have much anchorage.
    Carrots and Watermelon grow well with sandy soil, but for such veggies as tomato, pepper, eggplant, okra, cabbage family, ect. you mostly likely will require some compost and soil brought in to build the native soil giving it the ability to hold on to nutrients and moisture. If you have the means you could build several raised plots and fill them with brought in soil/compost mix. In my area we have what is called a three-way mix from landscape suppliers; it is a soil, sand and compost mix.
     
  3. Nicky seedling

    Nicky seedling Member

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    If i make the plots raised like you say, how long will i have to wait for the soil to settle until i can plant my crops. I have my tomatoes etc, in seedling trays now, and they will be ready to plant in a week.
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Two to three days - raised beds have a great advantage over tilling that way.

    If you're doing outdoor tomatoes, you'll want to support them somehow. The cheapest way I've found is a tripod of bamboo stakes (the thin ones) and hemp or jute twine to support the plants as they grow. If you've got viny varieties, you can actually train them to grow around the tripod in a conic shape - this increases the leaf area exposed to the sun, and also helps with fruit set and quantity. (This works great for running beans, squashes, etc, the only difference being the weight and height of the bamboo you use. I've done pumpkins this way on the kind of bamboo normally reserved for scaffolding.) You might also want to invest in some red lanscaping cloth for the tomato portion of the garden - in my experience, you get more ripe fruit faster that way. Certainly it's what the commercial growers down here in Ecuador do.

    One thing that will love sandy soil and lots of sun is Asparagus. You won't get a harvest the first year, but the next year you'll be up to your ears in it. You can also do Artichokes in that soil without any amendment, and probably also potatoes (they grow in the worst soils here.) As you're in Florida, I'd also reccomend that you put in banana plants on one edge of the garden. Again, they won't mind the soil so long as you feed them a balanced fertilizer once a month and as much water as they can drink, and as they grow they'll provide a bit of shade for veggies that aren't so full-sun tolerant, like lettuces and spinach. Added bonus - bananas in a year or two. Dwarf Cavendish is a good banana for this kind of edible landscaping, and the bonus is that they're available at places like Lowe's and Wal-Mart for about $5. I'd plant 5 or 6, myself.

    You seem to have a fairly large piece of land to garden in. Are you urban or rural? If you're rural, you should consider keeping a pair of turkeys as well - this way you won't have to spend for insecticides, just let 'em loose in the garden all day. Turkeys won't eat your veggies, but they're absolute death on pest species, right down to aphids. They'll also eat dandilions, which is fantastic IMHO.
     

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