Gardening newbie

[Her78TA]

With all the talk about leading a healthier lifestyle and saving money, I have decided I would like to start a vegetable garden. I know absolutely nothing about growing vegetables! I know the first step is getting the ground ready, but after that, I'm clueless. All you gardening pro's out there, please lead me in the right direction. Thank you!!!

[lavender]

Garden club meeting at Penn State tonight at 7 p.m. Come and pick brains.

One piece of advice, start small. Unless you use snellma's method of lasagna gardening you will be dealing with weeds. It can all get very discouraging. Use mulch. It conserves water and keeps weeds down.

Plant tomatoes, beans and easy veggies to start. Carrots and other root vegetables can be hard if you have root maggots and heavy soil.

You might want to get a soil test kit so you will know what you are dealing with. If you are starting in previously untilled soil the pH might just be too low. Our soil is very acidic. Good luck and ask questions as you go.

[WMJ77]

Where do you get a soil test kit at?....Our garden does pretty well but always wondered if it could do better  :-/

[Bon]

Most any farm store ...agway, tractor supply, hanzley's, maybe lowes, try feed stores also.

[lavender]

You can get the commercial ones that you do yourself or get one that goes off to Penn State's labs for an analysis. Susan Alexander, [mail]skm3@psu.edu[/mail], can tell you where they have those but often places like Agway have them.

[Petee]

Check out the BUDS Gardeners too.  It's mostly about education and we love new friends.  www.budsgardeners.com    This is just a new site with a lot more educational info to come so keep an eye out.

 

If you have questions or need help just ask.

[Moniker]

Go organic with your manure.... any place that keeps Cows will gladly fill your truck up with poop. Just dont get fresh poop.... too much acid.... go for the older poop!

[Guest snellma]

With all the talk about leading a healthier lifestyle and saving money, I have decided I would like to start a vegetable garden. I know absolutely nothing about growing vegetables! I know the first step is getting the ground ready, but after that, I'm clueless. All you gardening pro's out there, please lead me in the right direction. Thank you!!!

I agree with starting small.  I will try to remember to post the lasagna garden tonight when I get home.  

[Ignatius]

What is lasagna gardening??????

 

I've been a "newbie" for at least five years, and make mistakes every year!  Start small and consider the size of the plant with regards to the space.  I would also suggest planting some annual flowers (mums, etc.) around the perimeter to give you a bit of reward for your efforts quickly!

[Petee]

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

[lavender]

What is lasagna gardening??????

 

I've been a "newbie" for at least five years, and make mistakes every year!  Start small and consider the size of the plant with regards to the space.  I would also suggest planting some annual flowers (mums, etc.) around the perimeter to give you a bit of reward for your efforts quickly!

I've been at it for over 30 and I still screw up. For years I'd ask my father-in-law when I should put in the onions and tomatoes.  He'd look at the moon and pick a date.

Lasagna gardening is a no till method. Many years ago a woman named, I thing Ruth Stout, wrote a book about it. Instead of plowing you layer on compost, grass clippings, leaves, etc After a while it all rots down into good, loose soil that you can just stick your plants in. You add more each year and keep your plants well mulched. Every time you see a weed you drop on a lump of something organic that smothers it out. It takes a lot of organic material to do it right but you never have to weed. Also, it stays wet for a long time in the spring.  Good for the soil though.

Looking forward to snellma's post. It will be interesting to see what is new in the world of no till gardening.

[Guest snellma]

Here are the suggested layers for the lasagna gardening from the bottom up.  Wet each layer as you put it down (can be placed directly over sod) and locate it in a sunny area being sure to alternate layers of peat moss and organic matter.  The exact materials you use to create your lasagna bed will probably depend on what you have readily available.  You can start planing in your new bed immediately, or you can ocer it with black plastic and let it "cook" over the winter.

 

Black and white newspaper or cardboard, wet.

Peat moss.

Barn litter (manure) or leaves.

Peat moss.

Compost.

Peat moss.

grass clippings or more leaves.

Peat moss.

Kitchen scraps (no cooked food, meat, or fats).

Peat moss.

Compost.

Peat moss.

 

The name of the book is called Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza.

[lavender]

The original was the No Work Garden Book by Ruth Stout. I can't remember if she used layers or not. I'll have to dig it out.

Are you going to try it, snellma? It's a great way to start a new garden.

[Guest snellma]

I actually don't need a new garden but am going to try it in my porch boxes.

[lavender]

Let us know how it goes.

[sunflake]

My good friend that lives in Florida recently got a Firecracker Plant.  It is gorgeous!  Do any of you expert gardeners know whether it could flourish this far North?  I want one so badly!

[lavender]

Sorry, it is only hardy to zone 9 if you are talking about Cuphea ignea or Russelia equisetiformis. Same plant, I think, but the taxonomists have been at it again.

I've never even seen one although they supposedly can be grown as a house plant. I was big into house plants at one time and thought I'd run across almost everything. There is a lot of new stuff out there now but this one isn't new. I had to look it up and that doesn't happen often.

 

If you can get one, try putting it out in the summer and taking it in in the winter. Get it in before we get a frost.

[Her78TA]

Okay, so when exactly do I need to till the ground? I told you I'm a complete idiot about this stuff! I wasn't sure since the ground is still kinda hard...

[Ignatius]

This sounds interesting!  Last year, I used peat moss as a mulch around some of the plants and it worked well, except for the tomato plants that were blighted.  I pulled those plants out late summer and covered the ground with black plastic to kill the remnants.

 

Does anyone know where you can get pine needle mulch around here?

 

Thanks!

[Petee]

My good friend that lives in Florida recently got a Firecracker Plant.  It is gorgeous!  Do any of you expert gardeners know whether it could flourish this far North?  I want one so badly!

Is this it?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1334/

 

I have this one from Hawaii and although it only blooms for about a week in the summer it's worth the wait!

http://leendadll.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c2252675128e1d00fa96886cc90003.html

 

[memaws haven]

My understanding was that compost is the breakdown of the maneur, leaves, papers, peat moss and etc. Is that correct?  If it is correct, than your first year you wouldn't be able to have the compost or do the lasagna gardening, right?

Otherwise please tell me how to do it.

[lavender]

Okay, so when exactly do I need to till the ground? I told you I'm a complete idiot about this stuff! I wasn't sure since the ground is still kinda hard...

 

You till as soon as the ground is dry enough so that it doesn't form a ball when you squeeze a handful. We tilled what I call my spring garden last week because that are drains sooner. Onions and lettuce will go in there shortly. It will be a couple of weeks before the larger garden is dry enough to till.

If you are just starting you will have to take off the sod. If you turn it under the grass will still grow and you'll be digging it out later. Once that is done you can check the soil for how wet it is.

[lavender]

My understanding was that compost is the breakdown of the maneur, leaves, papers, peat moss and etc. Is that correct?  If it is correct, than your first year you wouldn't be able to have the compost or do the lasagna gardening, right?

Otherwise please tell me how to do it.

Yes, compost is the breakdown of organic matter such as leaves, grass, kitchen scraps and manure. The compost heap works best when you use a good mix of "brown" such as leaves and "green" such as grass. Really this has nothing to do with color it is more "hot" and "cold". Things like manure and grass are hot as they rot faster. Green leaves are hot and raked leaves cold.

You can start without the compost and all that other stuff will break down into compost eventually. The compost layer would get it started faster as it would contain all of the bacteria needed to start the rotting process. You could, if you wanted to, throw a couple of shovelfuls of soil in. That would also provide the bacteria.

There are all kinds of formulas for lasagna gardening. You use what you have.

[lavender]

This sounds interesting!  Last year, I used peat moss as a mulch around some of the plants and it worked well, except for the tomato plants that were blighted.  I pulled those plants out late summer and covered the ground with black plastic to kill the remnants.

 

Does anyone know where you can get pine needle mulch around here?

 

Thanks!

Go harvest your own! Pine needles are everywhere around here. I know they use it extensively in the south but you have to be careful here as it makes the soil more acidic and our soil is acidic enough as it is. It's why we are always dumping lime in our veggie gardens.  I use it only on rhodies, azaleas and other acid loving plants.

[sunflake]

 

Is this it?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1334/

 

I have this one from Hawaii and although it only blooms for about a week in the summer it's worth the wait!

http://leendadll.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c2252675128e1d00fa96886cc90003.html

 

Yes, I looked on Dave's garden site before and that is it.  It is so gorgeous!