A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening Getting started?

So latly I've been looking online at seeds and figuring out what I want to grow but I'm afraid that I missed an important step such as how to get nutrients into the soil and such things as that. It seems like I stepped out into the night without a flashlight.

you really aren't too late. what most of us do, is figure out when 6-8 weeks before our last frost should be (i usually think 6 because keeping plant starts in for 8 won't hurt them) and then decide what takes the longest growing season. that's what you want to start inside. and you can use a commercial potting soil or seed starting medium (i've done both, both work) to start your seeds. depending on what you are growing, you will want to use jiffy pots or some other bio-degradable container so that you just dig the hole in the ground and plop the plant, pot and all, in the hole.

now, about outside, as soon as the ground is workable (usually a week or 2 before last frost) you can amend it with compost. that is the best way to get nutrients into the soil. you will turn the soil, spread the compost, and turn again to "stir it up". then, you are nearly ready.

when you are pretty sure the last frost is done, put your plants and seeds out and you have a garden.

now, all that said, if you have questions on anything i've said, ask. if i don't answer, there are a lot of knowledgeable folks who will. it's all about who gets to the question first

I haven't started composting yet but if I start it now and it's not done by the time i need to apply it could I use manure such as horse manure?

Fresh horse manure has a lot of acidic stuff that might fry your plants. And often has weed seed too. If you have access to old manure you would be better off. It is already composted. If your soil is decent quality and hasn't been 'farmed' on recently, you may not even need to do much to it. It may just have a lot of what you need already. But composted material is available in places like Lowes or Home Depot for a fairly reasonable cost. It can help with the looseness and aerating you soil for healthier, happier plants.

That's good to know. I wonder if my work has something like that. But yes, the piece of land that I'll be growing on hasn't been worked in a long time but I'd like to put some 'good stuff' on it just for good measure.
So, I had talked to my father about all the stuff that I plan to grow:
Bush Beans
Cucumbers
Beets
potatoes
Zucchini
Pumpkins
Grouds
Peas
Lettuce
Sweet peppers
Basil (this will probably be grown is a large pot on my porch)
And possibly a few others
To me this list does not sound like a lot but my father says that it is. What do you think?
Also, is there a way to "cheat" with seed potatoes? Burpee seed potatoes cost about $20 which is a big chunk of my seed budget.

check your local farmer's supply. i got a bag of seed potatoes (all i could use) for about $5. and, they were local potatoes so they grew well in my local area.

it is a lot for your first time out, and will take dedication. but you can do it. and i'd skip the gourds the first year. or the pumpkins. the sweet peppers grow well in pots or buckets too, you might want to do that.

I think I'll skip the gourds this year and do pumpkins because I would like to make my own pumpkin pie filling.
I'll have check Tractor Supply and Agway to see what they have in the way of seed potatoes.

both are good sources. but don't discount the mom and pop seed and feed stores too!

Yes, i know! I just need to locate them.

Pumpkins, potatoes, gourds and even zucchini are users of a lot of space. Plan on them spreading out many feet from where you planted them and trying to smother the other plants around them.

Hi Willowfairy, it had been several years since my garden spot had been worked and I planted without amending that first year and had a bumper crop.

You can grow gourds up a trellis or fence. I love growing gourds!! If you find a good place for seeds let me know because the drought got mine last year.

This may not be the right way but for potatoes if I have a some that will go bad before I use them I will cut them up and use them for seed.

What's your location?

I'm located in Eastern Pennsylvania

That is an ambitious garden for a first timer. But I think we almost all started out that way. There is a lot to read about most of the plants you want to grow, all over the forum. But keep on asking if you can't find answers. Someone will come and point you in the right direction.

I might narrow down what I'm going to grow based on what little stands around my neighborhood grow, zucchini excluded because I love zucchini a lot. I origionally was goign to grow corn too but considering that there's a nice local source of corn not too far away it gave me more room to grow other things.

willow you have already received a lot of very good advice. I would add the manure and any nutrients as soon as you can work the ground. Don't be afraid of horse manure that has some fresher manure in it. I've used fresh to six month old manure right out of pens for over 40 years and had good results. Just till it in good. I would try to locate some good mulch to use to spread over the garden as your crops grow and where you put transplants you can up to within inches of the plants. It works well here in this area. I have a friend on another forum from Gettysburg how far is that from you?
The potatoes will need to go out earlier. And I've used eyes from potatoes from the grocery store with good luck. Sometimes our grocery store handles seed potatoes. Tractor supply here doesn't. Every area is a little different. After this year I would have a soil test ran. That just gives you an idea of where you stand. You could alway do that now. It usually only takes a week and our extension service here does them free. They send them to the state ag university. And if needed you can use some commercial fertilizer till you get the ground built up. If you want to go organic I use cottonseed meal, alfalfa pellets, soybean meal, loose alfalfa hay from around my hay stacks. A lot of farmers will let you have that if you clean it up in the spring and it will be partially rotted. Bone meal is another good additive. These are all good. If you need more information and can't get it locally come back and there will be many here that will try to help. Adding compost and mulch is always good. But when fertilizing it is really good to know your soil. Yes I agree that many times soil that has been idle will raise a good crop for a year or so. But have also seen where it lacked one nutrient that is really needed and crops will suffer. Have a great first year of gardening. I just suggest you don't over do it and take all the fun out of it. JD

My father is very supportive about me raising a garden and is willing to lend a helping hand! It'll be nice to have that experienced person watch my back! Getting the mulch and manure isn't a problem when you work at a hardware store or when you live where your neighbor (which for where I live is about a 5 mile radius) own horses or owns a farm.
In addition to your advice I'm also getting advice from the garden expert at work so her advice is a little more region specific.
FYI I live a few hours east of Gettysburg.

Here's another question, I bought some seeds last year thinking that I would plant some but never did. Are these seeds still good or should I buy new ones?

You may get a little less germination from them but you should get something if they were properly stored and didn't get wet or baked in a hot car (my problem). It will not hurt to try them. Instead of 25 plants you may only get 20 but that beats buying all new.
These are probably your best bet to tey starting indoors.

Okay, great! I've already started making progress with clearing the garden. I found "pots" for my peppers and a "trellis" for my peas. I cleared plastic bags out of it (we sort of compost but it doesn't help if you live the bags that we transport them in there). I found some cages that weren't smashed and suitable for tomatoes. And I found some old hay or something that I can rototill into the soil. Did I mention that there are leaves spread all over the raised beds. My father's talking about sweet corn too but I'll kill the dream of his because of all the labor and our local source already.

See you do have a green thumb showing. Genetics will show. And getting the plastic out of the compost will help a lot. .

gosh, you got a lot done. I've been lazy.

remember that your tomatoes are heavy feeders and also like an addition of calcium to stop bottom end rot from occurring. I get mine from egg shells that I pulverize in my coffee grinder. And yes cleaning the powdered egg shells out of the grinder does take alittle work. But the tomatoes are worth it.

can you just work calcium in the soil prior to planting?

yep you sure can. I have a tendency to add alittle to the entire compost pile and then to add about a teaspoon to each planting hole.

when you say you add to the compost pile - do you mean egg shells or straight calcium?

I take egg shells and pulverize them in my coffee grinder and then add that to the compost pile. I just sprinkle it lightly over the entire thing.

That's good to know. I thought the eggshells would have to be added the year prior so it had time to break down for the next season. Are they only good for tomatoes? Any other plants that reap the rewards or any that suffer from it?

You know that's a good question. Unfortunately I don't know the answer. The only way to care for plants is to learn about each one individually.