A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening my first garden

This is my first garden of any type and I am lost in the sauce.
I have cleared a 10X15 ft area in my yard from the grass that was growing there. Is this going to be big enough to feed a family of four? Also, what is the next step?
I am trying to get a jump on this for the spring.

Welcome, Fonzie. A garden that size should be able to give your family a lot of its vegetables and greens. And this is the perfect time to begin it. Look for a list of cool weather crops and plant them now. Onions, broccoli, etc. Later as it warms you can add tomatoes and peppers and summer squashes.
Good luck.

Welcome fonzie,
First put in Lettuce , soon as frost is gone.. ONions sets soon as ground is workable..
Later the must have tomatoes.. You can starrt the seeds now indoors for your own plants .Now..........Saves lots of dollars.
good luck

dodge

Welcome Fonzie. I will add, if you have the space, I would add a few rows of potatoes. I have even kept what I didnt eat along the way in my basement where it is cooler for as long as say January. I keep them in single layers so they do not touch. That way if one goes bad it does not contaminate other potatoes. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for the advice. :)

Another option too, is to try growing your tomatoes in large pots, to save space in the garden for other things.

Good luck.

I made my garden that size at first but a friend of mine let me borrow a tiller so it has expanded a few feet in each direction. I also made another spot in my yard for a little herb garden. I am probably going overboard but you know what they say, "go hard, or go home."
I have what it looks like clay for my dirt so I need to add some compost to it before I plant. I went by our co-op and they said they wont have any till some time in February. I have my own compost started but it is not ready yet. They were selling a bag of cow manure but I wasnt sure if I should have bought that or not.

I would definitely add some manure to your clay soil.

Funny how that seems to happen....

horse manure? or does it matter. Someone told me that if you add horse manure your garden will be full of grass.

Just composted (bagged) cow or chicken manure. Chicken manure is better for leafy plants without flowers.
A lot of people use horse poop but it has to be very old or it will produce a hay field that will have to be tilled a few times before the soil is ready for planting (preferably the next season).

thank you.

Thanks.
Yeah I will go buy a bag today.
I have my seeds for bell peppers and herbs starting in the house and I see some sprouts coming from the herbs. I just started my tomato seeds last night. Big Boy and red cherry tomatoes.
I need to hurry up and get my soil ready although it looks like it will be a while before I transplant.
It looks like I need to plant my peas and onions now but it is only a high of 31 today. Am I reading the instructions on the peas and onions wrong?

Peas and onions do well in the cool weather. Last year I planted my peas when it was freezing cold outside and they did well.

ok then, if it dries up here i will get on my peas and onions after i fix my soil.

Fonzie, in Alabama it's gonna get too late for peas before you know it.

How's the garden coming?