What's your verdict?

[J.C.]

It's very, very expensive to get started. You would be much happier with "Square Foot Gardening". You can grow enough for a family of 4 in 16 square feet of space.

[me]

Yep I'm aware of square foot gardening and the book

But I live in north Missouri where we have winter as was curious if anyway to grow food garden year round?

I'm looking into ways to become self sufficient. Work less for money. And being able to grow food year round would really help!

[J.C.]

I think you are going to have to learn to can and preserve and do all the things the oldtimers did. Put "Sustained Agriculture" in google and I think you will find a lot of good info.

[me]

yeah that's what I thought as well

That's why I was wondering if possible to garden year round using hydroponics

[J.C.]

I would think it would be. By the way, pretty country up there. I'm stuck in the flat lands of south Texas and with this heat it's like living on a parking lot. About 25 years ago we went up to Branson and almost bought a farm there for something like $150.00 an acre. Don't I wish we would have done that?

[zxcvbob]

???

I'm about to tear down my raised beds because they dry out too fast. My garden was more productive just planting in rows than it is with raised beds.

Best regards, Bob

[me]

I'm in Hannibal abt 5 hrs north of Branson

But I agree....wish Id bought land down there too as well!!

However....Id LOVE to be in south Texas when its winter up here!!

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Theoretically... using greenhousing with proper "timed" lighting. :-)

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Mulch...... And I filled my bases with sand.

I wasted _tons_ more water on an open garden bed. :-(

[Steve]

Since you have no definitive answer, you will have to do "the experiment". Next time you start plants, leave half of them in the cups when you plant but take every other one out of the cup. See how the growth of the two methods turns out. I can't help but wonder if the cup holds the water around the stems longer that some plants can tolerate.

Steve

[George Shirley]

Got a travel trailer? South Texas is full of folks that winter over from the colder states. Most residents call them "Snow Birds" but the Chambers of Commerce call them "Winter Texans." At any rate they bring some much needed green (money) into primarily agricultural area.

George, who used to live in South Texas

[J.C.]

We did that this year. Didn't notice that much difference. But, holding the water longer than can be tolerated is a good point. Might be something to that.

[simy1]

But it is true that raised beds consume more water. There is more exposed surface. Sunken beds preserve water best. Raised beds are great for everything else, and of course the loss is minimized if one uses drip, which allows the water to soak in.

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Hm, I wonder if we are talking about two different concepts?

My "raised beds" are built out of Cinder blocks or limestone. They are essentially giant planters. :-) This concentrates the water usage considerably for me...

[me]

Could a person get a job down there?

If yes...doing what? What is available?

[me]

Thought abt that..... a green house attached to main house?

It could grow food as well as help heat the home?

Is that even possible in north Missouri? Especially the food growing part?

[cloud dreamer]

And I add a generous amount of peat into my raised beds. The water retention is phenomenal.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Peat-abundant Far East.

[J.C.]

I'll pay you all the vegetables you can eat if you'll follow me around with an air conditioner.

Seriously, they just had some kind of job fair up in Houston because 5000 jobs have gone begging for over a year. But, if a job was all that was keeping me here (actually it's my bank) I'd be gone in a minute.

[simy1]

Yes, we are. By raising, you can only lose water, with respect to the same setup, at a lower elevation. it is not only the increased surface, but the bits of debris creating gaps, the vole/mole tunnels, and anything that lets water out in between the cinder blocks or under them.

you could do that in sunken beds as well. The difference is that you would have to dig up soil and replace it with peat. There is nothing in raising the soil level that improves water retention. Water flows downhill.

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

What about container gardens?