>way down south in the land of traitors, rattlesnakes and alligators
>building a new garden
>what do?
My current test garden just wastes water past June, it's too hot to grow anything. Should I even bother trying to have a productive garden thru summer or am I screwed and should just try getting bunch of junebearers/determinate tomatoes and stuff like that. Last frost is around March 15th.
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Any books on hot weather gardening so I can RTFM.
I grew up in zone 6, I have to completely change my old gardening habits.
shade cloth? subterranian green house? hegelkulture deep bed? Geo-thermal cooling, rock heat sinks, solar powered fans, anon do you even lift?
We need more information about your location to help
> t S FL
Central TX, I've got a shitton of space to work with
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Plan so far for garden 2.0:
>location right next to a foresty area that gets shade for at-least 1/3 of the day.
>shallow well, forest area is unusually green and forms a 1' deep pond when it rains, ground water must be close
> watering pump on a timer
>use micro clover as living mulch, I'm lazy and hate weeding
>no raised beds
>wooden plank paths between beds
>electric fence to keep hogs/deer/coons away
How are you growing anything in the soil unless you're around Fredericksburg. Austin area is too rocky and the soil sucks, has to be a raised bed. If you have a well set up some drip lines. Tomatoes do ok until summer and then it's pointless to keep them out, even if watered the sun is too much.
Sounds like you have a nice space though. grapes will do well and so will dewberries
>too rocky and the soil sucks
It does, it's rock and clay. I'm worried about rised beds drying out even more. I have them just at 6" tall now, and I have dug out about a foot down and replaced that shit with nice topsoil.
>grapes
grandpa had a nice vineyard and taught me how to run it and make wine
I had to move away to burgerland for political reasons but Intend to start my own
few neighbors already have theirs so I'll be in good company
>RIP grandpa, thank you for teaching me
picrel
Look up/contact the closest Texas University Ag extension office for info. Tons of free info for your region.
I'm sure your state will have something similar to this.
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/plant-of-the-month/what-to-plant/what-to-plant-in-august.html
They do, what with getting all the guberment money, unis are mandated to release such resources. I'm getting ready for late August planting when the weather chills out a bit.
I farm in 9b central florida. You just need to water more for most plants. Some plants I grow, like coffee absolutely require shade but that is unrelated to the heat. Setup a slow drip irrigation system and your plants will be fine, unless they require shade. Also, mulch your fricking plants.
If you are putting the plants directly in the ground then you are doing it wrong and wasting most of the water you pour onto them.
Wicking beds are the answer, 100% water utilization. That and a shade house for the beds if the sun is anything like it is where I live and the leaves get literally burnt to a crisp in the height of summer.
>pic related
>Wicking beds
Size I'm going for, it would simply be uneconomical to do the steel container thing.
But you did give me an idea, since the soil is shit clay and I have to dig out beds and replace the soil anyhow. I could do some bentonite pond liner on the bottom, which is almost unnecessary since it doesn't drain for shit anyhow. And add the gauges to make sure I'm not over-watering it.
MULCH
>mulch
MULCH
>mulch
MULCH
>mulch
MULCH
>mulch
MULCH
>mulch
i imagine using synthetic fertilizer out there would be terrible for water requirements. various organic techniques help retain water, but i don't have any experience in your situation to say what could be worthwhile or not... legume cover crops, compost tea, korean natural farming, etc