Well, I've been lurking for a while and figured I'd introduce myself. I've basically read the entire square foot gardening forum along with the soil/compost forum. Lot's of great information here!!! Thanks!

Hmm, so where do I start? I guess I just jump in, eh? Warning, though, this might be long! :)

Back in '99 as a newbie I had started a 75'x25' organic garden. I had read some and decided to go with wide-bed planting. I cleaned out one guys old cow shed for him, drove 75 miles one-way for a pick-up load of worm compost (talk about a HEAVY load), gathered the "road apples" from the horses a friend kept across the road, rounded up old peanut hay for mulching and composting (not a good idea for mulch...weeds!), etc, etc.,. I started a steaming compost pile and by mid-July I had a fair garden going for a newbie. Corn was growing, tomatoes producing, butterbeans,

radishes, cucumbers, etc.,.

It was looking good. Sadly, my father became ill and after a 40 day vigil at the hospital with him (I thank the Lord that He made it where I could be with him) my father died. By the time I got around to really checking the garden out it was late August and the garden had succumbed to pigweed(peanut hay), bitterweed, and others along with being a dust bowl after the drought we had that summer. Really sad condition. Everything that happened that summer took a lot out of my heart, and subsequent events only added more damage...lost my brother in '01 (the three of us ran my father's business). I eventually leveled the beds back out and turned it back into grass. It seemed like suddenly there wasn't time for a whole lot of things in my life.

Well, I happened to pick up one of my old gardening books the other day and started reading some. Then I thought about the old copy of Mel's book that I had some stuck somewhere. Found it and started reading.

My interest got re-kindled. :) But, being older and realizing a limited amount of time that I'd have I decided I'd give square foot gardening a shot.

At the moment here is where I'm at...

I'm not overly concerned about growing anything in the beds this year...my goal is to have the beds prepared by winter/early spring.

For now I'm working towards two 4'x8' beds. I opted for some composite lumber to build the frames with (ouch$!). Being as I'm in south central Alabama and "HOT AND DRY" is a common phrase used here I wanted to go a touch deeper than 6". What I found was composite "trim" board that was 8 inches wide. The trim boards come in 12' secitons and are not quiet as thick as the deck boards...they bend a bit easier. I'm figuring on using posts of the same composite material to attach the sides together and stabilize the corners and the mid-way point of the 8' sides.

Not being knowledgeable about soil I would say that my soil is a sandy loam...maybe a foot or so deep before getting into red clay. I've got the beds oriented north-south and should get a minimum of 10 hours a day of summer sun... which I'm wondering might be too hot considering the heat down here.

I'd read about solarizing soil so figured I'd give it a try since I'm in no hurry to get things growing. On memorial day I de-sodded an 8'x 14' patch out in the old garden area (in the general vicinity where the bulk of the worm compost had been unloaded). I wet it down good and covered it in plastic. I don't know whether my effort will be worth it or not...the soil isn't completely level so the plastic doesn't completely touch the soil, but I can tell it's warming up in there.

Last Saturday I made a 30 mile trip to Lowes and picked up some items (besides some fencing material for my mother-in-law's dog). Organics that I purchased (and currently under a tarp)are:

3 3.8 cu ft bags of spaghum moss

6 40# bags of mushroom compost (Black Gold brand?)

2 50# bags of Black Cow compost

The composts I figure will help me toward filling the beds up and give the growing mix some variety. Hopefully I'll be getting my compost piles started before long. I've already contacted an old friend about cleaning up around their cattle feed-ring. I'm still trying to figure out the "browns"...we really don't have a lot of straw down here...mostly hay...bahaia, costal bermuda, etc., which I'd rather stay away from for seediness reasons. But, there again, if I can get the compost piles steaming like I did last time the seeds won't be an issue. :) Or, maybe I can get my old/new shredder/chipper fired up. :)

I've looked around for vermiculite and our local co-op can get it in a medium grade for $11.95 per 4 cubic foot bag. I've read where folks have gone with even the fine grade and it worked, though the functional use of it may dissipate quicker. Looks like I'll go with the medium grade since there's no shipping costs involved and I don't have to drive 100 miles.

Maybe it's some latent genes or something that makes me want to get a garden going...afterall, my father made his first crop with a mule when he was 8 years old. :)

Anyhow, just wanted to introduce myself, thank you for all the good information that you share, and let you know where I'm currently at in my gardening endeavor...and maybe get some tips and suggestions along the way. :)

Moist soil and warm temps to you,

Ed

In sunny and dry south central Alabama