Howdy from Houston Tx!

[Lmbauer2017]

I began obsessively gardening a few months ago, started late and have been battling bugs, disease and HEAT. But I've learned so much and believe I'm in for a very strong fall (it will stay warm here for a very... very long time )

I have two "no dig/no till" gardens on the opposite side of my home which I foolishly filled with unfinished compost from a landscape company! The tutorial I watched showed the guy "Charles Dowding" stepping on his compost garden to pack it down. Now my garden has the consistency of a very wet rock. I can't even dig into it with my hand without putting half my weight into it and scraping thin layers... So I'm planning on gently inserting spikes and twisting just to break it up a bit (and probably mix in a general organic fertilizer and/or a liiiittle bit of blood meal). Then I will never compact my garden again...

I actually made a post this morning about tilling my no-till garden, but it looks like my phone may have bugged out and not submitted it. Anyways, I'll probably be posting on here a lot as I have nobody around me to talk to other than youtube/google! Thank you all in advance and very nice to meet you

 

[Chuck]

I began obsessively gardening a few months ago, started late and have been battling bugs, disease and HEAT. But I've learned so much and believe I'm in for a very strong fall (it will stay warm here for a very... very long time )

I have two "no dig/no till" gardens on the opposite side of my home which I foolishly filled with unfinished compost from a landscape company! The tutorial I watched showed the guy "Charles Dowding" stepping on his compost garden to pack it down. Now my garden has the consistency of a very wet rock. I can't even dig into it with my hand without putting half my weight into it and scraping thin layers... So I'm planning on gently inserting spikes and twisting just to break it up a bit (and probably mix in a general organic fertilizer and/or a liiiittle bit of blood meal). Then I will never compact my garden again...

I actually made a post this morning about tilling my no-till garden, but it looks like my phone may have bugged out and not submitted it. Anyways, I'll probably be posting on here a lot as I have nobody around me to talk to other than youtube/google! Thank you all in advance and very nice to meet you

Welcome to the forum. I gardened many years in the Houston area so I have a little knowledge about how to grow things there. Please tell us more about the unfinished compost, what it is, the size of its particles and so on. How deep it is. What is it made out of etc.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

Oh that’s great!! The beds are about 5” deep. The wood particles are completely black, but probably 1/4” wide, 3/4-1” long. I bought them from what seems to be a reputable company called The Ground Up. It’s their “Organic DS (double sifted) Compost. This is directly from their website:

Spec – Screen: 3/8” twice (3/8” & 3/8”) - small percentage of wood chips.

Assembly Feedstock: Leaves, grass clippings, pre-consumer fruits & veggies, twigs & <1% horse manure.

Below are 3 pictures. What the compost looked like when I first purchased it in April. Next is the compost now. I’ve been keeping it watered in black plastic trash cans with 5/8” holes drilled in on the bottom and sides, where it gets about 3-4 hours of direct sun. Last picture is the chunks I sift out of it.

So I just made a post in the “Organic Gardening” thread explaining more of the plant side of things.
EDIT: so that’s the second time I’ve posted in the organic gardening thread and it didn’t post. Am I in a holding period before I can post in other threads?

Here are the two beds after 1 month when all my lettuce, carrots, kale, various flowers were completely eaten by army worms. I now have a net over the whole thing. There’s a lot more explanation in my other post.

 

[Chuck]

Oh that’s great!! The beds are about 5” deep. The wood particles are completely black, but probably 1/4” wide, 3/4-1” long. I bought them from what seems to be a reputable company called The Ground Up. It’s their “Organic DS (double sifted) Compost. This is directly from their website:

Spec – Screen: 3/8” twice (3/8” & 3/8”) - small percentage of wood chips.

Assembly Feedstock: Leaves, grass clippings, pre-consumer fruits & veggies, twigs & <1% horse manure.

Below are 3 pictures. What the compost looked like when I first purchased it in April. Next is the compost now. I’ve been keeping it watered in black plastic trash cans with 5/8” holes drilled in on the bottom and sides, where it gets about 3-4 hours of direct sun. Last picture is the chunks I sift out of it.

So I just made a post in the “Organic Gardening” thread explaining more of the plant side of things.
EDIT: so that’s the second time I’ve posted in the organic gardening thread and it didn’t post. Am I in a holding period before I can post in other threads?

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I just did a search and this product appears to be excellent. I believe it is meant to be mixed with soil and this companies Herb and Veggie soil appears to be excellent also. IMO the best fertilizer you can get in Texas is Medina Grow N Green. I would not mix more than 30% compost into soil. I would also amend any soil you do get with either Greensand, Brownsand or Azomite. As far as bloodmeal is concerned I would use it on individual plants if/when needed. Compost per dried weight has an NPK value of about 2- .5- 1 and with the slight amount of horse manure only slightly higher so you will need added fertilizer. It appears from the picture you just posted that the area of your garden will have restricted sunlight. This is not a good thing as most vegetables require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.