Starting my first garden - Question about soil.

[drumguy]

Hello! First post and I apologize if this has been covered but I haven't been able to find a good answer on the internet so far.

I live in Brooklyn and I'm lucky enough to have a backyard. I've decided to start a 3'x5' garden! It's my first time gardening. I'm definitely going to start with plants but might add a few vegetables too. Two quick questions.

1. I've marked my area and now I'm digging into the soil (turning the soil?) to see what I've got and remove all the weeds I can. The good news is there are plenty of worms which I believe is a sign of good soil. The bad news is there is so much other crud. I have found broken glass, bits of plastic toys, marbles, a metal fork, pieces of brick and a type of rock that tends to break apart when the shovel hits it creating almost gravel making it difficult to remove. Should I do my best to remove all this debris before I mix in some better soil/compost? Are rocks ok a few inches below my garden? Not sure how crazy to go with removing debris.

2. This one may be more loaded and addressed in previous threads. In the Northeast Spring is showing up early. I would like to start with seeds and grow my garden but would it make more sense to buy some small plants at the nursery? For plants I'm thinking of tulips and lilies. Vegetables possibly peppers and tomatoes. I guess this may be more a question of patience

Ok thanks in advance for any help. This looks like a nice friendly community exactly what I was looking for.

[tomc]

Drum,

Without checking my guess is you are in zone 6a and your plant out date for tender plants like peppers or tomato should be about May 1st.

Bigger gardens can gamble with the weather and take a hit bettter from a late frost.

the more compost you put on soil the better the soil will become.

It is not uncommon to find trash middens around human habitation. A hardware cloth sifting screen with 1/4" or 1/2" size may be helpful.

[GreenThumbsUp]

I have had problem with debris before, it's kind of like an archaeological dig. I have found forks, scissors, and nail clippers...
Since your garden is small why not sift out the trash. Use a sheet of metal mesh with half inch holes, staple it to a wooden frame. Then sift through the soil, the good soil will go right through the mesh and all the debris will get separated out.
It will not only aerate the soil but it will remove the dangerous stuff you can cut yourself on.

[Peter171]

Iwould recommend double digging and clear as much rubbish from the ground as it is more than likely toxins may well have been leached from the plastics. Suggest you visit a garden centre andd grab a bag of farm manure and work it into the ground. A good starter vegetable crop on new ground is potatoes. Good luck