Sandy soil improvement?

[Matteo]

What others have said about testing is a great idea. If it were me, I would find as much alfalfa hay as I could and till it in then add a thick layer of alfalfa on top of that. Get pine bark fines/soil conditioner tilled in with it (not wood chips). Lime if necessary per testing results. Also grow a bunch of comfrey around the periphery of the garden to cut and add when possible. Make sure the alfalfa hay isn't mixed up with any other type of hay that would have seeds in it. Always mulch heavily with alfalfa to keep weeds down so Roundup won't be needed . Choose plants that do well in sandy soils like peanuts that fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. Plant them close together and Grow them as thick cover crops.They grow well in the heat of summer. Make friends with a alfalfa farmer. I get it cheap from the feed store if I bring bags and scoop the hay that falls off the bales. Find a source of rabbit manure and add as much as possible too. Get some tote tanks to collect rain water from your gutters and put fathead minnows in it. The minnows will eat the mosquito larva and the fish poop will grow beneficial bacteria for your garden. Good luck !

[jryzz]

Contact the county Agent about soil testing, they have the bags and paperwork

Taylor County Office
Office: 325.672.6048
Fax: 325.672.9148
taylor-tx@tamu.edu
1982 Lytle Way
Abilene, TX 79602-4287
U.S.A.

Taylor-tx@tamu.edu

In that part of the world I wouldn't think you would need lime as there is usually a caliche layer at 3 foot or so. Puncher51 is just west of you in Merkel and works for NRCS, he can probably give you some good advise for that area

[Killer]

plant cover crop and till it into the soil to build it up.
Have soil tested; probably low ph
any type of organic material tilled into soil will help sandy loam.

[BoneDigger]

I just recently soil tested my very sandy soils in east Texas. I found that SFASU is a little cheaper for samples than TAM. My soil is acidic and needs lime plus plenty of nitrogen. I plan to lime with pellets and 19-19-19 in the coming months.

[denimdeerslayer]

Put a pig pen where you want your garden. Feed out a few there. Disc it up and you will have biggest garden ever. You got to water heavy in the sandy stuff.

[Jason Fry]

Put a pig pen where you want your garden. Feed out a few there. Disc it up and you will have biggest garden ever. You got to water heavy in the sandy stuff.

Nice idea. Just capped four 50 pounders a few weeks back. Fencing isn't any good on the garden, but I could slap something together.

[denimdeerslayer]

Nice idea. Just capped four 50 pounders a few weeks back. Fencing isn't any good on the garden, but I could slap something together.

I had three hog panels with t-post. Raised up two hogs to butcher. I couldn't reach the cherry tomatos or okra they got so tall. Other plants four foot wide and waist high.