How to get started right?

[Gamalot]

I just did the intro up in the right section and have all sorts of question about how to get started right. Gary & Mary had lousy results growing tomatoes in large pots out on the deck!
We have a great yard with full sun and live in the south eastern part of NY at the foothills of the Catskills. Monticello/ Forestburgh area to be precise.
I am retired and have all sorts of hobbies but I always wanted to have a great garden.
I just tilled up and will fence in this weekend a 36 X 24 plot that gets full sun all day long.
I prefer the idea of having patches rather then log rows. I have divided my plot into 16 patches that are 9 feet long by 30 inches wide.

Mary is working on the WHAT we want to grow and can/freeze while I get all the fun of doing it. She works a full time job but loves to cook and could survive on veggies alone. If I had my way I would raise our own beef and lambs and continue to hunt and fish along with the garden we want to put up.

All around the inside of the fence I will have a 24 inch walkway. I will also have 24 inches through the middle both ways and at least 18 inches between each patch.

There is very little we don't like but there are a few veggies I think take up allot of room and are not worth the space to grow. Pumpkins and melons don't really float our boats while squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, beans, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, Brussels sprouts, corn and most other veggies will be our aim. I would love to start a nice bed of Asparagus if I have the room.
I also have plenty of yard left if there is more I need to fence and prepare.

Here is where we need the most help aside from the green thumb aspect.

How much should we grow for 2 of us considering some of this can be canned or is freezable? Other veggies have to be eaten when ready so we don't need a neighborhood supply of lettuce all at once. We are fine with sharing but not with wasting that which we grow and can't give away.

Our local cooperative extension is having a seminar/sale this Saturday and we will go and buy most of what we want to grow. I will also take a soil sample for testing to learn what I might need to do to get it right.

I know I should have plowed this plot last fall but Stuff happens and this didn't. If it takes a few years to get it right then so be it! There is not much in the line of work for me around here at 57 so I might as well grow some food and trim the grocery bills the best that I can.

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the book but not really! We do need this much help!

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/Gamalot/DSCN2421.jpg[/img]

Gary & Mary

[TZ -OH6]

You might want to look into putting in some trellisses for cucumbers, mellons and squashes so that they can grow up rather than over the ground. Trelisses would be good for sugar snap peas, peas, and beans as well. Cattle pannels would be a good choice, but they sell garden trellis made out of nylon cord too. I use old livestock fence hung on metal electrical conduit pipe.


In new rough soil, unless you rototilled it fine. You might have bad luck with carrots, lettuce and spinach (carrots for sure). Corn and tomatoes have aggressive roots that will help breakup cloddy new soil.


How deep is your soil? In many places natural soil structure and construction compaction create a moderately thick clay layer about 8-10 inches down which roots have difficulty penetrating. This is often over top of good, moist, subsoil. As a result, the entire water budget for the garden is in the top few inches of the soil and the plants suffer and get stunted in hot weather.

[Gamalot]

Thanks TZ, We will look into the trelise idea.
I will have our soil tested this weekend and still have allot of work to do before we plant anything. At present, a neighbor with a small farm tractor has plowed it up and run it through a number of times with discs. I am on rock duty and he will disc it a few times again today. I think I am about 8-10 inches deep in a part of the yard that has been nothing but lawn and undisturbed for 40 years.
I wish I could have started sooner but I will take your advice about carrots, spinach and lettuce before attempting to grow.
I have a local club near by that is in the process of mucking out an old pond and I will try to get a few loads of this very dark bottom soil that I think should be very rich and should be good to mix in with a tiller.

We are certainly at the beginning stage and a bit late but hope to get a few things growing for this summer. Nothing says we have to have a great garden this year but one thing is for sure, we don't want to have a narly looking weed patch and hope to keep it fairly well organized and presentable.

I'm off to Tractor Supply today to buy fencing.

Gary

[sweet thunder]

I'm loving your enthusiasm. I bet you'll have a great garden!
And don't worry too much about the late start. I used to live in New Paltz and I would be putting many of my transplants out around now. You'll also be able to start things like broccoli and other greens, as well as carrots later in the summer for a fall harvest.
If you like cherry tomatoes, Sun Golds always did well for me there. They kept producing even after a couple of light frosts.
Oh, and if you plan to plant garlic in the fall, the Garlic Festival in Saugerties is a great place to try different varieties and buy your bulbs for planting.
Have fun!

[2cents]

I've had good luck with corn for a first crop and a good source of compost material after the season.

Best of all, bush beans have always worked well for planting a new area. And they taste good. They help put nitrogen into the soil for next years plants. Also they are a good source of materail to till back into the soil in the fall or start a compost pile with the old plants. The roots help even in a no till method. Also, they germinate quickly and if planted close together block a lot of sunlight to prevent weeds from getting started.
Once the beans are done, there will be time for planting the fall crops.