I know I'm going to sound even more stupid than I did on the BYC site....I've never had a garden before, but after watching the video on genetically modified food I have decided I really really really want to grow my own. How do I get started??? Is it too late in the year already??? Here it is mid-april, can I still start planting??? I'd like to grow some basics, peas, green beans, corn, lettuce, maybe carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers....ummmm.....don't know much else more basic than that....onions....garlic (an herb garden) any suggestions for a rookie???? Thanks!
Never had a garden....where do I start???
- Thread starter cjeanean
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GardenGirl
Garden Ornament
Where are you located? You need to know what zone you live in so you can plant everything at the right time. Then you need to decide on a spot to plant the garden. Watch the sun move around your property and look for places with a lot of sun, because most of the veggies you want to plant need a lot of sun to ripen, esp. the tomatoes. Remember to look at tree location because when they leaf out, they cause shade if the sun moves behind them during the day. Hope this helps a little! Welcome to the world of gardening! :tools I find it just as addictive as chickens!
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KB3GZW
Leafing Out
I live in Eastern Pa and I have seedlings but I didn't even plant them yet. The frost is not over yet, although it is getting pretty warm during the day. I think it is supposed to be around 80 degrees tomorrow. That's the warmest yet this year.
whatnow?
Chillin' In The Garden
It's never too late, as far as I'm concerned. I would strike up a conversation with a neighbor who gardens to find out what they are having success with and what is being eating by invaders. Also, stick to basic veggies that are easiest to grow. Some legumes, like carrots, can require major soil conditioning to get a harvest that was worth the trouble-its likely that the soil will be less than ideal the first year. Pretty much any soil can be amended, but it can also be a lot of work (ie. not fun.) Don't let tricky veggies discourage you.
My favorites for Zone 6,7:
Cucumbers! My kids love them and we pickle the rest whether it is a pickling variety or not. Many hybrids are indestructible.
Tomatoes Again, my kids love them and they are popular with neighbors who are grilling burgers.
Beans Pick your favorite... I prefer beans that grow on vines... easier on my back.
Broccoli - This is a bit tricky for us since we tend to avoid pesticides... if you see moths fluttering about your veggies, look out!
TRASHCAN POTATOES!!! Add some compost and some seed potatoes from the feed store and voila! A huge hit with the kids (growing...not eating) Easier pest control, too.
Normally, I would say zucchini, too, because I like zucchini bread, but we have been unable to get a fruit from this normally indestructible veggie.
We do corn rarely because it produces a fruit which is harvested once after a long period of time... so when the deer step on it and kill it without eating it, it brings me down. That being said, homegrown corn can be very tasty.
The location should be dictated by the amount of sunlight before anything else. Don't put your garden on the north side of your house...
The only chore I do not relent on is watering, everything else can wait, to a point.
My favorites for Zone 6,7:
Cucumbers! My kids love them and we pickle the rest whether it is a pickling variety or not. Many hybrids are indestructible.
Tomatoes Again, my kids love them and they are popular with neighbors who are grilling burgers.
Beans Pick your favorite... I prefer beans that grow on vines... easier on my back.
Broccoli - This is a bit tricky for us since we tend to avoid pesticides... if you see moths fluttering about your veggies, look out!
TRASHCAN POTATOES!!! Add some compost and some seed potatoes from the feed store and voila! A huge hit with the kids (growing...not eating) Easier pest control, too.
Normally, I would say zucchini, too, because I like zucchini bread, but we have been unable to get a fruit from this normally indestructible veggie.
We do corn rarely because it produces a fruit which is harvested once after a long period of time... so when the deer step on it and kill it without eating it, it brings me down. That being said, homegrown corn can be very tasty.
The location should be dictated by the amount of sunlight before anything else. Don't put your garden on the north side of your house...
The only chore I do not relent on is watering, everything else can wait, to a point.
tinychicken
Chillin' In The Garden
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I've gardened for many years. It's very easy to get excited in spring, but remember you'll be watering, weeding, harvesting, cooking, canning......you get the picture!
My advice would be to start small. You can always expand your garden next year.
Once you determine your zone, pick veggies that do well there. For example, there are tons of tomato varieties, but some require a very long seasn and others don't. I live at 1000 foot elevation, so I look for varieties that take less than 90 days to mature! I always plant lettuce, which is a pretty sure bet. And I love Swiss Chard, so that's always included, too.
You can also incorporate your garden into your existing landscape. I have herbs (rosemary, sage, and oregano) planted around my house, mixed in with the regular landscape plants. Blueberries are lovely bushes plus you get the bonus of something good to eat! So you don't necessarily have to prepare a large area. You can start out by using areas you already have while you get your garden ready.
My advice would be to start small. You can always expand your garden next year.
Once you determine your zone, pick veggies that do well there. For example, there are tons of tomato varieties, but some require a very long seasn and others don't. I live at 1000 foot elevation, so I look for varieties that take less than 90 days to mature! I always plant lettuce, which is a pretty sure bet. And I love Swiss Chard, so that's always included, too.
You can also incorporate your garden into your existing landscape. I have herbs (rosemary, sage, and oregano) planted around my house, mixed in with the regular landscape plants. Blueberries are lovely bushes plus you get the bonus of something good to eat! So you don't necessarily have to prepare a large area. You can start out by using areas you already have while you get your garden ready.
Rosalind
Deeply Rooted
1. Pick a spot where you think you would like to put a garden. Dig up some dirt, from a hole about 8-10" deep. Put dirt in two jars (one for testing, one in case you screw up and need to test something else).
2. To one jar, add water until you have a sludgy, muddy mess. Put lid on jar and shake. Allow the contents to settle for a while (this will take some time).
3. Examine jar contents without mixing. Sand, grit, rocks will fall to the bottom and be pretty obvious. Silt somewhere in the middle. Clay on top, very fine mud. What color is it? The darker the better, dark brown like dark chocolate is best, but somewhat more like milk chocolate is OK too. Mineral colors, like red brick or beige sand, not so good and you will need to add compost or something. If you have lots of clay, you'll need to add sand and organic matter like dead leaves to lighten it up. If you have lots of sand, you'll need to add organic matter like mushroom compost, mulch and manure to make it hold water.
4. Buy a soil test kit from any garden center, they cost maybe $10. Follow the instructions. It will come with a booklet that tells you how to interpret the results and what to do about it.
5. Now, buy a book on gardening. Any one will do, they go in and out of fashion, but they all more or less work to some degree. Or find your local agricultural school extension office and see when they might be holding classes, which are generally free. Growing stuff isn't a heck of a lot more complicated than following the directions on a packet of seeds, but sometimes it helps to have people tell you you're doing it right.
You have full sun, lots of veggies grow in full sun. A nice beginner plant is zucchini--always productive, every year. I think they could plant zucchini in the Sahara, it would make a bumper crop and cure world hunger.
2. To one jar, add water until you have a sludgy, muddy mess. Put lid on jar and shake. Allow the contents to settle for a while (this will take some time).
3. Examine jar contents without mixing. Sand, grit, rocks will fall to the bottom and be pretty obvious. Silt somewhere in the middle. Clay on top, very fine mud. What color is it? The darker the better, dark brown like dark chocolate is best, but somewhat more like milk chocolate is OK too. Mineral colors, like red brick or beige sand, not so good and you will need to add compost or something. If you have lots of clay, you'll need to add sand and organic matter like dead leaves to lighten it up. If you have lots of sand, you'll need to add organic matter like mushroom compost, mulch and manure to make it hold water.
4. Buy a soil test kit from any garden center, they cost maybe $10. Follow the instructions. It will come with a booklet that tells you how to interpret the results and what to do about it.
5. Now, buy a book on gardening. Any one will do, they go in and out of fashion, but they all more or less work to some degree. Or find your local agricultural school extension office and see when they might be holding classes, which are generally free. Growing stuff isn't a heck of a lot more complicated than following the directions on a packet of seeds, but sometimes it helps to have people tell you you're doing it right.
You have full sun, lots of veggies grow in full sun. A nice beginner plant is zucchini--always productive, every year. I think they could plant zucchini in the Sahara, it would make a bumper crop and cure world hunger.
patandchickens
Deeply Rooted
This is the best garden advice you will ever get, you should heed ittinychicken said:
My $0.02 to add is, get your soil as good as you can possibly make it before you plant. That means loosening it and mixing in composted organic matter, and REMOVING WEEDS AND GRASS ROOTS. It does take a bit of time to do the latter but it takes VASTLY longer to wage a continual battle with 'em for years and years and years
Definitely try tomatoes, cucumbers, and/or peppers (like, 2-3 plants each), lettuce (something like 6 plants at a time, several succession plantings a few weeks apart if you feel *really* ambitious), and a coupla herb plants.cjeanean said:
You could try a *short* row of beans or peas if you have a lot of energy to clear and prepare garden bed area. Ditto a *small* plot of carrots *if* your soil is very loose, deep, homogeneous, weed-seed-free and not recently fertilized with anything high in nitrogen.
I would recommend *against* corn (because it takes up so much area if you want decent pollination, and because it's a lot of work for not huge yeild), onions or potatoes (not IMO the very easiest to grow in a new garden), or garlic (this isn't a great time to plant it, you'll get depressing results).
You can grow them next year, sure... but this year, concentrate on building good soil in a small manageable plot, and 'getting your wings' with a limited number of easy to grow, relatively rewarding things
Get a good book, read it obsessively, take its advice
(edited to add: it is educational as well as good for the morale to learn about your soil, as Rosalind suggests above. But from a practical standpoint, you are almost guaranteed to have a soil type that will chiefly benefit from digging in a buncha composted organic matter, since this is true of nearly all soils, so you don't *have* to know that information to get started. Though it may help you know which plants are likelier to do well there.)
good luck and have fun,
Pat
digitS'
Garden Master
No, I'm not making the same mistake that 50% of Americans make but Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS is only 100 miles from Kansas City, MO.
Maybe this Vegetable Garden Planting Guide from KSU will be of help. Look especially, at the "Vegetable Garden Calendar" on page 3 to gauge where you are in the growing season. Or, where Manhattan is . . .
Isn't that one of the boroughs of NYC??
Steve
Maybe this Vegetable Garden Planting Guide from KSU will be of help. Look especially, at the "Vegetable Garden Calendar" on page 3 to gauge where you are in the growing season. Or, where Manhattan is . . .
Isn't that one of the boroughs of NYC
??Steve
pjkobulnicky
Chillin' In The Garden
Not sure what your economic situation is but I have been gardening for over 35 years and I have started over in new sites many times.
Here is what I confidently think is great advice.
Do raised bed gardening. Start small with only a couple of beds.
Go to your local big box hardware store and buy their cheapest treated 2 X 8 X 8' boards (3) and one 2 X 4 X 8' for each bed. Have them (or a friend) cut one 2 X 8 in half. Cut the 2X4 in 4 pieces. The 2 X 4 becomes the corner posts that go into the ground. The 2 X 8's are the sides. Use deck screws to screw the box together and to the corner posts which are placed on the inside of each corner. Put the bed where you want it so that the posts are into the ground and so the sides are set a bit into the ground (just need a shovel). All of this takes me one hour to do. Once the bed is in place, turn the soil over in the bed and then cover it with an inch or two of compost or mulch.
BTW ... a 2 X 8 is my minimum for sides. I do 2 X 12 or I use 2 X 4's stacked 3 high if they are on sale. If you use deeper beds, buy some composted top soil to add to the bed.
Sounds like a lot of work but once you have done this several great things happen.
Gardening success is a cinch. No real continuing work to do on the garden except to add a bit of compost or manure each year. Weeding is easy. The beds warm up quicker in the spring and drain better. You can plant intensively (closer together) than normal. And, it is easy on the body. Add another new bed whenever you want to, need to or can afford to.
Paul
Here is what I confidently think is great advice.
Do raised bed gardening. Start small with only a couple of beds.
Go to your local big box hardware store and buy their cheapest treated 2 X 8 X 8' boards (3) and one 2 X 4 X 8' for each bed. Have them (or a friend) cut one 2 X 8 in half. Cut the 2X4 in 4 pieces. The 2 X 4 becomes the corner posts that go into the ground. The 2 X 8's are the sides. Use deck screws to screw the box together and to the corner posts which are placed on the inside of each corner. Put the bed where you want it so that the posts are into the ground and so the sides are set a bit into the ground (just need a shovel). All of this takes me one hour to do. Once the bed is in place, turn the soil over in the bed and then cover it with an inch or two of compost or mulch.
BTW ... a 2 X 8 is my minimum for sides. I do 2 X 12 or I use 2 X 4's stacked 3 high if they are on sale. If you use deeper beds, buy some composted top soil to add to the bed.
Sounds like a lot of work but once you have done this several great things happen.
Gardening success is a cinch. No real continuing work to do on the garden except to add a bit of compost or manure each year. Weeding is easy. The beds warm up quicker in the spring and drain better. You can plant intensively (closer together) than normal. And, it is easy on the body. Add another new bed whenever you want to, need to or can afford to.
Paul
