Starting a Garden

[chuckdims]

My wife and I are buying a house and I want to start a garden from scratch in our new yard.  I would like to grow lots of vegetables: tomatoes, squash, okra, cucumbers, etc.  I have never grown anything in my life and so I am trying to plan ahead.  I've bought a couple books to get me started.  I've always wanted to know how to garden, but I've never had time (or a yard).  Now I have nothing but time and so I want to get into it this year.

So really, I guess I have two questions.

First, does anybody have any tips for starting a garden from scratch?  The yard is just a normal yard now.  It is currently covered in snow, and I have never seen the yard in person not covered in snow, but I've seen pictures and it is just grass.  Basically what I'm saying is that the previous owners didn't have a garden, so I am starting from scratch completely.

Second, I've seen some discussion about using used dialysate to water and fertilize the garden.  How does this work?  How do you get the dialysate from whatever bucket you drain it in onto the garden?  I imagine I would use a disposable drain like and drain into a bucket or something, but how do you get it from the bucket to the garden without just dumping it out and making everything muddy?  I imagine the books I've got don't address what to do if you're on home dialysis and have access to used dialysate . . .

Anyway, thanks for any tips.  I look forward to figuring all this stuff out!

[Jean]

Good for you, and I hope you are successful . I am just an amateur porch gardener myself, but the guy down the street has raised beds for his garden and they are amazing. Gives you more room somehow and he grows everything. I am sure there is info on the web about it and of course, we have a couple of devoted gardeners here, too.

[kristina]

Hello chuckdims
I can't give you ideas for your garden because I only have planted
and attended window-boxes. Your idea sounds very good and I wish you
every success with it. Attending some greens regularly is very calming
and it is also great fun!
Good luck and best wishes from Kristina.

[Sugarlump]

When I moved into my current house four years ago, my garden was basically newly laid lawn full stop.
So we started from scratch.
I wanted a white garden (white flowers/some green and silver plants) so bit by bit that's what we have (including roses, passion flower, white lavatera and various shrubs)
White flowers look amazing at dusk in the summer...
I have a separate herb garden (next to the kitchen door) which I use continually through the growing season and you get wonderful wafts of mint, rosemary and oregano when door open!
With veggies, because my mobility is poor, my partner built raised timber beds. They are much easier to care for (ours are 6 foot x 3 foot and about 18-20 inches high.)
They take a lot of filling initially, we had a ton of soil delivered plus horse manure we bought at farm gate and some grow bag contents to top it off.
We had a fantastic crop this year from just two beds. Ideally if you have the space four would be good.Growing veggies intensively they need less weeding.
Don't forget to plant some marigolds close by to help with bugs.
Good luck (Half the joy is in the planning!)

[Charlie B53]

Raised beds have the advantage of the soil warming earlier than just using the ground.  You can plant earlier.

First thing you should think about testing the soil to determine the pH.  You want to end up with a 'neutral'.  Depending on the soil type and composition you may want to add organics.  They decompose and fertilize naturally, or you can use chemical fertilizers..An advantage of organic material is they also help absorb and hold water, keeping your garden from drying out too rapidly, and less watering needed.  I use the grass clippings and the fall leaves, tilled in well.  Too much organic will shift the pH off too far.  I counter that by adding the ashes from my slash burn pile, the sticks and branches fallen and trimmed from the many trees around our yard.

Initial ground breaking can be done with either a plow or a good tiller.  A tiller can be very useful for mixing the soil once dried enough it does not 'clog' the times.  A rear tine tiller is far superior to a front tine.  A front tine can be a serious workout breaking new ground.

[Sugarlump]

Not chemical fertilizers use organic or homemade compost!!!!
There's some not too good things in the likes of Growmore and similar. If you're a renal patient your kidneys can't excrete stuff very quickly 

[JW77]

If there's one word of advice I've give to new gardeners anywhere in the world its. MULCH

Yes it warrants being shouted, mulch is, basically anything fibrous, from cardboard, to paper shreddings, to wood chip, to woody compost, to eggshells, grass clippings.

You'll want to dig a small patch of grass to start with and leave it upside down, the grass will die back, leaving you, in theory with soil.. Your actually lifting the turf, not digging it in:)  Tempting though it is to tackle the whole lot at once.


Soil, just like humans, needs fibre and plenty of it to work.

Start on a small area, gardens only happen overnight on TV.

If your planting flowers as well as veg, see what  wild types grow well in your area, chances are the cultivated versions might do well.

Raised beds are especially good for things that like warmth such as squash. A simple raised bed can be just stacked car tyres (grow stuff round em or paint em). Or something more traditional with wood frame.


Find out where the sun rises! Some plants will do better in the heat, other when not. You can find this on the internet, or get a 'sun compass' that shows the sun's rising and setting points relative to the poles during the year.

Measure and map things out.  Bit like going back to school you can plan and move around little cutouts to see what works best:)

Also grow stuff thats easy to grow the first year, beans, squash, tomatoes, even potatoes will grow pretty easily while cucumber and corn, and carrots can sometimes be a bit more of a challenge. And don't forget the strawberries.


Consider researching permaculture, its a balanced method of caring for the land that encourages a mixture or reusing resources, avoiding monoculture, and finding a balance in production, and the environment:)


Most of all

HAVE FUN:)



Also find out about other gardening or groups in your area, its often a great way to get cheap plants, seeds and hear from other gardeners:)

James (in a very chilly London)