new to gardening

[clueless]

new to gardening ..not very good with house plants either (daughter jokes that i can kill a plastic plant). but anyhow husband plowed up a spot for me that is 17 feet by 7 feet and said knock yourself out.... he has 38 acres to plant and the experience but says i am on my own he doesnt have the time. this is in lancaster county pa, and i planted some onions and 2 different kinds of peas yesterday. i also found a book at a sale called joy of gardening by dick raymond only paid a dollar so i figure it has got to be worth it. need a little help i have no idea what to plant when. i am really gone by what the stores are selling. seen some lettuce and spinach plants the other day but it seems to cold for plants?????gonna take alot of patience for a newbie like me. also bought 5 pounds of potatoes but have no idea when to plant them.... thanks for any help that is offered

 

[desertcat]

Some plants, like lettuce, spinach and broccoli, really prefer cooler weather. My climate is really different than yours, but about the only way I can grow lettuce is to plant it in the fall and let it sprout when it's ready in the spring. We are looking at our first week of nights with temps above freezing and my lettuce is about ready to eat. As long as you're not buried under snow and daytime temps are above freezing, I'd try some.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

What to plant and when can be tough when you are just starting out. This thread might help you.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30536

I really like contacting the county extension agent, in the phone book under county government, to see what information they have for Pennsylvania. I not only got a calendar, I was able to pick up a lot of brochures telling which cultivars grow well in Arkansas, when to plant them, how best to grow them, and what diseases to look out for.

Good luck! It may be a bit frustrating for a while, but you will soon get the hang of it.

 

[AmyRey]

Welcome!

I'm sure some of our northern folks can help you out with crop selections and planting time.

My only advice is don't be afraid to fail as long as you learn something from it.

My first attempt at gardening, I planted some raised beds, filled with native dirt, which is mostly sand. To add some bulk and water holding capacity, I added a package of peat moss to each. My tomatoes reluctantly produced a couple of tomatoes that frankly, weren't very good (I let the chickens have their way with them) and I got exactly ONE tiny bell pepper from each of those plants.

I later found out (after having our soil tested) that the native soil was notably acidic. And peat moss - unbeknownst to me at the time - was what one added to soil to make it MORE acidic. lol

I consider myself lucky to have even gotten one tomato from those plants.

But I learned:
A. what peat moss is for
B. chickens love hornworms
C. how to even find a hornworm

I haven't tried - in earnest - another crop of tomatoes until now, but I'm extremely optimistic. If those tomato plants could even MAKE tomatoes in what I had subjected them to I can't wait to see what happens when you put one in actual soil instead of an acid bath of sand!

One poster here not too long ago said something to the effect even the best gardeners fail. The trick is to eventually have enough successes that no one notices the failures.

Best of luck to you!

 

[patandchickens]

i have no idea what to plant when. i am really gone by what the stores are selling. seen some lettuce and spinach plants the other day but it seems to cold for plants?????

Hi, welcome to the forum

DO NOT go by what the stores are selling!!! Seriously (e.t.a. -- DO, however, ask all your neighbors and any acquaintances who seem like they may have veg gardens. They are your best source of information as to when to plant what, and which things will do well for you)

I am from just N of Philly (actually my mother's side of the family is from Lititz in your neck of the woods ). This time of year, my mother would be putting out lettuce that was started indoors, and I expect you could start lettuce outdoors now too as long as you were prepared to protect it as needed. Spinach for sure you could seed into the ground.

You need to look up your area's last frost date (or ask neighbors, or actually if your husband farms at all *he* probably knows), remembering that your garden's site may be somewhat more or less frost-prone than the regional average. (For instance my last frost date here is several weeks later than what our regional av'g would suggest, b/c our property is in a low 'cold trap')

To me, lettuce and beans and tomatoes are the core "must haves" for a home garden, because they are incredibly easy to grow and SO much better than store-boughten (or in the case of beans, because you cannot kill them with a stick and you get great harvests out of next to no work).

Start tomato seeds indoors (they like bottom warmth too) 5-6 weeks before your last frost, or earlier if you will use Wall-o-Water type protectors for them. If you are going to buy tomato transplants instead of starting seeds, do not buy them until a week or so before you are ready to set them out, though (which would be around the time of your last frost)

Beans can be planted directly in the ground starting around the time of your last frost or a few weeks thereafter (some bean types are more cold-tolerant than others).

Be aware that lettuce is basically a spring and fall crop, it gets bitter and bolts in summer heat/drought. I am trying to remember when mom would usually stop planting new rows of lettuce, I am thinking late April? (this being leaf lettuce, which is faster developing than head lettuce) and then start the fall stuff going indoors or in a cool shady spot (in cell packs or containers) in early August IIRC.

Potatoes are good, they can go in a few weeks before your last frost. What other things are you thinking about growing?

I would suggest putting as much energy as you can manage into getting the soil really well-prepared before you plant, though -- everyone always underestimates how much difference this makes, not just in size of harvest but in terms of whether there IS a harvest and in terms of how much aggravation and work the garden wrings out of you during the season Go thru with a garden fork and/or rake, and remove all the weed/grass roots you can find (by hand). Makes a BIG difference. Then add a bunch of composted organic matter of whatever sort is available to you (but preferably NOT hay b/c of weed seeds, unless it is many-years-old hay) and dig it in reasonably well.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[clueless]

to answer some of these questions, husband did the plowing when he started plowing the rest of the fields said he also took soil samples from the garden area, then he went over it a couple times with the rototiller he bought . all i had to do was pick out a few rocks. and i checked on the last frost date it is april 15, so i am going to go next week and get some spinach and lettuce i am also thinking of brussel sprouts (my favorite). we will be adding chickens in a couple weeks, and possibly a couple goats in the near future, so i am also thinking of things they can eat to help cut down on the feed i gotta buy. goats are more for the grandkids they can not drink cows milk but for some reason they can drink goat milk, daughter complains about the price of buying goat milk at the store. and i myself can drink any milk.

 

[lesa]

Sounds like a great plan. The most important thing you are going to need to plant, is a fence. Those critters will wreck that garden, fast! If your last frost date is April 15th, you should be able to plant anything you want at that time. Tomatoes, etc. You may have better luck with the Brussels sprouts in the fall. They really appreciate the cooler weather and even frost. Happy Gardening!

 

[hoodat]

Lancaster county is one of the richest soils in the USA. You should do fine unless the soil has been farmed chemically. If so the humus may be burned out and you will have to add compost and/or manure to get it going again. As Patandchickens said don't go by what the stores sell. They will sell whatever people will buy whether it's the right time of year or not.
It's a bit late for cool weather plants. I'd be seeding warm weather plants like tomatos and peppers in pots. As soon as the soil warms up a bit more you can plant them out.
My grandpa swore the best way to check was to drop your britches and sit down on the ground. If your butt doesn't turn blue it's ready to plant. I don't remember seeing him do it though.

 

[bootstrap]

Dick's book is good, my favorite though is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C Smith. Published by Storey books. This is another Vermont book.

 

[lesa]

Hoodat- that was a great giggle to start my morning. I think I will tell Dh to go check the temp in our soil!!