howelbama, I was thinking the same ting about the roots rotting out, but it seems like the things with shallower roots (i.e., green onions, green beans) are suffering while the taproot stuff like cilantro and beets did well. I have not had my soil tested yet but I will do so ASAP. Maybe I just didn't mix the soil well enough from the get go. The soil within the raised bed drys out quickly while the clay below the bed stays super moist. My landscape beds are in the same clay soil and they seem to be doing fine so I think it's something to do with the planting mix and how well I mixed it into the native soil. Jean, I will pull some plants to see if nematodes are part of the problem too. Thanks for the tip Missingtheobvious, the planting mix was from Armstrong nursery ( a local chain in So-cal.) Actually some of the bags were topsoil and some of them were a a mix suited for planting veggies and flowers. All organic stuff, but I don't have the ingredients to share with you. The raised beds are a foot deep. Their size is 4'x8'. No twisted leaves or stems, just yellowing plants that stop growing. Again, however, my lettuce, cilantro, beets and collards were amazing.

Start by contacting you counties office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension service (supported by Alabama A & M and Auburn Universities) about having a good, reliable soil test to find out the pH of that soil and the amounts of the major nutrients in that soil. You might also want to use these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what you have now and help you determine what you may need to do. Your plants could be having problems with nutrients because 1. they are not available, 2. nutrients are not available because of the soils pH, 3. the Soil Food Web is not yet working and feeding your plants. Spraying pesticides without identifying the pest problem is not organic. Keep in mind that Neem products are pretty broad spectrum poison just an most other organic pesticides and the synthetic ones.

You might find this posting informative: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/calif/msg0800173922548.html?9861 Several responses link to planting quides for Warm and Cool weather vegetables for California. I've used them to plan my fall/winter garden. Hope they help you, too. Here is a link that might be useful: What to do in my 1st year vegetable garden in August?

Wow! Loads of more great information. I never even thought of trying used carpet for the walkways between the beds. What a neat idea. Carol, I've run into scorpions (and collided with them) several times here, and it's becoming a dangerous situation for me. I don't think I can afford another sting. We also clearly have snakes, although I've only found one copperhead so far. Now that I know they're around, I keep a closer eye you for them. I noticed that a lot of you have talked of edging material to use as a stopper for the Bermuda grass. It just dawned on me that we still have a whole lot of corrugated metal around from the old chicken pens that have either been destroyed or that need to be taken out. It's really awful stuff to cut, because it's heavy, but anyone who can use it for a garden project is welcome to come and get it. You'd have to do it yourselves, because I'm too feeble to be of any help when it comes to that sort of thing, but it's definitely free. It's just a thought. Roofing for a garden shed? Anchor it as a lean-to shelter for partial shade or windbreak? Lots of different applications, and we have LOTS of it. Bunches and bunches of it. It will just take some muscle to get it out of here. I think my major stumbling block with the whole garden plan is going to be in how to set up some sort of shade without it turning into a big construction project. I really don't want to go there, any more than I want something that a storm can take down or send flying off into Arkansas. Not easily, anyway. My garden plot is not only in full sun. It also gets bounced heat on one end from the back of one of the metal shop buildings to compound the problem. In a normal year it probably would not be such an issue. In temperatures like we've been seeing, it becomes a serious problem. It's hard to keep even the peppers from sagging and wilting. I've even thought about taking cattle panels and running two of them anchored together to make a 32' length and then arching it in a big bow that runs N-S in the garden. Subtracting the distance it would need to go down, it would still leave me with over 20' of span that I could use to suspend shade cloth. The plants would still get some direct sun, but the worst of the midday sun would be cut way down. This needs a whole lot more thought. I don't want to run into a situation of massive overkill, and I think I'm headed in that direction. At least it certainly seems that way. There has to be an easy and effective way to do it, and still leave room for the plants to grow and for me to be able to reach them fairly easily. Hmmmmm. Think, think, think. Or, we could set up the vertical cattle panels and then set posts on all 4 corners and in the middle of the span to support another panel that would balance flat across the top, in a giant T. As far as I'm concerned, anything that climbs up over 6' in height is going to be too much for me to reach anyway, so the overhead crosspiece should not get in the way of anything. I could run my shadecloth across it much easier and a lot more economically (that stuff is expensive!) and it should do the job . . . at least in theory. Right? It would not be as sturdy as the arch, but the shade cloth doesn't have much wind resistance. It we have it well anchored, it just might work. Chandra, I had no idea that HD will rent tillers. We don't have one in Shawnee and the place we rented from last spring had awful equipment. It was old and battered and half broken-down. We had thought of going to Pioneer Rental next year, but I'm not sure what they have available. Has anyone used the HD store in Norman? That's the closest one to us. Do they have Mantis tillers for rent?? That would be awesome. Pat