What vegetables can endure bad drainage?

[sueg600]

I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean, dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance for your advice and your time.

[sueg600]

I dug out a vegetable plot, about eight inches deep and 8' by 10'. I plan to put 3" deep garden soil over it and I want to grow some vegetables. But it is in Zone 5. The soil has too much clay and has horrible drainage. 24 hours after rain, the water seems to have stayed same without going down an inch.

I need to know what kinds of vegetable seeds can stand lots of water and bad drainage. I've already bought radish, cucumber, green bean, dill, and onion seeds.

Please share your expert comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance for your advice and your time.

[cloud dreamer]

I am in 5a and use raised beds (most are 4'x8') made from 2"x8"s. I break up the sod and soil underneath with a tiller then fill the bed with bagged soil, a half bag (minimum) of peat as well as the necessary additions of compost, composted manure, bone meal etc. By adding the bagged soil with the peat, you're creating an ideal medium for your vegetables. It's best to have at least 8" of soil on top of the clay. The height will also enable you to create mounds to ensure proper drainage. At this late date, I imagine you'll only get radishes going. You might get something out of the rest if the summer lasts into October.

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Zone 5a in Canada's Far East

[David Hare-Scott]

I have heavy clay silt here on top of plastic clay, this is my treatment:

0) locate vege garden on a slight slope 1) build raised beds 2) add gypsum to break up the clay 3) add much organic matter (manure, compost etc), repeat at least annually, more often if cropping heavily 4) check pH and add lime if required (clay is often acidic), repeat annually 5) Never, ever, walk on your beds

The result is exceedingly fertile, I can grow almost anything well. The problems that I have had are not related to drainage.

David

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Asparagus.

[simy1]

Obviously it would be best to go raised beds, as others have said. I would even use patience and fill the beds with manure or compost, even though some vegetables will not like it initially. The manure or compost will start a large earthworm population which will do much turning for you.

The second thing you can do is to leave roots of plants that are not disease prone in the ground after the plant has died. The larger and the deeper the root, the more drainage it will create when decaying. Two vegetables that fit the bill of tolerating heavy clay, being disease free, and having a large taproot are radicchio or any other chicory and cardoon.

[sueg600]

Thanks to all who replied to my previous message. I have just one more thing I need to know. How high should the raised bed be?

[cloud dreamer]

I use 2x8s to surround my bed, so the sides are 8 inches high. The soil doesn't always come to the rim, so on average, my beds are five or six inches deep (with the soil under the bed also accessible to the roots).

It's quick and easy to put one together. I get three (untreated) 2x8s, cut one in half and nail them together in a box. I also mulch around the beds. It makes a nice path and dissuades slugs and weeds from popping up in between the beds.

The four foot width makes it easy to access everything growing in the bed and allows you to easily use row covers or netting if necessary. (I cut plastic PVC tubing to make mini greenhouses out of them with the row covers - can keep the temp as high as 4 degrees warmer inside during the cooler months).

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Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.