First year gardening, a few questions that I need answered

[matey]

We are going to start a garden this year. We live in zone 6a, in Missouri. The ground very rocky, and I know for a fact that in out backyard there are pieces of clay sewer pipe all over the place in the ground.

I was thinking we would need to do a raised garden, but I dont know what I should build it up with. Does a raised garden sound like a good idea? How high do I make it? And what do we built it up with? I am going to put cardboard down over the area, and I do have leaves to use also (since we never raked our yard).

I have ordered a catalog of seeds. I guess I need to start seedlings at some point? What kind of area would I put them in?

Are there any books anyone would recommend? I am overwhelmed by the library. I am not necessarily wanting to follow a garden system, I just want to have a garden. Is that possible? Like can it be that easy?

[changingseasons]

Hey you! Haven't seen you around much lately!! Hope you guys are doing well.


I started my first garden last year, so I'm certainly not the expert. I read the Square Foot Gardening books and decided to use that basic concept- it seemed pretty easy to follow as a beginner. I built beds using 2x6 boards (I used hemlock because it's cheap, but cedar would last longer)- my first bed was 4'x4', then I added another next to it... and yesterday I built a 3'x8' bed. I really like the size of the new bed; you don't want them more than 4' across so that you can easily get into the bed from both sides without stepping on (and compressing) the soil.

With the SFG method (or I guess any raised bed), you don't really need to worry about your current soil (because you're just going to add new soil/compost on top of it) unless you're planting something that goes really deep- like potatoes or long carrots. Otherwise, in the book he says that a 6" tall bed is enough to grow everything else!

[matey]

Hey! I just saw you posting from last summer on the compost 101 thread, and I was hoping I'd run into you! I wasn't around much for a while, but a surprise pregnancy has put me back on the board all day long. We are doing well, maintaining Hope things are good with you!

Wow, so 6". Is that how deep your are? Where do you get the soil from to fill it in? Is it just going and buying bags and bags of soil? I was reading about sizes of gardens, and I was thinking 4 x 8 but now I am things makybe we should plan to do a couple smaller plots. Ah! I am so stressed about this! My dh is WAY to laid back about it and I am the one in a panic that we are going to mess up!!

I have a friend who has the SFG book, so I am going to borrow it for inspiration.

Did you ever decide on a composter?

[changingseasons]

OMG- CONGRATS!!!

No- I never decided on a composter... I still just have a big, ugly pile sitting in my yard. But with the tax return, I think I'm going to buy a tumbler.

Yeah- for my first bed last year, I just bought soil & compost. For a 4'x4' bed, I think it took 3-4 big bags maybe? For my newest bed, I'm digging into the ground a bit and just keeping the soil level lower than the top of the bed- that way I can add my own compost each year and build it up (plus, I don't have to spend any money on soil this year. I did buy one bag of compost though.)

I am totally stressing about the garden this year too- especially after finding out a couple weeks ago that I'm already supposed to have seeds in the ground in my zone! Hopefully I will get some planted today, and start some seeds inside for tomatoes and melons.

[lmonter]

I was thinking we would need to do a raised garden, but I don't know what I should build it up with. Does a raised garden sound like a good idea? How high do I make it? And what do we built it up with? I am going to put cardboard down over the area, and I do have leaves to use also (since we never raked our yard).
Sifted/screened dirt plus compost has worked groovy for us. It's just getting your hands on it and into your garden area that's the tricky part, at least for us (we can't drive our truck into our little backyard, so it's wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow).
Use whatever you can get your hands on, honestly. Our problem with our raised beds? Is the damn grass surrounding them. Keeps creeping up into the beds making weeding more work. If we could go back and redo it, we'd dig down below our wooden sides of the raised beds at an angle and dump some pea gravel on top of weed/landscaper's cloth to help keep those suckers at bay. But that's just us, and me attempting to make the yard look less jungle like.


I have ordered a catalog of seeds. I guess I need to start seedlings at some point? What kind of area would I put them in?
If you're new, I'd forgo starting seedlings of fussier things like some herbs (basil, rosemary) and tomatoes and peppers and such and just buy little plants from someone local. But seeds for relatively easier things like peas, beans, zucchini, cilantro, parsley, marigolds, blah blah blah you can just throw in the ground and go from there. If you have a shorter season, getting 120-day tomatoes probably isn't the best idea.

Are there any books anyone would recommend? I am overwhelmed by the library. I am not necessarily wanting to follow a garden system.
Just read the books that look interesting to you. Any book by Eliot Coleman, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza, that kind of thing cold be easier for a newbie to start out with. Before getting into John Jeavons and his plans on how to feed a family of two or four from various sized lots (drives me nuts because he counts on a 3-stage season, which sucks for those of us that basically have a one-crop-and-you're-done kind of growing season).

I just want to have a garden. Is that possible? Like can it be that easy?
You can totally just throw seeds in the ground and go from there. It just gets trickier when you start depending on the plants for your food and all that. The whole pesky hedging your bets kind of thing.

[TheGirls]

We are going to start a garden this year. We live in zone 6a, in Missouri. The ground very rocky, and I know for a fact that in out backyard there are pieces of clay sewer pipe all over the place in the ground.

I was thinking we would need to do a raised garden, but I dont know what I should build it up with. Does a raised garden sound like a good idea? How high do I make it? And what do we built it up with? I am going to put cardboard down over the area, and I do have leaves to use also (since we never raked our yard).

I use raised beds ala square foot gardening as well. My beds are 4x4, but if I had it to do over, I'd do 4x8. They are made from 2x10" untreated pine boards. Pine won't last forever, but one box is on it's third season and doing fine. I assemble them using plain deck screws, two per corner. Very quick and simple, then carry the whole bed out to where I want it. This past year, due the the "jungle effect" and the difficulty of mowing between beds, I mulched an entire area 3' around and between the beds. I have 4 4'x4' beds right now. I grow shorter (6-8") carrots in them very successfully with no modifications.

For fill, I use a mix of pearlite or sand, compost, and native soil, because my soil is good, if a bit heavy. The SFG guy uses a soilless mix. I have a garden center that will fill my little pickup truck with soil or compost for a very reasonable price, and I just back the truck up to the garden beds and dump it in. A 4x4x10" garden will use about 13cuft of dirt.


I have ordered a catalog of seeds. I guess I need to start seedlings at some point? What kind of area would I put them in?

I just bought seedlings my first two years for things that require indoor starting. (Tomatoes, Peppers, Broccoli) It's a bit pricier, but my garden was small the first year so it really wasn't that bad. Peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, etc just plant directly in the garden. Those crops don't need the early start or the pampering and they don't like being moved anyhow. (Well lettuce doesn't care one way or another, but lettuce basicallly grows itself)

That's my biggest advice though. START SMALL. I started with one 4x4 bed, but I had a baby in May of that year. Maybe twice that if you're feeling more industrious. It's easier to pay attention to the details of a small garden and your mistakes will be more obvious so it's easier to learn from them. There's a lot of trial and error in gardening, IME, because most of the books were not written by someone gardening in YOUR yard, with YOUR microclimate, etc.

Are there any books anyone would recommend? I am overwhelmed by the library. I am not necessarily wanting to follow a garden system, I just want to have a garden. Is that possible? Like can it be that easy?

I like Square Foot Gardening, and Lasagna Gardening. You absolutely don't have to follow a system. If you do, you'll end up modifying it anyway. I use SFG for most things, but not for asparagus or potatoes or peas or beans, because I prefer other methods for those crops.

FWIW, I'm in a very warm zone 5.

[matey]

Thanks so much for these answers! I am going to print them off and share with my husband in are gardeing discussions. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me such detailed help!!

[goldfinches]

I also recommend buying seedlings instead of trying to start seeds. I've been gardening for years and attempt seeds each year and hardly ever make them work. When they do, they're spindly. (Doesn't stop me from trying, though, lol!)

[lakeruby]

Hi!
Your post reminded me of this blog I read called Grow It. Eat it. written by a girl who gardens in her yard and grows a lot of her family's food. Here's a link to one of her posts where she showed how she made a raised bed out of salvaged shuters. I think it looks really nice!

http://heatergirlie.blogspot.com/200...parations.html



I also agree with the pp who suggested that you do seedlings your first year. Seeds can be high-maintenance and getting all the stuff together to start from seeds can be costly-- it might be better to use seedling this year and then build up your supply of trays, germination mix, grow lights or whatever you plan to use. With that said, I love starting things from seed! It would have been overwhelming when I first started gardening, though.

[matey]

I am going to take the suggestions to start with seedlings. Here's my question though, am I able to use seedlings that come from good practices? Like how do I know what seeds the seedlings grow from. I live 45 miles from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Do they just have seeds or seedlings too? Or do I just have to go anywhere and just pick some seedlings up?

I love the idea of old shutters! That's so cool. I'm definitly going to check out that link!