wordwiz, I get the impression that you have an unforgiving deadline. I suggest that you go with the 'square-foot' concept. In each planting area, scoop out a space big enough to accommodate the transplant. Use a good brand-name potting soil as backfill to hold the transplant firmly in place. Water in just enough to last 3 or 4 days (Trial & Error). Water again when needed. Observe the plants and probe the soil to determine the amount of water and the frequency of watering. You want to achieve a twice-a-week interval AND, the soil should be "crumbly damp" (I am sorry but I cannot define that state in words) before you apply more water. If you can mulch the project, the watering interval can be extended.
This should hold the demonstration up for the duration of the fair. Watch keenly for signs/symptoms of disorder and come back here for help if you need it.
Good luck and enjoy the effort.

I'd term it "contained" growing rather than "container" growing. The primary difference
is that the earth itself acts as a wick to draw moisture from the upper layers.

Josh

Yeah,the deadline is August 10-14! I've selected varieties of most plans that will hold up in summer heat but some things - such as spinach - will be planted in mid-late June.

Watering is not a big concern. I know how many gallons of water it takes to equal an inch of rain and it is fairly easy to tell if the bed needs watered: if the plant start to droop a bit! If I set up rain barrels and run soaker hose through the bed, I can set up faucets so if I use a barrel of water it would be just over a quarter-inch. If needed, I could put in-line valves so if just the outside walls need watering, it's doable (I've been told to expect the blocks to such a lot of moisture especially when it is very warm and sunny). The grounds is only about a minute drive away so checking it daily is not going to be a problem.

Maybe the pH won't be a problem but I don't know - I've never built a thing like this before and don't know how the top soil/compost/humus will test. But I don't have a way to test for trace elements.

Mike

It's slowly coming along!

Laying the blocks. I do not do masonry for a living - you may see why!

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The bottom dirt. Simply creek bottom stuff, with rocks, roots, not a lot of clay but some. It was about 8-12" thick but after a rainfall or two, it is 4-8".

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Today, I added some aged leaf compost. Really good stuff, donated by a village a few miles away:

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For the top level, I hope to use compost, very aged horse manure with straw and maybe dirt or peat. Haven't decided on the latter and no one is really saying.

Mike

Is that bed on asphalt?

Damon

Mike, it looks awesome!

If that is on cement or asphalt I think it qualifies as a container! I think I would be worried about drainage and heat. Drainage maybe not if your block are just set in place and not mortared (sp).

I don't know where you are located but if it gets very hot you may want to put some kind of shade structure up so you don't cook your vegies prematurely.

Oh, and don't forget the great opportunity to fill those holes in the blocks with plants too.

I, too, am curious where the water will drain?

Josh

The blocks just sit on the ground. With the bed being three feet tall, and the bottom plain dirt, I don't think drainage will be problem. The heat I'm not sure about. Two of the past three summers have been exceptionally hot but last summer, after June 30, it never got to 90.

Mike

WordWiz, I dont mean to be negitive, I dont know where your located buttttt if your in Fl, come july, and aug. you will notice steam coming up thru the soil. Your broc and cauliflower will be steamed on the plant, and I believe you could very well as Al says have a heck of a perched water problem. I would do this over soil or back out of it. I think your in a no win situation trying to put this togeather on pavement. Location, Location, location. Good luck and please keep us posted on the outcome.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam
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Sam,

I'm in Cincinnati - well north of Florida. You don't sound negative, just concerned. Two things though: One, I won't unless I try. Two, I have a back-up plan for the heat sensitive plants. Replacements! Now presuming the hot-weather plants survive, and like I said, with the soil being three feet deep the soil should not get that warm except maybe around the edges, I will just have to worry about four or five varieties. Also, this will be as much about style as substance. People who might be interested can learn about raised beds and/or square foot gardening, see 60 different types of veggies, find out about the Florida Weave.

Yeah, I would love to have every plant good enough to produce a Blue Ribbon fruit (I probably will pick some to enter, since the judging is done a few feet away!) but that's just to make the display larger.

Here's what's planned:
Peas - Lincoln Garden
Green Beans - KY Wonder
Green Beans - Royalty Purple
Green Beans - Chinese Red Noodle
Squash - Patisson Panache Jaune Et Vert Scallop
Squash - Tondo Scuro Di Piacenza
Spinach - Bloomsdale
Spinach - Giant Noble
Peas - Oregon Sugar Pod
Cauliflower
Potatoes
Tomatoes - Red Stuffer, Red Zebra, Delicious, Riesentraube, Better Boy, Florida 91
Corn - Silver Queen (another one)
Mustard - Japanese Giant Red
Mustard - Southern Giant Curled
Peppers - Bell, Banana, Hungarian Hot Wax, Habenero, Jalapeno, Fish, Tepin
Eggplant (Ping Tung and two others)
Onions
Carrots
Radishes
Kale - Blue Curled Scotch
Kale - Dwarf Siberian
Brocolli
Cabbage - Tete Noire
Cabbage - Early Jersey Wakefield
Beets
Turnips
Sweet Potato
Lemon Cucumber
Telegraph Cucumber
Sikkim Cucumber
Swiss Chard
Celery
Cotton
Rice
Sugar Cane
Jicama
Alpine Strawberry
Genovese Basil, Lemon Basil, Holy Basil
Oregano
Cilantro
Peanuts

Yes, I will post results and try my best to keep track of the total harvest.

Mike

Hope to see some great pictures. Best to you.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam

Sam,

Thanks! I also hope to set up a watering system using rain water. Collect it in barrels and deliver it via a soaker hose.

A bit of background - the fair is organized by the Hamilton County Agricultural Society, the key word being agricultural. I publish a newspaper and when I didn't have anything else to write about, I talked about gardening. People like it - gardening is becoming more popular. So if some small way, I can show people how to grow veggies in their back yard, it can't hurt.

Mike

Perched water should not be a problem ,as water will run out between the blocks. I may be concerned with too much root growth pushing the blocks apart though.

An update: Thanks to the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management group, I will get a free Earth Machine to compost all the leaves and plants. Today, someone from the Jim Beam company called and they will try to round up nine rain barrels for me. We soaked the dirt today - at least so far it does drain from the bottom. That may change once all the soil melds together but that may not happen until after it goes through some freeze/thaw cycles. Checked the pH to a depth of about 5" - from 5.8 to 6.5. Not sure about the fertility level yet, but I suspect with the mulch and horse manure, it should be more than adequate. Plus, I can brew 10 gallons of compost tea a week if I need to.

My plant date is three weeks from tomorrow (May 13) and I seem to be on schedule.

Mike

That is fantastic.

One thought, as long as you are getting some sponsorship, maybe you could get one of the local sprinkler supply places to provide you with the materials for your drip system. You could offer to put a sign on the side of the bed that says they donated the materials.

I'm excited to see how things look at fair time.

An update, but not a glowing, boy am I great one:

All in all, not bad for a rookie. The cotton, peppers, eggplants, sorghum, basil, rice, oregano, sweet corn, onions, Swiss Chard, kale, mustard beets, turnips and possibly potatoes (Have not dug them yet, but they looked good growing) turned out well. The cilantro, celery, peas, squash, green beans, cucumbers, jicama, broccoli, tomatoes, tomatillo, cabbage, spinach and cucumbers ranged from did not sprout to not worth the time and effort. The carrots that survived look so-so, the lettuce was great for a few weeks until the weather turned hot, then it was compost material.

Some of the contributing factors, at least from my seat:
1) The bed did not get finished until the middle of May. No chance for the soil to go through a freeze/thaw cycle or even a very wet spring so it could settle. It did not hold moisture very well. There were weeks in July when I would water it on a Sunday evening, giving it equal to more than 2" of rain, and by Thursday, the soil three inches deep was bone dry.
2) Location. On the south side of a 20' tall, east/west concrete block building that is painted white. The amount of sunlight and heat reflecting off it was pretty intense; it was not unusual for it to be in triple digits even when the official high temp was 85.
3) Weather. A very wet June, with two beat-down storms and a few other heavy rains. Then, it turned dry - real dry. We are so far behind in average rainfall it will take a week of solid rains to get back to normal. We are also 327 Growing Degree Days above the average of the last six years. The highest reading before this year was 2909, we were at 3080 on Friday. Higher heat + less rain = crappy outcomes!
4) Lack of knowledge, thinking and planning. I don't know what possessed me to plant celery next to tomatoes. The former got shaded by the latter. In the same vein, I sowed lettuce next to corn and it helped, at least until the high heat and drought hit.

I plan on doing this next year. This fall, I will pull up all the plants, stir the ground and sow (hopefully, if I can find it) winter wheat. Next spring, add some compost and horse manure. But the theme will be different - it will be a "Beer and Other Drinks Garden" which should allow me to grow a large variety of plants. Anyone tried raising dandelions in the middle of summer? The flowers make great wine!

Mike

Hey Mike ... I'd sure look into getting some shade for that garden next year. You can easily make one with PVC pipe and shade cloth, and I'm sure that the plants will thank you!

cynthia,

The only problem - this is a demonstration project and is funded only by me, myself and I. Plus, I'm not sure shade cloth would have helped significantly, at least not in a cost/benefit ratio. Several types: peas, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, broccoli and some of the kale should have been sowed/planted a month earlier, though they still would not have survived until the fair.

Mike