I'm new from west central Illinois

:welcome Hello SmalltownIL I should say Howdy Neighbor! You are probably the closets TEG member to me. We live about 5 miles north of Davenport, IA . Hope to hear from you often. And remember there are no Silly Questions. We all started where you are once. Have Fun. :)
 
Hey There! Welcome to TEG! :frow
How exciting, a brand new gardener! Yup, any ground prep that you can do now will help out in the spring. It may be too cold soon to do any composting but if you can cover your garden area with leaves once you get it tilled, it may help to supress the spring weed seeds.
 
Hi, and welcome, from Southeast MO. You can learn a bunch on here and really impress your fianc!

Let's see....If I were plowing up new ground now, I think I would want look at a small section before doing the whole thing. If you have rich alluvial soil like Bluejay77, you may not need to amend it much, if at all. If you have heavy clay like I do, you will want to add organic matter at every opportunity. Like maybe adding a truck load of manure now, and tilling it in. It could be fresh manure, because it would be aged/composted by spring.

Also, be sure to plan on allowing lots of room for the pumpkins, melons and vining squash. Maybe put them at opposite ends/sides of your garden, to avoid some of the confusion.
 
I would begin by tilling it now, add a ton of manure. Try to get it free from a horse barn, most are delighted to give it away. Fresh is just fine in the fall. We need limestone as an amendment but I do not know if that is the same for you. Plant a cover crop like winter rye or crown vetch to be tilled under in the spring. Start small and enlarge the garden a bit every year. Weeding will be the biggest amount of work that beginners do not seem to plan for. Get a soil test. Start reading. Organic gardening is a great place to start. But you don't eat tomatoes????I don't know.....
 
:welcome SmallTownIL! :frow

You are already off to a good start, learning and preparing for your garden now. :)

I've tried saving squash seeds from the store before, just because I figured with them being grown in large, commercial fields the odds of them cross pollinating with another type of squash were lessened. A couple I tried worked out, and some have not. It's always an experiment and a waiting game. Squash cross so easily and the bees do all the work and mix them up. If you have the extra space to spare, then it can be fun to see what you get. Otherwise, you might just want to butter, salt and roast them in the oven for a treat.

Hope we can be an encouragement as you study up for your new garden. Have fun looking around. :happy_flower
 
Wow thanks everyone! As far as fertilizing goes we have rabbits and chickens would their manure come in handy I have heard mix reviews about chicken manure.
And I think I will just roast the seeds haha that sounds good I'll just buy seeds this spring or maybe even prepare this winter
 
Whoa! :ep you have rabbit and chicken manure!? I'm jealous!! Till it into your garden space this fall with some leaves and you will have an amazing garden next year!! Maybe the mixed reviews you heard about chicken manure had to do with how it could burn and kill your plants if you apply it fresh? You do have to compost, or age, your chicken manure, but that will happen over the winter if you put it on now. No need to do that with the bunny poo, it can go right in your garden whenever!

And if you and your daughter like cherry tomatoes, you should buy a plant in the spring. They're a fun garden snack, for little and big kids alike!
 
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