Due to ground shift I now have one bed of my bio-intensive garden that stays wet most of the time. This area has underground run off from the higher plateau above us, and the garden does well. A neighbor also just built a house and installed a new septic cyctem that I think is contributing to the problem. The ground is wet all the time during a rainy spell, but I think will dry out come the heat of summer here in Central Texas. My question is this. Should I attempt to continue using this bed, change what is planted there, or abandone it? I had planted corn there, but I'm not sure what will do well there now. Melons perhaps?

Thanks

-- Jim Hunter (jcchunter@email.msn.com), February 09, 2002

Answers

Sun flowers suck up major moisture.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 09, 2002.

if upon testing you find it is not sewage; try rice! contrary to popular belief you only need the soil to stay "wet" and not have inches of standing water..I have grown rice in a child's wading pool several years with just 5 inches of soil and keeping the soil wet to soupy..the major advantage to the inches of water is that you get fewer weeds..moisture is most important after bloom as the rice kernals mature. If you want to try it I have a small amount of rice seed I will share....mine matures here in my zone 6 garden.

-- Bee White (bee@hereintown.net), February 09, 2002.

Jim I planted watermelons in a garden next to a creek last year and they all rotted.Had another patch further away and drier and they did well.

-- BamaJohn (jjjn@bellsouth.net), February 10, 2002.