First Time Gardener

[jj79]

Hello all,

I am a complete novice, first time gardener, so please bear with me if some of my questions seem ridiculous

Anyway, my wife and I recently moved to Nashville, TN (which I understand is in zone 6B?) and would like to start growing some of our own vegetables this spring. Our new home has a space where a previous resident had a garden; it is approx. 16'x16' and is bordered by what look like railroad ties. Everything I have read up to this point has recommended starting small, so I think this space will work for a first try...

While the garden area isn't covered in actual "sod", it does have a covering of grass, etc. probably 1 1/2" deep. My first question is this: do I need to follow the steps I have read for preparing a new garden I.e. "removing sod" etc., or should I just try to turn this covering under the soil? I have no idea how long it has been since the garden was used; hopefully someone can give me some advice on how to proceed?

We do want to grow these vegetables using organic methods and are looking forward to getting started. Thanks in advance for all advice!!

-JJ

[opabinia51]

You are a person right after my own heart. Yes, turn the sod into the soil with a shovel and break it up a bit. It's a bit of hard work but, your soil and therefore your plants will benefit in the long run.

Plant your rows of vegetables but, I recommend doing a little research on the internet by typing "companion planting" into google and research what plants benefit one another and which plants harm one another. Then, to keep your soil nice and healthy (and therefore your plants) interplant companion plants in your rows (for instance, beans, peas and corn along with squash).

Plant flowering plants in your vegetable garden as well (perennials work well but, some annuals are great too.) to attract beneficial insects (we have a thread on what plants to plant to attract different insects).

This fall, collect up all the fallen leaves and lay them out over the top of the soil followed by a layer of manure (free or dirt cheap from local farms).

Also, when the growing season is done, don't hall all the plant wastes away, chop them up with a pair of pruners right in place, thereby replacing the soil nutrients that were lost.

That's a start for now.


Oh yes, and try some wierd and wonderful varieties of plants. 500 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes out there, all sorts of perennial berries, different colours of carrots, a plethora of beans to choose from and the list goes on.

[Newt]

Hi JJ,

Welcome to The Helpful Gardener and congratulations on your new home!

Your questions don't seem rediculous at all. Opabinia gave you some great info so I won't repeat that. I do have some helpful sites on companion planting and attracting beneficial insects you might like.
https://www.moonsweb.com/companions.shtml
https://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

This site shows how to repel some insects and attract others.
https://www.minifarmhomestead.com/gardening/companionplant.htm

Newt

[jj79]

thanks so much for the info... about companion planting; how close together do I want to plant the companion plants? in the same row? in rows next to each other? or just in the same part of the garden?

-JJ

[Newt]

JJ, you are very welcome! Depending on what you want to accomplish with the companion planting, just having the companion plants in the same area of the garden will work to attract beneficials. If you are trying to repel insects the companions should be planted close to the plant you are trying to protect.

Newt

[Durgan]

https://xrl.us/utu9

Try this thread of my method of makaing a vegetable bed. The area is about the same as you have mentioned in the first post. I usually post on the UBC Web site as well.

https://xrl.us/nqb9
The pictures above indicate the work in progress.

30 May 2006 Today I decided to enlarge my vegetable garden by 8 feet. It is 36 feet long. First I removed the sod with a kick sod cutter, then spaded about a foot, then rototilled the lumps, then raked the chunks that wouldn't crumble. Today's effort took me about 8 hours. It is a real good workout. I broke the sod by hand and put it through a Yard Machine to shred the clumps and put it back onto the bed. This took about three hours. Not a bit of grass came up later in the season. The Yard Machine effectively killed the grass roots.

Tomorrow I will add about three yards of city compost and work it in. The soil is clay well packed before I started.

Durgan.