Too much rain !! Time to redesign garden (Need ideas)

[PaulZone8b]

We have had crazy thunderstorms with super heavy rains for weeks and weeks now and the backyard veggie garden is all but dead. The ground is staying soaking, almost standing water...which isn't good for growing anything. This happened again last year and we lost all our potatoes. This year, we have lost most of the tomatoes, cucumber, squash, watermelon, beans, and more...and its raining again as I type this....and 70% for tomorrow again. I am sick of it. All this blood, sweat and tears that goes into this for many months and to sit and watch 2-3 weeks of rain ruin it all. We have wood chips in the paths now and love that, but even the paths are soggy and cant walk in them.

Here are my thoughts/ideas - if you have any experience with any of this... please share your thoughts too.

1. Raised Beds - We are mostly in ground now and some in container pots which are doing better with all this rain....so one change could be to construct some raised beds. The rain will still run through it, but at least it wont be water-logged with standing water.
2. Poly Tunnel - If we have "cover" for at least a section (whatever size we can afford and do) the ground beneath will be fine. The soggy ground will stay outside the poly tunnel...yes, some wicking at the border but mostly fine.
3. Bring in loads of topsoil. Our yard does have some lower areas, but the garden sections are not in those...and yet the ground is still staying too soggy. Maybe if we brought in a few loads of topsoil and covered the garden areas (10 inches to a foot higher) that would help stay drier. I like the raised bed and poly tunnel ideas better than adding loads of topsoil.
4. Move to higher ground.

 

[Meadowlark]

Howdy @PaulZone8b .

I have a similar climate here...with periods of extreme rainfall. Yes, it is raining here today, yesterday, the day before, and predicted to rain tomorrow and for the next 5 days after that.

So, I can relate.

This is what I do, and it is successful for me...haven't lost a crop in decades doing this.

1) I use raised rows exclusively in my veggie garden. Easy to make them with middle busters and something to pull them. Very effective in these huge downpours we get and also effective for prolonged wet conditions. I grow potatoes, onions, corn, tomatoes, etc. etc. in these raised rows generally without loss.

2) my garden soil is chocked full of organic matter from cover crops, composted cow manure and green manure turned into the soil. This helps the plants tremendously to weather the wet times as well as the dry times. The positive cumulative effect on soil amended in this manner over many years is really something impressive.

3) slightly sloping garden area...over the years I have managed my garden to be slightly sloping toward one end which can carry excess water off.

We've had multiple hurricanes through here, rain events such as 35 inches in three days, and months of dry weather...all of which my crops generally survive. Straight line winds from down drafts have on occasion destroyed a crop e.g. corn but that is the exception.

I'd guess this current rain event is worth about 10-15 inches and I'm walking through the garden tending things and harvesting every day.

Some comments FWIW on your ideas...

Raised Beds -

Yes, just like raised rows I use...helps tremendously.

Poly Tunnel -

I doubt seriously that this would be effective in the prolonged widespread rains we typically get.

Bring in loads of topsoil.

Expensive, labor intensive, carries risk of bringing in unwanted weeds, heavy metals, or other undesirable stuff, plus unless your ground has some slight slope to it, not effective except in specific low areas of the garden.

Move to higher ground.

My elevation is about 330 ft. I suspect yours is similar unless you are on Sassafras Mt.

 

[Meadowlark]

@PaulZone8b ...here are a few examples of what I was referring to in my post above...

Corn crop immediately after 10-inch downpour...note how the corn stalks are in near perfect soil while the walkways are soggy...

Peas and okra starts after deluge of rain...they love the rain but not standing water

Laying out raised rows...takes about 1 minute per row...

 

[PaulZone8b]

You are way ahead of me...I was abut to ask for pics.

I think the few inches of "raised" you have there will work for some plants...but what about potatoes? I just dug out rotten, water logged half mature potatoes and the holes filled with water as I was digging. The raised row would have to be a foot or more higher than the path to keep the tubers drier. I am going to start doing more potatoes in pots for the short term too.

 

[Meadowlark]

I have grown our family's supply of potatoes for decades going back to 1980 or so. That amounts to about 300 pounds of potatoes per year give or take.... 7 tons give or take is my "bona fides" and always in raised rows.

In that time, I lost only one crop, and it was totally due to my mistake. The crop was ready to harvest, but I decided to wait a few days to let the new potatoes mature...big mistake...a deluge hit and within three days all were rotted.

One-time in 45 + years of growing potatoes and it was completely avoidable.

Lesson learned...when the potatoes are large enough to harvest, get them out of the ground and do not risk losing them to a monsoon.

While growing the new potatoes in raised rows I never have a problem.... never in over 4 decades. The only time it is a potential problem is at or near maturity.

When they are relatively mature, they will rot remarkedly rapidly in any container soil, raised bed soil, or whatever under monsoon conditions.

 

[Meadowlark]

...I think the few inches of "raised" you have there will work for some plants...

You are way underestimating.

Here is a photo of my 4 decades old busters. They run about 15 inches tip to tip depth. I need only one pass for a raised row...but you can make the row higher...as high as you can run equipment... if you so desire by making multiple passes.

It would take a flood of Noah's ark proportions to ever cover these raised rows.... certainly, more than the 100-year floods that we get about once a year.

They already have some surface rust since spring use, but they will last long after I am gone from this World!

 

[Tundra20]

We have had crazy thunderstorms with super heavy rains for weeks and weeks now and the backyard veggie garden is all but dead. The ground is staying soaking, almost standing water...which isn't good for growing anything. This happened again last year and we lost all our potatoes. This year, we have lost most of the tomatoes, cucumber, squash, watermelon, beans, and more...and its raining again as I type this....and 70% for tomorrow again. I am sick of it. All this blood, sweat and tears that goes into this for many months and to sit and watch 2-3 weeks of rain ruin it all. We have wood chips in the paths now and love that, but even the paths are soggy and cant walk in them.

Here are my thoughts/ideas - if you have any experience with any of this... please share your thoughts too.

1. Raised Beds - We are mostly in ground now and some in container pots which are doing better with all this rain....so one change could be to construct some raised beds. The rain will still run through it, but at least it wont be water-logged with standing water.
2. Poly Tunnel - If we have "cover" for at least a section (whatever size we can afford and do) the ground beneath will be fine. The soggy ground will stay outside the poly tunnel...yes, some wicking at the border but mostly fine.
3. Bring in loads of topsoil. Our yard does have some lower areas, but the garden sections are not in those...and yet the ground is still staying too soggy. Maybe if we brought in a few loads of topsoil and covered the garden areas (10 inches to a foot higher) that would help stay drier. I like the raised bed and poly tunnel ideas better than adding loads of topsoil.
4. Move to higher ground.

i agree with meadowlark and his pics prove it works no matter the size of ur area u can use these methods and get results

i use a hoop house with wicking ibc tote tanks
and i grow yr around sometimes gets little warm but fans and shade cloth help alot on my outside area both areas are sloped so it helps with with lots of rain

keep us posted on how it goes for ya
yes its very frusrating to lose everything wen so much work has been put in
but way weather is getting good to use ways that will keep u going out and getting ur own food which is the goal

 

[PaulZone8b]

I will show some "areas" I am talking about... not the same as a large open field with a tractor and plow. Tight space, wood chips in the paths, in our back yard...so all work is manual and by hand tools. Standing water and even if you dont "see" standing water...the ground is 100% saturated so your steps sink several inches even in the wood chip paths. Yes, some areas in the yard are "lower" than others...and we might be moving some of these sections to a high section of yard soon.

These were taken today...this water will absorb then it will rain again tomorrow...repeating this process.

 

[Meadowlark]

You don't need a tractor to do raised rows in that space...a shovel works great and is far less labor than hauling in topsoil and spreading that.... but what do I know; I've only used them for over 4 decades.

 

[Ruderunner]

My suggestions. Remove the woodchips, they're retaining moisture.

You can see where the water is collecting, start digging a trench towards a lower spot.

Looks like you have boards for edging on your rows. These are probably preventing water from draining out of your rows. See Meadowlarks pictures, no edging.

My lower plot is ground level and gets significant runoff from adjoining properties. Standing water has been a constant problem there but I have been working on sloping the ground to funnel the excess. Now the runoff flows through the garden vs flooding it.

 

[Meadowlark]

Looks like you have boards for edging on your rows. These are probably preventing water from draining out of your rows. See Meadowlarks pictures, no edging.

That is an excellent point.