How to prepair the ground for a new garden

[ducks4you]

I wouldn't add anything to your soil to start, and I agree that 20 x 20 is good to start--10 x 10 or 10 x 20 is BETTER to start with. Search this site and search the net for planting plans. I would rent a POWERFUL tiller like this one:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...oncepts&cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=tillers+for+sale
I found a great local store to buy/rent equipment from that does repairs as a big part of their business. I have a middle-of-the-road Troy-Built tiller--it was ~$650 new. MY property had been tilled and was in crops for most of it's 100 year old history. Every place on it that I till has been tilled before. I was warned NOT to break sod with mine, or I could break it.
You'll want to make 3-4 passes with ithe tiller to really get the soil fine and crumbly. Then, follow the above advice about mulching with compost and using newspaper. The easiest way to plant is buy seedlings the first time you have a garden. Put them in the ground according to your planting times. The cold weather crops needs springtime rains to do well. The hot weather crops need to last of the spring rains to establish their roots. Have fun this year!!

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

When we moved here last Fall, I called and emailed the Ag Extension. They don't do or advise on soil analysis. Nor do the master gardeners in this county. Grumble grumble....

So I ended up with buying a $40 soil analysis thru Peaceful Valley. It was at least 8 pages long and very very thorough. I have red clay, some of it so thick that you could mold with it.

 

[dennis2021]

So I went to the county extension office yesterday and got the soil test kit. They gave me a generic paper about gardening. The only thing is, they only gave me one bag to put soil into. Wouldn't a large area need to have a few samples?

So we are going to till this weekend, trying to find a heavy duty tiller? Does anyone know of a good place to look around here? Who else is in this area? Oviedo Fl? Central Fl?

 

[patandchickens]

they only gave me one bag to put soil into. Wouldn't a large area need to have a few samples?

If you think different parts of the area have different soil conditions, and want to know about that, then yes you need to do multiple samples. (Which they may charge you for). But normally, if the piece of ground is pretty homogeneous, you just take samples from several parts of it and mix em all together in that bag, to give you sort of an "average" to have analyzed. Make sure to follow the directions you prolly got regarding how to take the sample.

Although dickiebird's solution is a good one too

So we are going to till this weekend, trying to find a heavy duty tiller? Does anyone know of a good place to look around here? Who else is in this area? Oviedo Fl? Central Fl?

If you are in a hurry you can just rent one now, it will probably be something like $40 for the day, and worry about buying one later. (the only reason I could see for buying one, honestly, is if you anticipate doing a whole lot of tilling, e.g. if you are going to try to denude a large area of vegetation by tilling it monthly rather than by mowing/smothering/fallowing-til-next-year. If you are only going to till once a year, it can make more sense to rent than to buy IMO.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I would start small too. You do not want to be burned out on something that could benefit you and your family for the rest of your life. You might even try a raised bed close to the house.

Having some veggies in a few weeks or months really gets the juices going to do more. However, I would do only a few favorites first. My experience has been positive but it is not all "roses".

Gotta share with the birds, beast and the bugs and say thank you. Life is a give and take experience. When you drink wine you are suppose to pour a little on the ground as a libation to the Earth. Ya gotta give something back once in a while.

 

[vfem]

Dennis, my neighbor suggested an add on craigslist asking someone with a tractor if you could rent them for the afternoon to come plow your land.

He paid someone down the road from us to come over and do their garden this year because he was so busy and so late getting it done.

There is an option... it will save you the cost of the tiller rent (about $75 a day) and all those back laboring hours.

Just a suggestion!

 

[seedcorn]

So I went to the county extension office yesterday and got the soil test kit. They gave me a generic paper about gardening. The only thing is, they only gave me one bag to put soil into. Wouldn't a large area need to have a few samples?

So we are going to till this weekend, trying to find a heavy duty tiller? Does anyone know of a good place to look around here? Who else is in this area? Oviedo Fl? Central Fl?

For the size of your garden, one bag is more than sufficient. What you want to do is pull plugs from different sites on your garden, blend them in a bucket, put about a cup of soil in the bag. Pay the $$, get it tested. Up here a soil sample is about $9. They should ask what crops you are wanting to grow and the nutrients needed. IMO, the most important thing to get is Ph of the soil. I'd be surprised if your main nutrients are off.

 

[dennis2021]

So I got the results for my soil.... Can anyone tell me what all this means?


Soil test results....


pH (1:2 Sample:Water) 7.9
A-E Buffer Value: N/A

MEHLICH-1 EXTRACTABLE

Phosphorus (ppm P) 86

Potassium (ppm K) 189

Magnesium (ppm Mg) > 360

Calcium (ppm Ca) > 3118

LIME AND FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATIONS
Footnotes are printed wherever applicable. These footnotes are an integral part of fertilization recommendations.
Please read them carefully.
Crop:Vegetable Garden
Lime:0.0lbs per 100 sq. ft. (1 Ton = 2000 Lbs)
Nitrogen:0.20lbs per 100 sq. ft.
Phosphorus:lbs per 100 sq. ft.
Potassium:0 lbs per 100 sq. ft.
Magnesium: (Mg) 0 lbs per 100 sq. ft.


Footnotes are printed wherever applicable. These footnotes are an integral part of fertilization recommendations.


Foot Notes:
Soil test values noted with a ">" sign exceeded the normal working range of our
extraction method and are interpreted as high or very high for P, K, or Mg. No
positive plant response to addition of the nutrient is likely. In some circumstances,
addition of this nutrient to the soil could be detrimental to plant performance or to
the environment.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Nice of them to supply you with the nonprofessionals version of the report. Since I am assuming that you paid for itlook for a telephone number and call them and ask to speak with someone regarding your test.

 

[journey11]

Hi Dennis,

The thing that stands out most to me is that your pH is a little more toward alkaline than most veggies will like it. Here is a chart of recommended pH range as per crop grown. Getting your levels where they need to be will save you so much frustration. Things just don't grow and produce like they should if the soil doesn't suit them.

For example, if you are wanting to grow tomatoes, they'll do better for you if you can get your pH down a bit. The best way to do this that I know of is to add composted manure, compost, peat and/or grow a "green manure" cover crop like rye or winter wheat to add organic material to the soil. This will also help your soil's tilth. Rock sulfur can also be added to lower pH. You'll want to call the ag ext guys again for recommendation as to how many pounds per 100 sq. foot or acre.

There are a few plants you can go ahead and grow this year that will be more satisfied with the pH you currently have. You could also section off and amend the ground only in the areas you would be planting acid loving crops. You'll see in the link above though, that most anything will be happy with a pH of 6.0, so that would be something to shoot for.

Ultimately though, most anything you add to amend your soil needs a little time to actually affect the pH how you want. For example, I lime in the fall (to raise my pH) so that it willl be ready by spring. If I just toss it on now in May, it won't do much good for this year.

You are above average on calcium and magnesium. Your P and K are ok. I don't see a level listed for N, but more often than not most people have to add it since it leaches out of the soil easily. That is another advantage with a cover crop and adding organic matter--it hangs around longer. And legumes will "fix" nitrogen, meaning they actually pull extra nitrogen out of the air and into their roots. Here's a good article on winter cover crops from my ag ext.

Again, call your ag ext for more extact recipe on how much fertilizer to add and what kind. They'll probably recommend something N only. Call them and they will be happy to explain your results to you better and give you recommendations. That's what they're there for and they will be more familiar with what works best in your area.