This photo clearly shows the erosion path and the resultant bowl effect.

I'm thinking it would be very easy to plug it up too much without serious grading and drains. Of course, that's not possible LOL

(The section where I"m standing is a black walnut area. Unusable.)

Notice where the neighbor's houses are. I have NO privacy. Ick

Still over thinking?

it's okay to just plug up what I need at the back of the garden and work it piecemeal. Right? Not like we cannot get out there and correct something.

Bon, I will try to reply in more than one post because I keep loosing my post.

Frist I will show you how I contour my lawn for drainage. The shallow ditch shown runs from my south garden, past my sweet potato bed, under my deck and around the house, past my north garden and then past my pumpkin bed.

rather than loosing this and starting over, I will post and start over with the next picture.

Larry

Bon, next I will show how I structure my beds to drain.

Shown is the addition to the south garden I made this spring. My beds have a drainage ditch filled with organic matter.{{gwi:302949}}

Rather than loosing this post I will try to start another. Please note that new area approx. 4'x22' has produced around 500 lbs of butternut this year.

Bon, I will try to show you how I made the pumpkin bed, it is in the lowest area of my lawn.

This is the pumpkins harvested yesterday, about 70% of my harvest. It is too early for harvest. My step dad came home from the hosp. yesterday and I have got to get all the gardening put to bed this year so I will have more time to look after more important matters.

I planted 4 Old Timey Cornfield pumpkin plants and must have harvested 600# of pumpkins

Awesome work, Larry. A shallow ditch. How about that and very simple.

Someone mentioned using rocks at the back of the garden placed a few inches from each other to avoid complete damning. Then, I can just pay attention to the flow and work around it.

I was wondering if it might be possible to direct it from the upper land to the lower (into some micr beds) and you just solved that!

I talked with Bill and we can easily do a bit of grading by hand for such a couple times a year.

Bon, I have a rear tine tiller and I just till a strip about 3 or 4 ft. wide, very shallow and rake the soil to the lower side. I feather it out so it can be mowed over easily. My ditch is about 150' long, and where the pumpkin bed is there is a small pond that will let water puddle and run back under the mulch at the pumpkin growing area. In a heavy rain the pond overflows and the water runs across the pasture.

This is my third year for the ditch, and by next year I want to rework it because over time it tends to fill in with decayed grass clippings. The hard work is done now and I think I can run the tiller down the center and rake it out every 3 or 4 years.

Larry

This would be a good chore for our frankentiller to start off.