Just my (humble) opinion...

Looks like you have a nice space for a garden. You are really limiting yourself by planting in those cinder blocks and in most ways you are doomed for failure. You need to rethink the whole thing. Possibly start with one raised bed. You can build a raised bed (without sides) using the lasagne method easily and cheaply. In a 4'X 8' space you can grow several crops, but not corn. Corn requires space and many plants for pollination. Google "lasagne method of gardening" and you will get many links that will help you get started.

I have almost 2 acres but I'm limited by money.. My husband is on unemployment right now and going to school and I still haven't been able to get a job.. Trust me, I would absolutely love to build several raised beds and have a large sprawling garden.. Once my husband gets done with school and gets a good job, you can bet your bottom I'm going to have a huge garden.. = )

I planted over lawn in my garden by first laying down a thick layer of newspaper and/or cardboard (that I got for free from the back room at Lowes). Over that, I spread a mix of steer manure and top soil which are extremely inexpensive (less than $1 for 2 cu feet). I think you could do a 4' by 4' square over your lawn for less than $5. You can dig your holes right through the layers. The paper and dirt act like mulch to keep the surrounding grass down and will eventually decompose into the existing soil.

You'll get a lot more produce from your plants if you take advantage of the great earth you're already on.

The project in progress:

{{gwi:103895}}

Here kittikity...here kittikity

Did you get loribee2's message?

You are going in a wrong direction with those blocks

Too late now.. Soil is in place and seeds are planted.. I guess we'll find out.. Mother nature is giving them a good soak right now..

It's possible the roots would grow through the bottom of the cinder blocks down to the grass where they could get more room. I'll be interested to see how your project turns out. I know of people who grow herbs and onions in the cinder block cells. It seems tomatoes and squash would need lots more room than that, but one never knows until they try! Good luck!

kittikity...

I wise animal trainer once said...
"It's never too late to learn from your mistakes and to do the right thing!"

For anyone that is curious how my experiment went, it started off well..

Everything sprouted except for the onions.. But then I think I fell prey to several newbie mistakes.. For instance, the corn, beans and peas started off well but then didn't get very big.. I believe I needed to fertilize them better.. I picked a couple of peas right off the vine and ate them right there.. Very very tasty.. Can't get any fresher than that..

The squash and zucchini started off like gangbusters but then got attacked by bugs and almost seemed to melt away..

The cherry and Rutgers tomatoes ended up doing well until an early frost hit and pretty much killed the plants.. I guess I planted them too late.. I actually got some cherry tomatoes though since they seemed to mature before the Rutgers did.. The Rutgers were almost ready to ripen when the frost hit..

So everything started off well, but didn't turn out well due to my inexperience.. But I will learn from my mistakes..

I probably won't be planting anything this year as we'll be moving this summer.. If I do plant anything it will be in containers so I can take it with me.. Will I try the cinder blocks again? I'm not sure yet.. The only problem (other than my mistakes) that I had with this setup was mowing around the blocks.. I have a riding mower with no bag on it so I had to be very careful not to push over the blocks and I got a lot more grass blown on my plants then I would have liked.. But again, something else to learn from..

For your new place, if you put your cinder blocks in a square, you can plant in the center, it's not too late to plant something, sweet potatoes, potatoes, maybe sunflowers, herbs,and beans. All love hot weather and will still grow.

My most annoying problem with buckets, which is why I stay away from growing anything, is they dry out very fast. If you are in 9b likely you will be better to water at night. If in midday, it will make them droop and stress them out.

You can make wattle beds, cut as many 3 inch small trees cut the thicker ends about 2 feet, plant them 1/3rd the way in the perimeter of your beds, then weave the smaller skinny branches or twigs, about 2 to 1 inch thick in between the planted 3 inch sticks. They used to use this method even to build houses.

There are lots of free goodies if you go riding in the country, some horse manure and all. Good luck on your new garden area.