Hello from Southwest Texas

[TReeves]

My family and I live in El Paso,Tx. Last year we had a small container garden. This year we decided to use most of the backyard for a larger one. I'm looking forward to getting information and tips from other people!

 

[journey11]

Welcome, TReeves! Make yourself at home. Hope we can be of some help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Glad you came over to us from BYC. Just jump on in. We'll be glad to share anything we can and we'd like to learn from you.

 

[digitS']

Howdy, Hi there!

I'm curious, what kind of containers might this be, taking up "most of the backyard."

I'm not very experienced with season-long container-growing but imagine that it could be a very good choice in an arid environment.

Welcome to TEG!

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Hi TReeves and welcome to this great group of really nice people. I have a few containers that I grow in but they require more work. What did you grow in yours and how big were your containers? Like you I am using more and more of my yard for edibles. When space is at a premium you really need to use it the best you can.

Mary

 

[TReeves]

Howdy, Hi there!

I'm curious, what kind of containers might this be, taking up "most of the backyard."

I'm not very experienced with season-long container-growing but imagine that it could be a very good choice in an arid environment.

Welcome to TEG!

Steve

Last year we planted a summer and winter garden in tires(cleaned very well and painted a light color) spaced around the yard. The only things we grew in the ground were watermelons and okra. We also had some smaller containers (5 gallon buckets) for some other produce. We've always had to container garden (on balconies mostly because we lived overseas) so, we took it to the extreme last year. Having the tires enabled us to really monitor water levels.

This year we have alloted most of our yard (with exception if space for the dogs and our small chicken coop) for regular in the ground gardening. I still have 12 tires that I'm going to plant herbs in. I also have a chicken wire potato planter and several PVC Pipe strawberry planters.

I'm going it's not a wasted effort to put it in the ground but, we'll see.

 

[TReeves]

Hi TReeves and welcome to this great group of really nice people. I have a few containers that I grow in but they require more work. What did you grow in yours and how big were your containers? Like you I am using more and more of my yard for edibles. When space is at a premium you really need to use it the best you can.

Mary

I used old tires. I scrubbed them with dawn to get all the nasty stuff off. Then painted them white. I figured the black would draw heat to them and it gets hot enough here. I laid landscaping tarp in the bottoms and filled with dirt.

I planted tomatoes, peppers ,garlic ,onions, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes and strawberries. For the potatoes I stacked 3 tires on top of each other and filled with dirt as needed. I had an okay crop. The cucumbers were stacked 2 high just to get them off the ground. I had a decent crop of everything. It was our first year planting here so we had a steep learning curve. Hoping this year will be better. I'm still planting in the tires this year but their Latin had been moved to the patio.

 

[majorcatfish]

welcome TReeves you found a good bunch of people !!! here at TEG theres no such thing as a bad question when it comes to gardening...

 

[Lavender2]

Welcome to TEG @TReeves !

You are worried to plant in the ground because of the soil? ..or weeds/grasses? .. or water table? Just curious. There's lots of gardening knowledge floating around here! It sounds like you have experience and tips for container gardening in the heat.

I bet you are already in your garden!

 

[TReeves]

Thanks @Lavender2,

The soil in the backyard is sand and rocks(with a high PH level). Water can be an issue in the summer if we dint get enough rain in the fall. But, that shouldn't be an issue this year it actually rained last month! We added some compost to it hoping that will help. I also have a Beagle that likes to dig he's already figured out how to get under the fence.
I had a small container garden on my balcony when we lived in Germany so, I've got hot and cold under my belt.
I'm glad I've found a place that I can get more information. Ideally in 7 years (my husband will be retiring) we will be starting a medium homestead somewhere in the US.