I would love some guidance!
1) What tools do I need to buy right away? I've never done any gardening before, and I don't own any equipment - including: a hose, a shovel, gloves, seeds, soil, etc...
2) I am thinking of doing about a 20 foot x 6 foot garden and I don't know where to start at all.
When we went to look at the place last, the grass looked very over grown and not very green. I don't know what that says about the soil, but I'm wondering where I should start.
I am thinking of doing squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. Also I was thinking about mixing some flowers in as well.
Could someone break it down for me and tell me step by step what I should do and what I need to buy. That would be great!
I should add that I'm living in Baltimore, MD.
Thanks!
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loveykatie
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- Location: Maryland
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Allegre Nee
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- Location: San Antonio TX
I do square foot gardening. If you're not sure what your native soil is like, perhaps you would want to do some square foot garden boxes along your 20' area? And maybe a compost bin.
The soil where I live is horrible. I dug about a million foot-high weeds out of a 25'x25' area in my backyard only to discover that the previous tenants had put gravel all over the area and unless I put in YEARS of work, the area was totally unusable for gardning. I was so bummed. We ended up putting in some square foot garden boxes and bought soil, compost, etc. to fill them and I am really pleased with the look and the results.
The soil where I live is horrible. I dug about a million foot-high weeds out of a 25'x25' area in my backyard only to discover that the previous tenants had put gravel all over the area and unless I put in YEARS of work, the area was totally unusable for gardning. I was so bummed. We ended up putting in some square foot garden boxes and bought soil, compost, etc. to fill them and I am really pleased with the look and the results.
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PenPalAnna
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- Location: Warren County, Tennessee
Let me advise you first off DO NOT plant your cucumbers anywhere near your squash. Consider them mortal enemies. I was given this advice but did not heed it. I grew crookneck-cucumbers my first year of gardening. As far as basic tools go you will need a water hose, a small hand shovel, and I recommend a Japanese Hori Hori Knife. I lost mine while moving 
They are a bit pricey, about $23 on Amazon, but Fiskars has a similar tool, Fiskars Big Grip Soil Knife, that I recently bought at Wal-Mart for $6. You will have figure out how you will till up your land. I suggest renting a tiller. I am facing that same problem as well. Hope this helps some.
They are a bit pricey, about $23 on Amazon, but Fiskars has a similar tool, Fiskars Big Grip Soil Knife, that I recently bought at Wal-Mart for $6. You will have figure out how you will till up your land. I suggest renting a tiller. I am facing that same problem as well. Hope this helps some.-
PunkRotten
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- Location: Monterey, CA.
I have a smallish garden and the most used tools are shovels big and small, rake, and pruning shears. You'll probably wanna get gloves. Sometimes when I did a lot of shoveling/raking I got blisters. You can use cheap gloves too, only thing wrong with them is they will fall apart sooner than more expensive ones.
I still got my $3 pair and I treat them like junk. You are also going to want to start a compost bin ASAP. And you should try making it rather than buying it. As for seeds, think about the things you wanna grow. I buy a few seeds here and there but I do a lot of trading. That is how you get more unique/interesting varieties or just ones they don't carry in stores.
Also learn about plants, whether they like warm weather or cool and find out the zone of your area.
I still got my $3 pair and I treat them like junk. You are also going to want to start a compost bin ASAP. And you should try making it rather than buying it. As for seeds, think about the things you wanna grow. I buy a few seeds here and there but I do a lot of trading. That is how you get more unique/interesting varieties or just ones they don't carry in stores.
Also learn about plants, whether they like warm weather or cool and find out the zone of your area.
This is a short, 4 page, guide to [url=https://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_124.pdf]Small Plot and Intensive Gardening[/url] from Purdue. I have suggested it a number of times and no one has come back to say that it is "the most ridiculous advice I've ever seen!" 
Many ideas in the guide, I put into use each year
. I can add just a little: You don't need to use the 10-10-10 if you want to go the organic route to growing vegetables. There are a number of organic fertilizers out there and one that is 5-5-5 can do just as much good and have a longer-term benefit to your garden soil. Use it at the rate suggested.
The most useful hand tool I have is a spading fork. It will help you get whatever is growing in that ground now - out of the way. (Get the roots.) And, it can loosen the soil to a good depth.
Gardening can be fun and rewarding. Here is Wishing You the Best of Luck!
Steve
Many ideas in the guide, I put into use each year
. I can add just a little: You don't need to use the 10-10-10 if you want to go the organic route to growing vegetables. There are a number of organic fertilizers out there and one that is 5-5-5 can do just as much good and have a longer-term benefit to your garden soil. Use it at the rate suggested.The most useful hand tool I have is a spading fork. It will help you get whatever is growing in that ground now - out of the way. (Get the roots.) And, it can loosen the soil to a good depth.
Gardening can be fun and rewarding. Here is Wishing You the Best of Luck!
Steve
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rainbowgardener
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Agree with all the above...
The secret to good veggies is good soil!
So yes, start by starting your compost pile. That won't help you for right now, but by fall you will have lots of good, free homemade compost (and you will have kept a ton of garden and kitchen waste out of the waste stream). We have a whole section here on compost, if you need some pointers.
Till up your spot (with a rented tiller), rake out the grass. Let it sit 2-3 weeks for all the weed seeds you just turned up to sprout. Then lay down compost, composted manure, whatever other soil amendments you want to use, and till again, turning under the amendments and the newly sprouted weeds. If you skip this step, you will have a very weedy garden.
After everything is up and going weed it out and then lay down as much mulch as you can get your hands on - grass clippings, last fall's leaves, shredded paper, wood chips, etc. It will smother out weeds and then break down to help feed your soil.
I also like gardening in raised beds, especially if your soil is not good. If you do that, you don't need to till. Just build your beds (no more than 4' wide, you don't want to walk in them, so you want to be able to reach the middle from the outside), lay down some cardboard in the bottom to smother the grass and fill.
The secret to good veggies is good soil!
So yes, start by starting your compost pile. That won't help you for right now, but by fall you will have lots of good, free homemade compost (and you will have kept a ton of garden and kitchen waste out of the waste stream). We have a whole section here on compost, if you need some pointers.
Till up your spot (with a rented tiller), rake out the grass. Let it sit 2-3 weeks for all the weed seeds you just turned up to sprout. Then lay down compost, composted manure, whatever other soil amendments you want to use, and till again, turning under the amendments and the newly sprouted weeds. If you skip this step, you will have a very weedy garden.
After everything is up and going weed it out and then lay down as much mulch as you can get your hands on - grass clippings, last fall's leaves, shredded paper, wood chips, etc. It will smother out weeds and then break down to help feed your soil.
I also like gardening in raised beds, especially if your soil is not good. If you do that, you don't need to till. Just build your beds (no more than 4' wide, you don't want to walk in them, so you want to be able to reach the middle from the outside), lay down some cardboard in the bottom to smother the grass and fill.
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jal_ut
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- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
A plot that size can quickly be dug with a digging fork. Shake the sod to separate the roots from the soil. the sod can go in the compost pile.
What do you need? It will depend some on your gardening style, however if you want to till the plot and have a more conventional garden I suggest the following:
Digging fork
Hoe
Hand garden trowel -- I use a butcher knife for this tool.
gloves
diatomaceous earth (inert insect repellant)
hose
seed
seedlings
fertilizer
time
interest -- Last on the list, but not last in importance.
What do you need? It will depend some on your gardening style, however if you want to till the plot and have a more conventional garden I suggest the following:
Digging fork
Hoe
Hand garden trowel -- I use a butcher knife for this tool.
gloves
diatomaceous earth (inert insect repellant)
hose
seed
seedlings
fertilizer
time
interest -- Last on the list, but not last in importance.
Last edited by jal_ut on Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
All of the above gave great advice. I would like to add this to the list. Make a list of the type plants you want to grow. Research them as far as how much spacing, watering, specific growing conditions etc. Ask more questions here if you still aren't sure.
Things like cucumbers and pole beans love to climb, so a nice trellis or some other type of apparatus for them to scale takes up much less ground space in the garden.
Plants like zucchini and yellow crook neck squash need lots of room to grow. Tomatoes benefit from being staked or caged and tied so they don't droop all over the ground.
You can plant a lot of crops close to one another. I have beets and lettuce mixed among my tomato plants. As the tomato plants grow larger, they will shade the lettuce and hopefully keep them in the garden longer as the temperatures rise.
That's enough for now. This stuff is a lot of fun and very rewarding when you eat what you grow yourself. Keep us up with any progress and feel free to ask away.
Things like cucumbers and pole beans love to climb, so a nice trellis or some other type of apparatus for them to scale takes up much less ground space in the garden.
Plants like zucchini and yellow crook neck squash need lots of room to grow. Tomatoes benefit from being staked or caged and tied so they don't droop all over the ground.
You can plant a lot of crops close to one another. I have beets and lettuce mixed among my tomato plants. As the tomato plants grow larger, they will shade the lettuce and hopefully keep them in the garden longer as the temperatures rise.
That's enough for now. This stuff is a lot of fun and very rewarding when you eat what you grow yourself. Keep us up with any progress and feel free to ask away.
All of the above gave great advice. I would like to add this to the list. Make a list of the type plants you want to grow. Research them as far as how much spacing, watering, specific growing conditions etc. Ask more questions here if you still aren't sure.
Things like cucumbers and pole beans love to climb, so a nice trellis or some other type of apparatus for them to scale takes up much less ground space in the garden.
Plants like zucchini and yellow crook neck squash need lots of room to grow. Tomatoes benefit from being staked or caged and tied so they don't droop all over the ground.
You can plant a lot of crops close to one another. I have beets and lettuce mixed among my tomato plants. As the tomato plants grow larger, they will shade the lettuce and hopefully keep them in the garden longer as the temperatures rise.
That's enough for now. This stuff is a lot of fun and very rewarding when you eat what you grow yourself. Keep us up with any progress and feel free to ask away.
Things like cucumbers and pole beans love to climb, so a nice trellis or some other type of apparatus for them to scale takes up much less ground space in the garden.
Plants like zucchini and yellow crook neck squash need lots of room to grow. Tomatoes benefit from being staked or caged and tied so they don't droop all over the ground.
You can plant a lot of crops close to one another. I have beets and lettuce mixed among my tomato plants. As the tomato plants grow larger, they will shade the lettuce and hopefully keep them in the garden longer as the temperatures rise.
That's enough for now. This stuff is a lot of fun and very rewarding when you eat what you grow yourself. Keep us up with any progress and feel free to ask away.