I knew when we first bought this house I wanted to have a garden. The backyard is huge and I’ve always wanted to just walk out the door to get ingredients for dinner. My husband thought it was a good idea too, so we came up with a plan, but we couldn’t just till up the ground (my idea), that would be too easy. TJ had to practice his handyman skills and build a raised-bed garden. Now, I didn’t want to spend a whole bunch of money on the garden because that would defeat the purpose and I didn’t know if anything would actually grow. I have never planted flowers, let alone a garden in my life.
I tried to plant last week and then it was supposed to frost, so I put everything on hold and I’ve kept delaying because I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing and it seems the dirt is as hard as a rock. I think I need to bring someone from the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden over here to give me some pointers (They are right across town).
All you gardeners out there, can you give some pointers?
About Emily
Yay! I just started my garden last month and am soo excited about everything that has already started to grow! I love the raised bed, that is what I’m going to do next year :)
Thank you for the tips! We had a few good rains here, so that helped the soil. I guess I just wasn’t giving it enough water! (I thought I was). Everyone says a good compost is a must.
You may want to try ammending your soil. Add some peat moss, compost, and even some course grade vermiculite if you can find some. That will soften the soil and help the roots spread out more than in hard clay soil. Your plants will get bigger and it will be easier to weed/work with the soil.
Thanks! My clay-like dirt was frustrating me, so I’ve been putting it off. I was hacking away at large clumps of dirt with my little shovel, but my hubby showed me an easier, different way. If all goes well, I will get everything planted tomorrow!
Have you planted yet? P.S. Happy Mother’s Day!
Emily,
I am a new gardener too! And I honestly have no clue what I’m doing…
I used the Iowa State Univ. extension office to figure out the timing part of gardening, and even included it in a recent blog post…
http://jackoffiowa.com/planting-season/
But if you want something more comprehensive, like an overall “how to,” this website is VERY comprehensive: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM819.pdf
I just got most of my garden planted… A few weeks ago I planted lettuce. Just this week, I planted seven tomato plants of different varieties, including a yellow tomato and cherry tomato plant.
I live in the country (near Madison Co., south of Des Moines…) so we have a lot of space where I can experiment. So I decided to go buck wild, telling my hubs I am going to become a farmer. ;) (just kidding.) But I decided that I wanted to try and grow more than just tomatoes, so I also planted cauliflower, brocolli and hot and sweet peppers. I am also going to try watermelon, pumpkin, yellow squash and zucchini. My mom cautioned me about planting viny veggies too close to each other b/c they can cross pollenate each other, giving you a cross-bred vegetable! (Pumpkin-watermelon, anyone?) Also, I might plant strawberries, but have to find someplace to put them permanently, as they are perrennial.
Gardening…it’s going to be an awesome experiment and I’m excited to watch the progress! Keep us updated on how your garden turns out!
One final thing… I spent about $60.00 for all my plants and seeds. And if I get vegetables off of every single plant that I planted, then I think it will be a good investment. I can spend $25-30 on produce every time I go to the grocery store if I’m not careful!