I want to start a garden

chickadee2010

The title says it all, I suppose. I really want to start a garden soon. I've never done it before, but I love the idea of fresh, homegrown produce. Do you all have any tips/advice? I'm not sure what I want to plant yet, though. Suggestions? Thanks!

Pandorian

Make sure you plant only what you and your family will use. It's pretty hard to care about turnips in the July heat if you're not going to enjoy eating them (not to belittle turnips I use them in my home-made soups / stews)

Berries are a big expense item for me so I bought raspberry cane last year and put it in, should get a harvest this year, same with the rhubarb bulbs, they went in last year and should if they made it through the winter produce this year.

If you grow beans (green beans, wax beans, peas give them some sort of trellis to climb as they grow its almost impossible (without damaging the plant) to train them to a trellis once they are too high, they have different netting you can use for it but I'm just going to use one of my extra livestock panels this year, stuck right in the middle of the row and train the plants to climb it as I see suckers coming, makes harvest a lot easier.

IF you're using a motorized tiller make sure you leave enough space between your rows for the equipment.

LOok into what does well in sun / shade, if an area is too sunny for something you want to grow consider a shade giving crop, my sunflowers did well protecting my zucchini from too much sun etc.

Have fun, first year may well just be a learning experience.

IF you have water rights gather rain-water or redirect downspouts to go near your garden to water it.

Use newspapers as mulch, at least the black ink only non glossy pages are decent for it, keeps water around longer.

stisul

I would start with plants already growing so you don't have to worry if the seeds will come up. Burpee is a well known produce seed company and they have some helpful videos on their website. Herbs are the easiest and can grown in a flower pot. Some things, like corn, need lots of rows for it to actually grow. Good luck. It's great getting your food from a garden.

fullofhope

I love to have a garden! I don't have much space, so I do alot of pot planting. You need decide what you like. Some things will produce like rabbits. Squash, zucchini, and they will grow a foot overnight. Seriously, you only need one plant of those if you like them. Here's what I like, tomatoes (early girl, and grape) green beans, beets (OMG sooooo much better than in a can!) peppers, hot-medium-green. brussell sprouts, and dont forget fresh herbs, curley parsley (highly nutritious) rosemary, cilantro, basil. make sure you week, they will grow overnight as well. some peeps put newspaper around the plants to keep the weeds down others use grass clippings. BUT if you get chemicals on your lawn don't do that.

kappyblu

Since this is your first, don't start too big or you may get overwhelmed. Pick a spot that gets a good 8 to 10 or so hours of sun a day. The ground should also be level and easy to reach with a hose. The ground will need to be tilled if it has never been done, and a few bags of topsoil mixed in with the dirt is also a good idea. This is what we did with my garden. Grow stuff you know for sure you will eat. (don't overplant on the zucchini unless you know you love it!) Tomatoes can be a challenge, so I use a topsy turvy tomato planter. Mine is the big one with three holes in one bag that comes with a stand. Sooooooo easy to take care of and you have tons of tomatoes. I used the garden to grow pumpkins, peppers, and different herbs. My mom put in tomato plants in my garden, and they were a pain to keep tied up to those stakes. Ugh. Only topsy turvy for me, mom. lol My mom's garden is massive, but she absolutely loves it and will spend hours and hours out there taking care of it. She really reaps the rewards for it, too because her yard is like a botanical garden full of vegetables and numerous shrubs, trees, and flowers. I am nowhere near that green of a thumb, so I wanted to start small. Btw, pumpkins and watermelons will take over your garden and your yard. They spread out everywhere!! But it is cool to have your own pumpkins come Halloween!

Also, Miracle Gro is a great product...I highly recommend it. And if you are not going to use weed killer, be prepared to be out there pulling weeds almost every day! Also, watering is best done in the early morning. This gives the plants time to absorb the water throughout the heat of the day and not have all that moisture on them through the night hours. But if you forget to water one morning, it wouldn't hurt to water them in the evening every now and then especially if it was a hot day, just not all the time. Hope this helped!! Have fun!! :flowerforyou:

kappyblu

Oh yeah, when we grew those pumpkins, when they got big enough to sit on the ground, I placed a board underneath each pumpkin to keep them off the ground so they wouldn't rot.

AmyCasey127

Have you ever tried strawbale gardening? It's when you plant your stuff in hay bales. We've been doing it for the past several years and have had excellent results. Google "strawbale gardening" and it will give you the instructions to get started. we like it because there's no virtually no weeding. We have had real good luck with cucumbers, squash, peppers (green and jalapenos), cherry tomatoes and potatoes. Good luck!!

FearAnLoathing

I would love to start a garden but we keep moving and right now im in a small apt with a really small patio so thats out.
I was thinking about growing some strawberries in a planter as something fun for me an my daughter to do

Pandorian

I'd like to try the straw-bale but finding actual square bales that don't require a $50,000 tractor and attachments to move around is kind of hard locally.
But I do have a bunch of surplus pallets from appliance selling companies, those should allow me to do the same thing without all the bending down to the ground to harvest stuff. Just need to get them filled, soon with the landscape cloth and stuffed with peat moss so they're ready for the plants!

deeharley

Check your local area for gardening classes. Many areas have them at the library or at greenhouses, etc. Some are even free! You will learn what plants grow best in your area and how to care for them.

Becca_007

Bump to read up on later..:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Becca_007

I would love to start a garden but we keep moving and right now im in a small apt with a really small patio so thats out.
I was thinking about growing some strawberries in a planter as something fun for me an my daughter to do

Do you have Community Gardens in your area? For a nominal fee you can get started and do one each year. When I say nominal I do mean low cost or based on your income. Last year I did CSA boxes so you might even consider that, fresh healthy veggies at a wonderful low cost. This year I decided to plant my own using a Community plot so I could be a bit more free in what I grow.

Let me know if you need help finding into about it on the web ..or it could have already been suggested above, I'm not caught up and short on time this morning. It's a wonderful community organization and opportunity if your area has it!

Becca