Total newbie wants to grow veggies - HELP!?

[Lisa0825]

Hi y'all. I've been wanting to try growing veggies for a few years now, but just hadn't gotten around to doing the research and figuring out how/where to start.

I am on the Gulf Coast of Texas. I have a pretty large back yard which gets a lot of sun, with the sides of the yard getting morning or afternoon shade. I am interested in growing tomatoes (mostly!), potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, corn, maybe onions... I am not a big veggie lover, so I am really looking at the basics I use in recipes and such, and trying to work more veggies into my routine.

Years ago here, my mom had corn and tomatoes growing like gangbusters! I wish I had paid attention and learned from her.

Anyway, if anyone has some initial pointers for me, such as what to read to prepare, how much to expect to spend (on a budget!) to get the basic tools, build up the soil, etc, and any other starter info, I'd appreciate it.

[LaurenG]

1. I had a small garden this year

I haven't had one in many years so it was like starting again. My dad was raised on a farm so he would have been an excellent resource had he not died, but he always said; you till the soil and drop in a seed then you wait and when the weeds come up pull them, after a while the crops are ready and you harvest them. Of course Iowa soil used to be beautiful and perfect. I did add some peat and worked it in well and then used organic fertilizer and watered since the rainfall was below normal last year.

Here in SW Ohio,I ended up with 2 huge tomato bushes, three pepper plants and tons of herbs. I did get a few of the ugly green tomato worms toward the end of the season but we just pulled them off.

My advice is to get some books on gardening and try not to get too complicated with it. The best gardens I ever had were planted straight into the ground (no fancy borders etc) fed a good fertilizer and watered.

Good luck with your garden and have fun. Oh and I planted marigolds and garlic to discourage bugs around the edge of the garden.

[Lisa0825]

4. I remember my mom planting marigolds too...

I didn't knkow garlic warded off bugs! I LOVE garlic so I'd love to grow that too :-)

I also remember one year, we had flooding rain right after she planted the seeds.... a few weeks later, we had random con plants popping up all over our back yard! :rofl:

We always had a ton of tomatoes. I remember those big greem worms!

My mom used the typical chemical fertilizers and pesticides of the time. I feel like those products used in this environment make gardening pretty easy, but I don't know what to expect by aiming for natural/organics. I don't know if it will be more challenging or about the same.

I plan to order some books this week. I did some browsing online, but thought I'd see what folks here like first.

Thanks for the input :-)

[CrispyQ]

34. We had pet ducks for many years.

They would fight over the tomato worms. A delicacy for them!

[hippywife]

2. We're going to try

the Square Foot Gardening Method this year. I checked the book out of the library and it's pretty easy and straight forward to follow. http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199649558&sr=8-1

Was inspired by this thread here in the gardening forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=246&topic_id=5729&mesg_id=5729

This is a pretty useful book, too:
http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Vegetables-Thought-Possible-Imagine/dp/0898154154

Also do some googling on companion planting to reduce pests.

The past years for us here in NE OK hasn't been very conducive to getting a good organic garden and we're kinda noobs, too.

Hope you make a good go of it, too! :hi:

[Lisa0825]

5. Thanks for the tips!

I will look those up and put them on my list! I have such a big backyard that I am sure I will get carried away and try to do too much if I don't stick to a plan.

I hope I'll have some pics to share this season! I have been soo impressed with the pics I have seen in this group!!!

[hippywife]

8. If you want something

to read that will get you totally psyched about doing this, check out Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life." It's not a long book and easy to read. It was a collaborative effort by her and her entire family documenting how they decided to raise their own food and eat both seasonally and locally. It's really great for laying out the really good reasons for doing so.

[Lisa0825]

9. Thanks, I'll add that to my list! :-)

I'm actually getting really psyched just surfing the web for info already!

I am hoping that this will help me eat healthier, since grocery store veggies don't have much taste. Maybe once I am reminded what fresh produce is like, I'll want to keep adding more to my diet.

I love tomatoes, but DAMN, they're expensive! That is really what gave me the push to do this... I just won't pay $3+ per pound for tasteless tomatoes! I figure if I spend a couple hundred getting started and if all I got was as many tomatoes as I wanted, it would be worth the effort!

[hippywife]

11. Oh, you're really gonna love that book

for all the reasons you just mentioned and so many more! ;)

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. your pics of Molly

bring tears to my eyes~ Good luck with your gardening

The Barbara kingsolver book is well worth the read, as are her other books. both sides of my family originated in Kentucky (she is from Ky) and I see a lot of mom and grannys good sense in her. My elderly aunts, and my favorite hillbilly cuz'n, still lives there and pretty much live that sort of life.

Gardening gets in the blood. Gardeners are sustained by it.

[Lisa0825]

17. Thanks :-)

I had the pleasure of seeing Molly speak in person less than a year before she passed on. It was so great hearing her, but it was so obvious she was not doing well. It was very bittersweet.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Buy plants this year, not seeds.

You don't need the added stress of learning to germinate and time setting out the plants properly in the first year. Hint: when the plants show up in your local nursery, it's time to think about planting them in your area.

Another advantage to buying plants is that you will choose from varieties that do well in your area. For tomatoes and bell peppers, choose 1 or 2 larger plants (3 or 4" pot) of each type rather than a six-pack even though the six packs are cheaper because you probably don't need 6 tomato plants for example and the six pack plants have a weaker root system.

For carrots and corn, do buy six-packs. Carrots are one carrot per plant. Carrots germinate slowly from seed and it's a tiny seed so it takes some practice.

Corn requires a number of plants planted in multiple rows in order to be productive because it's wind pollinated. (4 x 4 plants in a grid would be adequate.) Corn is fairly easy to germinate from seed so if you want experiment with seeds this year, I'd suggest starting with corn.

Onions: you need to know whether short day, long day, or day-length neutral varieties are best for your area and in which season. Ask at a nursery. Onions can be grow from seed (hardest) or sets (little bulbs) or starts (young plants sold in bunches.)

Potatoes: easy if you buy seed potatoes. They work well in a mound.

As a first year grower you'll find that going to a nursery with people who really know plants will be invaluable. The chain stores like Walmart and Home Depot don't always have gardeners in those departments so you're taking a chance there. Also, if you have neighbors or coworkers who garden, ask them where to shop. Just remember, everything's local with gardening.

Good luck. It feels great to harvest and eat your own vegetables. AFter the first year, you can experiment with seeds and a wider variety of types.

[Lisa0825]

6. Thank you!

I remember my mom growing potatoes from the "eyes" of store-bought potatoes. Do people still do that, or are the curren varieties not good to grow that way?

I live just south of Houston, and there are quite a few large nurseries around here, so I am sure I'll be able too find somoeone who can give me specific local advice.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Store bought potatoes these days have often been treated to prevent sprouting.

That's why seed potatoes are a better bet or if you can find them, locally grown organic potatoes. And yes, you cut the potato into chunks with an eye on each piece and plant them.

[Lisa0825]

10. I thought that might be the case...

I remember potatoes often sprouting in my mom's fridge, but I haven't seen that happen in a long time.

Now that I am getting all psyched, I am thinking about strawberries and herbs too! But I think I should try to limit myself for my first foray, until I get some experience under my belt.

[OnionPatch]

29. Aw, throw a few herbs in the ground, why not!

You're doing this to have fun, right? Basil grows like gangbusters without much care at all. In fact, so do most herbs. I bet the nursery will have some right near the veggies.

[susanna]

28. Gormy, you just rock.

Everytime I read a post of yours here I'm wondering why I didn't ask you questions before I tried to learn all this stuff myself. You are really a fountain of knowledge and I look forward to your posts. So thank you, from a gardening intermediate-sorta-person. :-)

[Lisa0825]

12. OK, I just ordered....

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
and
All New Square Foot Gardening

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Thanks for all the suggestions :-)

[Kolesar]

13. Use composted manure to make sure you have very fertile soil

The artificially selected crops that we grow have huge nutritional requirements compared to wild plants. You are going to need to add the main nutrients nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to the soil. Especially nitrogen.

In subsequent years, you can develop your planting beds to have more organic material. For this year, a slow-release organic fertilizer (like composted manure) would be advised.

[Lisa0825]

14. Thanks! I'll add that to my list.

I can't wait for my books to come in so I can start studying! :)

[Kolesar]

15. Oh boy, this is going to be fun!

:hi:

[plantwomyn]

18. If you're on a budget

Use your library for book sources. The Internet is great too.
The big thing is to sit down and draw up a plan, start small and grow year by year. Make sure you look at the spacing for the varieties you choose so your plan is accurate. Warning! Tomatoes have a way of inundating your garden and kitchen. I usually end up making paste because I still plant too many plants after 20 years. When you go to your nursery most charge by the 4 or 6 pack. Mine lets you mix the packs so I get 2 of each type of tomato, mix up my hot peppers ect. Make sure you have a tag in each plant!
I started out years ago using Word to draw my garden. Check out the draw part of the program and there is a grid you can use to space your plants. Just use circles and squares as plants and your grid to space them properly. Don't forget the Max height of plants either. Run your garden east to west and your shortest plants on the south the tallest to the north. That way tall plants won't block the sun from short plants. You can have wide rows and reach each side from narrower {wheel barrow width}isles. Once you turn your beds don't walk on them again if you can help it.
Set up a soaker hose with a timer. Maybe even mulch with hay or grass to hold water. This will save you huge amounts of time, money and water. You don't want to loose plants from lack of watering and you don't want watering your garden to become a chore. This is suppose to be fun.
A stirrup hoe is a must. if you plant hoe width apart, it makes weeding easy. A good light wheel barrow too. You can use it to carry plants to the beds, mix soil, carry waste to the compost pile {another necessity} and carry your vegies to the house.
Good luck!

[Kolesar]

19. It is worth mentioning that "raised bed gardening" is in vogue and advised

Raised bed gardening has been the trend for a few decades. Instead of planting in discrete rows, the garden is tilled for one last time and then the upper few inches of soil are shoveled over into a raised bed that is a rectangle about three feet wide and of any length.

Plants (or seeds) are placed in a grid pattern throughout the bed. The advantage here is that the gardener concentrates on improving the fertility of the soil in the bed throughout the years and that the gardener is not walking on the roots of the plant.

This is explained in "Square Foot Gardening" and in the my favorite book: "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" by Smith.

Google "Square Foot Gardening" for ideas.

"Square Foot Gardening" advocates that plants be placed close together to shade out weeds and to emphasize "companion plants". TheBorealAvenger is going to plant his next garden with traditional spacings so the plants don't have to compete so much for water, nutrients, and sun. One of these days, I am going to write a book report on my latest reading.
I am writing this to Plantwomyn to note her good ideas, but it is for the O/P and all. :hi:

[Lisa0825]

20. Thanks, plantwomyn and TheBorealAvenger

I am hoping at least one or two of the books I ordered (used) will arrive today so I will have some reading material for the weekend. I have been reading about Square Foot Gardening on a few websites. I look forward to getting the book in hand!!!

I can't wait to have tomatoes overtaking the house!LOL

[plantwomyn]

21. Only problem with square foot and raised

is the up front cost. The wood and all can be expensive. I'd recommend the new decking material that is made of poly. It lasts forever so you only have to install it once, but isn't cheap. No bugs either. If you just want to get started build as you go. One bed at a time. Start with the vegies that are really helped by raised beds like potatoes and root plants like loose well drained soil. You can mix in some sand too which helps.

[Kolesar]

23. We went without frames and just shoveled the soil from the paths up onto the raised beds

We rototilled the garden for "one last time" as deep as it could go. Then we put down some kite string between tent pegs to define the edges of the new planting beds. Then we shoveled the soil from the paths onto the planting beds with a coal shovel.

Before we moved the soil, I "deep forked" the planting beds with a garden fork.

The last bed ended up being a foot wider than the others. Fun fun.

[hippywife]

24. We're going to convert our garden

to the square foot method this year. We're going to go to our local salvage yard for untreated wood that has a long life under such conditions. Maybe cedar.

The nice thing about the "All New" square foot gardening method (I read the book from my library) is that you aren't starting out with your soil full of weed seeds that you also should have analyzed for pH. No testing, no soil amendments, no tilling, no digging. The boxes are filled with a mix of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost. Any time you harvest and replant, you just mix in more compost for the new plant. Come winter, you cover it and in spring stir in more compost and begin again.

It all seems to make sense and take a lot of the drudgery out of gardening and I'm really hoping it works as well as it is purported to. We'll see.

[BOSSHOG]

22. You may want to get your soil

tested for acidity/alkaline. Your county exention agent can do that for you. Use fertilizer very sparingly. Be patient. Don't plant so much stuff that you are overwhelmed to start. Check your local papers for a garden section. The Times-Picayune has a great column every saturday about what you should be doing in your garden NOW. There are also good garden shows on HGTV. Get a calendar to be used for garden stuff only. Annotate when you plant and water and fertilize and when it rains. I got mine hanging in the garage. Don't buy every garden related item on the market. Steel yourself for the occasional failed plant or bug infestation. The greatest advice I can give is one passed to me from my Dad who did not have green thumbs he had green hands - the greatest danger to plants is human kindness. We tend to pamper and primp and love them so much that we end up killing them. I hope you have a great garden season.

Over fertilizing is worth then not fertilizing at all regardless of what the fertilizer salesman tells you.

[Lisa0825]

25. Woohoo! My books all came in this week!

I have already skimmed most of All New Square Foot Gardening, but I plan to read it more thoroughly this weekend, and then start on the other books. It is pretty hard to believe it can be as easy as it sounds, after seeing how hard my mom worked on her veggies years ago, but he sure sounds convincing and I have read nothing but glowing reports from others who have converted to this method!

I am sure I will have some specific questions when I get started. Thanks for all the input so far! :-)

[hippywife]

26. I'm really hoping it will be

as easy as it sounds, too, Lisa! So far we are really trying to find someone tearing down an unstained cedar or redwood fence so we can use that to build our boxes rather than going and buying new wood. The dang salvage yard isn't open on Saturdays until March! If the husband didn't have such a bad back, I'm half considering going with cinder blocks for the boxes and planting my onions in the two holes of each one. Extra growing space built in! LOL

[NMDemDist2]

27. I've only grown herbs in Phoenix AZ and they were like weeds

you almost couldn't kill em.....

tomatoes seem like a good place to start as long you rotate where you plant them every year

seems rotation is a big part of success with every gardener I talk too

[Gormy Cuss]

30. We salvaged our own fence for raised bedding planks.

It was old, weathered, unstained redwood. The contractor was amused by it. I spent about an hour pulling nails and the SO squared off the pieces. We have enough for other yard projects too. Our old boxes are all redwood and after eight years are still as good as new.

The old fence had rotted posts and bottom rails, all untreated redwood too. We replaced it with a taller higher fence and couldn't reuse the panels.

[hippywife]

31. That's what we are looking for!

Salvaged redwood or cedar. Unstained. We'll even go haul off someone's old privacy fence panels if we find someone who's replacing theirs. Should be someone with all the ice storm damage this year.

[Lisa0825]

32. Getting started...

I have a whole list of things I want to grow... now I need to look at the calendars and see what dates what is supposed to be planted, though I am not sure how much it matters with the long season we have on the Gulf Coast.

I read the Square Foot book, and it sounds wonderful and relatively uncomplicated.

I am a few chapters into "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." Very nice writing style... I am enjoying it!

Today I made a simple compost bin and filled it with leaves from my yard. I wasn't going to mess with composting yet, but I had leaves to rake, and decided it was better to go ahead and do that than have them bagged and sent to a landfill.

[MagickMuffin]

33. Hey Lisa, here's a good site for companion gardening

If you aren't familiar with companion gardening it is the method of using plants that can coexist together. It also has additional benefits for not having to use pesticides.

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html


Also be sure to purchase your seeds from a reliable source.

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/

I hope you enjoy your garden. I grew up on 12 acres as a kid and had to work in the garden, planting, hoeing, harvesting, canning, freezing, and the best thing of all cooking and eating the freshest veggies ever.

Beefsteak tomatoes were my favorite. They were huge, with very little seeds in them, hence the name beefsteak.

[NMDemDist2]

35. save all your coffee grinds and kitchen clippings too to add to the pile

I was a lazy composter last year but still had some good stuff to till into the garden patch this week which is covered with black plastic as we speak to kill off anything that might have survived.

i really need another compost bucket for the kitchen......

i have seeds ready to go and will pot up some seedlings this week.

we'll have this adventure together.....