New to Gardening but here we go!

[jkkfam89]

I am new to gardening, but want to dive in. I am looking at an area of 10 wide by 80 feet long. I also have a spot by the house for more vegies or herbs (15x14)

I live in SE Michigan

So to start, I am planning on doing raised areas to plant in. I will add compost and newspapers as a start. What should I know before starting?

Below is what I plan on growing. Please look at my garden map and show me where the plants should go!

I want to plant
1. Lettuces
2. carrots
3. broccoli
4. cabbage
5. califlour
6. tomatoes
7. beans
8. watermelon
9.blueberries
10. strawberries
11.pumpkins
12. raspberries
and others I may have left out


https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh135/jkkfam891/gard12.jpg

[rainbowgardener]

When I clicked on the photobucket link, it says it has been moved or deleted.

There's little help I can give without some more information, especially what part of the world you are gardening in, what climate, what zone if in US. Is your garden area in full sun? What about the spot by the house? That sounds like it would have to be in shade part of the day.

But it's a very mixed bag of stuff on the list:

Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower are all cool weather crops. Unless you are in the northern US or Canada, or similar location, it is too late to start them from seed, and perhaps even a bit late to start plants. You could do them later in the season for a fall crop.

Carrots could probably be planted now.

Tomatoes depending on where you are could be planted now or soon, if you are buying nursery plants. Most areas of the country it is getting late-ish to start tomato seeds. In cold weather areas, tomato seeds are usually started indoors 6 -8 weeks ahead of the last frost date.

Beans can be direct seeded in the ground, now or soon in most parts of US.

Watermelons and pumpkins are warm weather crops that are planted once the soil is well warmed up.

All of the above are annuals (or treated as such, in areas with winters) and are re-started each year.

The blueberries and raspberries are perennial shrubs, so would need their own spot where they can stay and not be disturbed.

Diving right in to newcomers to gardening, sometimes can lead to a lot of problems. You might be better served this first year to start a little smaller, with fewer different kinds of things and get your feet wet a bit. If it all goes well, more next year!

[jal_ut]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to gardening.

Yes, please let us know where you are located. The climate varies a lot from place to place, so what works here may not work there.

Growing your own vegetables can be very rewarding. It can also be frustrating at times. In the long run though, I have had many more succeses than failures.

Have a great garden.

[Hispoptart]

Diving right in to newcomers to gardening, sometimes can lead to a lot of problems. You might be better served this first year to start a little smaller, with fewer different kinds of things and get your feet wet a bit. If it all goes well, more next year!

I would have to agree with this, gardening is alot of fun but can take alot of work to keep up with it. Anyone that tells me they are starting a garden for the first time, I always tell them to start small, because if you overwhelm yourself it will be no fun and you will give up on it. There is alot of good advice on this fourm.

[kingp]

Hi everyone! I've been reading your forums here for a while now for tips and stuff. I'll introduce myself in another thread with pics of my second year garden.

I actually created an account to respond to some of these guys saying start small.

Now, don't get me wrong, these folks seem to be very knowledgeable, but I have to disagree about starting small, hahah.

My first garden last year, and my second this year are kind of big, and have been great.

Go big! and go for it! Try lots of varieties of veggies, and see what grows well for you and what you like the most. It's a very satisfying hobby, just don't plant and let your stuff die from neglect. weed and water, and when the veggies are ready, ENJOY!

[Hispoptart]

The only reason I suggest small for beginners Is that it is alot of work keeping up with weeding and watering, seems most beginers get discouraged and quit if they go to big.

[jkkfam89]

I am sorry, I live in SE Michigan.
I have a 9 yr old, 7 yr old and a 2 yr. old for some weeding. The reason to go "Big" for me is it is a family event for us. This will keep us outdoors and for the kids, we'll they learn a lot. Thanks so much for all the tips so far. I will get a pic up to reveiw my layout.

The picture link is fixed! Thanks

Also, I have a lot of deer come through the yard!!! What should I do so they don't eat my FOOD? I was think of planting a spot for the deer in the woods so they leave mine alone?

[MI Brandon]

Where at in SEMI are you? I live in St. Clair Shores.

The good thing about where we live, our climate is perfect for growing lettuce, broccoli, and other cool weather loving plants since our summer kicks in so late and doesn't really last that long.
The bad part about where we live is that watermelons usually don't get that long of a growing season. They like warm soil and warm air... but there might be a variety or two that will do well, just not the ones I remember us growing from when I was a kid down south.

I'm growing broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, blueberry bushes, spinach, romaine, strawberries, pole beans and peas and they are doing really well.

I'm not good on designing a garden layout or companion planting, so I'll let others chime in there for you. I just wanted to say "hi" to a local gardener. This years garden is me and my little boy's (4 y/o) first one together.

[applestar]

I have a ... 2 yr. old for some weeding.

Oh, I remember the 2 yr old weeding days.... Grown up to be 11 yr old and an 8 yr old. Weeding is optional.

My kids enjoy having their own tiny garden divided into their own plots. When we started out, I helped them pick out their favorites to plant. Now, their plots are mainly planted with Sweet Charlie and Red Giant June bearer and Tristar Day-neutral strawberries and one low-bush blueberry plant each. If we're lucky, the Chocolate Daisy will have self seeded and grow again this year. Last year, we bought pansies on sale, and they wintered over, so we're enjoying the flowers in our salads. They each have an arch trellis, and I planted broad beans for them this spring. My one daughter likes cucumbers so that's what she'll grow for the summer, and my other daughter likes grape tomatoes, so I have a Sugar Plum tomato transplant for her. This year, I'm adding extra 2'x2' to each of their beds so they can grow birdhouse gourds, and they'll probably sow some carrots. They have a choice of flowers to plant: Nasturtium and Salvia transplants are all ready. Or they can grow 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory or the Moonflowers.

I take extra care to keep their garden growing well and productively so they can really enjoy the results. The glow in their faces when picking a ripe red berry or pulling up a carrot, washing them and taking that first bite, or seeing a flower in bloom is absolutely priceless. Like with any other aspect of their lives, their interest waxes and wanes. Actually, I wait for them to offer to help or ask for help, and *offer* to help if they want to do something with their garden and alert them to ready-to-harvest items.

[jkkfam89]

I am in Hartland MI.

So right now, I should get the cabbages, lettuces and broccoli in the ground?

Is it safe to plant everything on the 15th of this month?

[MI Brandon]

I planted my broccoli, spinach, and carrot seeds towards the end of March.
The carrots are fluffy with true leaves, the broccoli is about 4" tall, and the spinach... well, I could already make a salad with what is out there.
2 weeks ago I picked up a handful of more mature broccoli to transplant just so I can have an earlier harvest.

YES, it's safe to transplant those into the ground now, in fact this is probably "usually" the right time to transplant around here (early to mid May) due to the usual late frosts we have. And it's never too late to plant carrots.

[Hispoptart]

Also, I have a lot of deer come through the yard!!! What should I do so they don't eat my FOOD? I was think of planting a spot for the deer in the woods so they leave mine alone?

There's stuff called liquid Deer fence, you put it in a graden sprayer and spray your vegies with it. There are no harmful chemicals in it. It is expensive but 1 qt jar last us the whole season. It sticks really bad when you spray it but once it dries you can't smell it. We spray once every 4-6 weeks, and the deer won't touch anything that has been sprayed. I will swear by this stuff, it reall works.

[jkkfam89]

It would be awesome if someone could look at the link and sketch in where the plants should go! I am up in the air on location of the plants.

[jkkfam89]

Well we started the small potion of the garden.

Please take a look and let me know if it needs some change or if you have any ideas.

[img]https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh135/jkkfam891/garden1.jpg[/img]


[img]https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh135/jkkfam891/garden2.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh135/jkkfam891/garden3.jpg[/img]

[joecarrr]

I'm also in se mi. I am on my second garden this year. We did really well last year. I say, if you have alot of spare time, go big. I did. It's alot of work but, if you have the time, do it. As far as where to plant goes. It really dosen't matter exept I would put the tomatoes on the north side so they don't shade lower plants. You might have a tough time training the pumpkins to grow in a raised bed. I don't have alot of experience with this but I just planted mine in a "normal" garden area and they took up alot of space. Also, what kind of beans are you planting? Bush or Pole? If its pole beans, the same advice goes for the tomatoes... north side.. I did bush beans last year and they were one of our favorites. You can harvest them every 3 or 4 days and they produce for quite a while. Very productive. Plant some lettuce then plant some more again in about a month. This worked well with romain for me. As soon as it started getting bitter, I had another crop coming up ready to eat. Good luck.

Joe

[jkkfam89]

JOe: Thanks for the helpful hints.

I want to make sure I understand you. So, I planted lettuce now, you're saying in a month, to plant more? I would plant them in a seperate place right?

If you look at my link at the first thread, where would you but blueberries and raspberries?

Thanks again for the help.

[applestar]

Looking good! I guess I would've gone with a 2~3' wide row with an alternating double (zigzag pattern) or triple row (argyle pattern) of plants, though. The width depends on being able to comfortably reach the middle from both sides. Some people can manage 4' width. When the cabbages and cauliflowers mature, the leaves will be almost or actually touching and the path would not be used much. You could have left the path in between uncompacted, you see? One technique would be to plant faster growing leaf lettuce, radish, Asian turnips, etc. or skinny plants like carrots/green onions in the open spaces in between.

Now, unless you're going to cover the cabbages and cauliflowers with netting or floating row covers, keep watch for the White Cabbage butterflies. Since you don't have too many, do what I do and, every few days, inspect each leaf top and bottom for their tiny white eggs and squish (if newly laid) or rub them off. (Don't let the eggs roll into where the leaves meet, then you won't be able to get them out and the caterpillars will hatch and do their damage after all).

Some studies indicate that mixing up plants will help visually confuse the bugs. Planting sage, parsley, and other aromatic herbs near cabbages, etc. is supposed to mask the them from pests that seek by scent.

Have fun!

[applestar]

You got in there with another question!

Raspberries will spread and form a thorny hedge so I would put them in a long 2' wide row (with extra 2' on each side) -- or shorter 2' wide rows separated by 6' for sufficient walking space -- AWAY from all the other vegetables. A T-bar double-wire trellis would help keep the thorny canes from falling over.

Blueberries need moist acid soil and should be planted away from other vegetables since most veggies can only take slightly acid soil. If pH is kept where their upper and lower pH needs overlap, you can plant strawberries under blueberries. Both can be planted where they don't quite get the FULL sun that some veggies need.

You'll most likely need to protect the berries from birds.