Hi, sorry you've had no response yet, I think people might be thrown off by the wading pool idea. It seems a bit unusual. First of all you're going to need good drainage so you would need to poke a lot of good sized holes in the bottom. Second, the wading pools I've seen are only about a foot high and I'm not sure that a lot of plants will do well in that shallow of a dirt layer. As far as the dirt goes, depending on the quality of your dirt in your yard you may only need to add compost and I always use black cow in my vegetable garden. If your dirt is super bad and you want all bagged good dirt my favorite for vegetables is junglegrowth from Lowes. Good luck!

Well, this is where I got the idea: http://www.arts4all.com/elca/page2.html

And the ones I bought are 16" deep, and I can mound the dirt.
Thanks anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wading Pool Beds

I think that 12" deep would have been fine, unless you were planning to place the pools on top of concrete.

Sounds like a great idea. Post some pictures of your progress. I may have to try this wading pool idea too!

Hi Springhill, thanks for the link, very interesting site. They look like they should work nicely. I see they are calling for drainage holes which was my primary concern. And their idea for drilling the holes a few inches up along the sides to keep a "reservoir" of water in the bottom seems like a great idea, I would never have thought of it. I do highly recommend the junglegrowth soil. I plant my tomatoes in whiskey barrels with the junglegrowth. Please keep us posted how they work out.

Thanks, I'll try the junglegrowth soil, and keep you posted!

it's really kinda transition time for planting in the veg garden. i'd be leery, somewhat, of planting tomatoes or peppers or even eggplant this late in the game. in our zone, in six weeks or two months, the heat and humidity and (hopefully) rain will put an end to the useful life of most plants we think of as summer plants. forget chard. forget cukes. forget sweet peppers.

they're either producing now, or they won't produce.

i'd stick to crowders (god's gift to southern gardeners), sweet potatoes, cassava, sugarcane, celosia, malabar spinach (never grown it myself), okinawan spinach, basil, papaloquelite, okra...

there may be a few other veg crops (and several other fruit crops) that grow in high summer (july, august), but not many. the bugs or the heat or the rain will destroy anything else.

Thanks - I'll look into those other veggies and save my seeds for the fall. I appreciate the info!