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hard as a rock....

R

rhm3769

The ground at the new house is hard as a rock.... I don't have time to break it up, add in stuff and let it sit, break it up again and mix in more stuff and let it sit and repeat.... I also don't have the money to rent a tiller, and it seems like a waste for this roughly 8'x8' area.... or the money to buy a lot of stuff to amend it....
I saved about 3 18 gal container fulls of the mixture from my raised beds last year.... the ground is most likely only hard from not being broken for so long....
What's the easiest way to break through the surface and mix in this compost, soil, worm casting and gro mulch mixture?

Water it and start going at it with shovels and stuff?
Edit: the ground was similar at the old house, but pulling the weeds helped break it up a bit.... and being watered regularly....
It just wasn't as hard since it got more water than the new place.... the sprinklers iutside the fence don't go over the fence which is more like a wall here....
 
I had good results using a broadfork I picked up locally.  Same model as I have can be found here.  I stripped the grass off, used the broadfork to work in compost and the built a series of raised beds on top of the area I cleared and amended with great results.
 
Build a raised square-foot garden above the area and fill with your soil. Overtime it will break down what is below. I used 2 * 10 and did an 8 * 4 and a 4 * 4.
 
Rent a trencher or even a jackhammer. I have hard ground too. While back I ran some plumbing around the house and thought "I'll save the $50 or so, can't be that hard" - ohhhh was I wrong. Hard dirt will wear you out fast!
 
I have about 30 plants I need to get in the ground.... I only saved the cinder blocks I used for the two 4'x4' beds.... its only enough soil to fill one....
There's no grass, one weed that has sprouted....

Don't know the actual name of it, but at the old house I used a heavy rake.... and a small hoe and one of those smaller trident-thingies.... it worked fairly well, except for the tree roots I kept hitting....

I want to avoid renting any heavy equipment, it either bring it in through the house to the "yard" or haul it around the complex to the back.... either one is more effort than I'm looking forward to....
I don't know how long we'll be at the house, until august at a minimum, possibly july of next year, hopefully longer.... depends on how the marine corps downsizing plays out.... if they let me stay to attempt to get promoted and if I get promoted or not after that....
If I do the raised beds with the cinder blocks, I can get 20ish plants in there, that'd leave me finding homes for about 10.... I could probably cull some of the ones I have multiples for.... decisions decisions....
 
rhm3769 said:
I have about 30 plants I need to get in the ground.... I only saved the cinder blocks I used for the two 4'x4' beds.... its only enough soil to fill one....
There's no grass, one weed that has sprouted....

Don't know the actual name of it, but at the old house I used a heavy rake.... and a small hoe and one of those smaller trident-thingies.... it worked fairly well, except for the tree roots I kept hitting....

I want to avoid renting any heavy equipment, it either bring it in through the house to the "yard" or haul it around the complex to the back.... either one is more effort than I'm looking forward to....
I don't know how long we'll be at the house, until august at a minimum, possibly july of next year, hopefully longer.... depends on how the marine corps downsizing plays out.... if they let me stay to attempt to get promoted and if I get promoted or not after that....
If I do the raised beds with the cinder blocks, I can get 20ish plants in there, that'd leave me finding homes for about 10.... I could probably cull some of the ones I have multiples for.... decisions decisions....
Click to expand...
Or buy Walmart bags for .50 each and grow in those. 
 
rhm3769 said:
Water it and start going at it with shovels and stuff?
 
Click to expand...
 
This is your best option IMO. I had to do this last year on a 10x10ft area because I don't have a tiller and didn't want to go through the hassle of renting one. Wait until it rains, or wet down the area with a hose, use a proper digging shovel, and go for it.
 
Or just dig a hole for each plant, and backfill each hole with some of the good dirt you have so the plants get the most benefit from it. Peppers do not have big root systems at all and tilling the whole area might be a waste of time depending on how many you are putting in.
 
Mallory said:
 
This is your best option IMO. I had to do this last year on a 10x10ft area because I don't have a tiller and didn't want to go through the hassle of renting one. Wait until it rains, or wet down the area with a hose, use a proper digging shovel, and go for it.
 
Or just dig a hole for each plant, and backfill each hole with some of the good dirt you have so the plants get the most benefit from it. Peppers do not have big root systems at all and tilling the whole area might be a waste of time depending on how many you are putting in.
Click to expand...
Smart.... really smart.... I like it....
 
rhm3769 said:
I have about 30 plants I need to get in the ground.... I only saved the cinder blocks I used for the two 4'x4' beds.... its only enough soil to fill one....
There's no grass, one weed that has sprouted....

 
Click to expand...
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Or buy Walmart bags for .50 each and grow in those. 
Click to expand...
I think this is going to be your best bet. Looking at your set up the walls are pretty high and you have alot of tree coverage, By looking at your picture, I would be concerned about light getting to my plants. If you plant in containers you could set anywhere you see sunlight being the best. 
 
If you do decide to use this area, i would suggest looking on your local craigslist for a tiller service.  I used on my garden last year and I am so happy I did. Home depot wanted 65 for 4 hrs. Local tiller dude came out for 55 an hour, took him about 45 minutes to do a 50X15 area, going over it three times. Also if you want an alterantive for growing in a bag see here pretty cheap option....
 
http://www.gardenersedge.com/ROOT-POUCH-5-GALLON-WITHHANDLE-3-4-YEAR-BUNDLE-OF-10/p/RP5H3/
 
you @ pendelton??
 
You should be able to get into that with normal garden tools and some work.
I would suggest you use a garden fork, a big strong one you can jump on to push into the ground then pull backwards to rip the ground up. Once you have ripped it up with the fork you can then break down the clumps of dirt with your shovel or whatever other tools you have and mix in your additives then rake it :)
 
 
89089_A107EHii.jpg
 
Water the snot out of it.
Find a friend with a pickaxe or 5' bar.
Break the big hard spots with the axe, then fork it.
If it's clay, it will turn to soup and harden to pottery anyway without a large addition of other material.
 
you dont have money to rent a tiller? i would not think of putting a tiller there. its called 2 hours of hard work. grab a pick axe,ho,shovel ect,ect. and turn the soil.   
 
bore holes and dynamite ;)   think the neighbors will object?? :rolleyes:
 
darn it Bending you got ahead of me, demented minds do think alot alike!! ;)
 
 
pick ax to soften it up some if its as hard as you say then chop it up with a shovel then turn it
 
my spot was all fill and clay when i stared and started it with a shovel and then later borrowed a tiller from a friend until i got my own
 
having your own tiller is an indispensable tool, i even help my neighbor friend with mine and would be lost without it
 
my recommendation is that your pan depth should be at least 4 to 6 inches that will help with drainage better
 
A lot to respond to....
This is ok n the west side of the house.... right now, it gets plenty of sun from late morning to late afternoon.... its the only area I have other than doing a pot or two out front of the house and have to worry about the sprinkler system overwatering them....
Only mentioned not using a tiller as it was suggested for the old house and this is a smaller area.... looking for the easiest manual labor methods....
I'm on pendleton....
I have a shovel, a hoe, a rake that is more like the fork than a rake (don't know the technical name for it) and this smaller combo hoe and fork/rake.... at the last house, I mainly used the rake and the combo tool.... oh, and I have one of those garden weasel things, ground is too hard for that right now....

Really considering the individual holes for plants instead of doing the whole area.... my bigger beds at the last house, I didn't even mix stuff into the ground, just poured my soil and compost and stuff on top and spread it out.... when I broke everything down, the plants I had in there broke the surface with the roots.... its not that hard when it gets wet, after all....

Also, from the picture, I was facing roughly northwest when I took it.... I'm more worried about wind and animals than sun right now....

Currently my plan is to loosen everything up, wait about a week or so and make the holes for the plants, water the holes with a fish emulsion treatment, moisten the soil mixture with seaweed extract and mix in some more vermiculite, and plan on planting out towards the end of feb.... its 65 right now....

Thanks.... hopefully the neighbors can deal with the ferts for a bit since they wouldn't appreciate the tnt....
Oh.... those walls are about 4'....
 
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